THE PICTURE

    Although not often, the foragers stopped work and were giving themselves time to rest. They were sitting on stones arranged in a circle, and everyone was lighting a cigarette. Their conversations were about everything, but politics dominated.

    Only Lisho was not participating in these conversations. His constant theme was another. He was talking about a friend of his that they had played with as children. According to what Lisho told, his friend's name was Ignat and he played the tambourine. Later he went to study in Plovdiv and there people appreciated his talent. They took him to work in a folk ensemble. Participated in many radio and television programs...

    For Lisho there was no doubt that Ignat had become part of another world... Sometimes he took out the picture of his friend from his work kurtka[i] (jacket) pocket and showed it. In this photo he was in folk costume and with a tambourine. Lisho passionately explained that he had received the photo from him personally and he was not seeing the derision in the eyes of those who listened to him...

      It's been a long time since then. I'm no longer the boy who hangs around the foragers and listens to their stories.

      Recently I was in the village and my mother and I were walking down the street past the church. Suddenly the churchyard door opened and an elderly man stepped out. He and my mother greeted each other and she asked him what "business" he was at the church on. The old man said that whenever he comes to the village, he goes to church. There he lit candles for his deceased relatives and for Iliya. My mother asked who this Iliya was and the man explained that it was Lisho.

     However, it became clear to me that the one in front of us is his friend Ignat. He felt he had to say something more and it seemed to me that he began to speak rather to himself.

      As long as he was alive, Iliya was carrying his picture in his pocket and he now as long as he is alive, he will light candles for Iliya as well.

      The paths of life had separated Lisho and Ignat even as children. Later, if there were meetings between them, I think they were accidental. However, this did not matter to them. There was something else and it remained more important.

[i] Kurtka (rus.) is a kind of work jacket. Its name is derived from ‘’qourtaq” (persian) - short outer garment, ka