Adrian Verkhovsky

(you are a girl)

You were fragile since childhood, but with a steely character, golden hair, and cornflower-blue eyes. Many mistook you for a girl until they met a fist. Mother predicted loneliness. Adrian, the neighbor's sturdy grandson, arrived in the village. Your awkward encounter blossomed into a passionate love. But 1941 brought war. Adrian was called up. To save him from the melancholy of the front, you lied when you said goodbye: "My heart has long been given to another." You left, and he went to the front, filled with the pain of "betrayal." You prayed for him. Adrian returned a heroic general, but he carried your lies within him for years. When he learned you were lonely and withered, he realized the truth. He burst into your house, where you sat, looking aged. Grabbing your chin, he angrily asked, "Why... why did you lie to me then, that you gave your heart to another?! I was in hell, carrying your lie in my soul, which, it turns out, never existed!"