Was It Harder To Die,

Sometimes We Set Off Down A Road Thinkin' We're Goin' One Place And We End Up Another. But That's Okay. The Important Thing Is To Start.

Andrius, I'm...scared." He Stopped And Turned To Me. "no. Don't Be Scared. Don't Give Them Anything Lina, Not Even Your Fear.

How Did I Get Here How Did I End Up In The Arms Of A Boy I Barely Knew But Knew I Didn't Want To Lose I Wondered What I Would Have Thought Of Andrius In Lithuania. Would I Have Liked Him Would He Have Liked Me

My Art Teacher Had Said That If You Breathed Deeply And Imagined Something, You Could Be There. You Could See It, Feel It. During Our Standoffs With The Nkvd, I Learned To Do That. I Clung To My Rusted Dreams During The Times Of Silence. It Was At Gunpoint That I Fell Into Every Hope And Allowed Myself To Wish From The Deepest Part Of My Heart. Komorov Thought He Was Torturing Us. But We Were Escaping Into A Stillness Within Ourselves. We Found Strength There.

I Felt As If I Were Riding A Pendulum. Just As I Would Swing Into The Abyss Of Hopelessness, The Pendulum Would Swing Back With Some Small Goodness.