When my middle brother was born, which happened in the summer, we went to visit my mother (and my brother, who at the time was still a completely incomprehensible being and remained so for a long time after that) in hospital. I remember very little of the visit, some window in the wall, some people dressed in white and my mother in the window showing us my brother in her outstretched hands, like a trophy which was still slightly bloody. I wasn't all that impressed by all of this. I was a bit bored and wanted to go home.

But after leaving the hospital we found ourselves at a parish fair. There were stalls with lots of wonderful, dazzling things. I was told I could pick something for myself. I was running from stall to stall for a long while until I finally decided on a green snake with red eyes and a peacock pattern on its body. By holding the tail and moving the hand only slightly, it was possible to make the snake wiggle. He was alive. He instilled fear, but not in me – I was his friend and he was my ally. Over time, he lost most of his body and with it – some of the mobility. But not its allure.

The hiatus is over. The powers that be have reached an agreement, I’m not going to dwell on it. I’m carrying on, the première day is on the horizon.

(transl. Magdalena Małek-Andrzejowska)