“When you open the door to that fascinating world and set foot in wonderland, remember that adventures await you. Adventures can be found everywhere. Both in the palace of a magical princess and in a prison lost in the dark. Both in cheerful and colorful and sad and painful wonders… Adventures can also be found in your homeland thousands of miles away, where nature is angelic and unearthly, and even the sky reflects the pure beauty of its country.
Or perhaps you’ll find yourself in your homeland but at the wrong time… Maybe you will find yourself next to the heroic warriors of the sinister war, feeling the same pains that surrounded them throughout the war…
How horrifying it is when you see with your own eyes how your friend sacrifices himself for his homeland. Friendship is special, but there can be two types of friends in this situation. The first is when you abandon your friend and try to escape from that heartbreaking scene until the last second of your life, the agony and pain in your heart. And the second is when you run to your friend, cover him so that the weapons touch you, not him. You might lose your life, but your friend will be saved. The second one is a true friend. He puts his friend’s life before his own. This is what my hero cousin did, dying for his friend, for the sake of our motherland. His rescued friend, every morning, humbly expresses gratitude to God that he is alive.”
These wise lines are from the first page of my friend – a diary. Yes, a diary. You might think it is an ordinary journal lost at the back of a dusty shelf. You might think it is a masterpiece found in Anne Frank’s house. But there’s something very special about this diary. I remember my aghast face when I found this book. I wasn’t so excited about it at first, though. However, my face turned upside down when I heard it speak…. Speak! A diary that speaks…. A diary called “Kopteres”… It means grumpy face in Armenian.
This evil and cruel world is the brightest sadness. The dead smiley face turns from its own brightness into a very grumpy face. Just like that Kopteres. It tried to convince me yesterday that foxes are not shrewd. At that very moment, the beloved mother of the fox was trying to secretly enter the village head’s house and feed on the sleepiest and the tastiest chicken. Isn’t she savvy? My friend Kopteres tries to convince me that supposedly…
“It’s not like that,” Kopteres said angrily from the side.
“OK, OK! Let it be so. He tries to convince that the mother fox just wanted to feed her cubs. But the reality was a 180° rotation of….”
“No, it’s not 180,” the fire went out of his ears.
“Okay, Kopteres, let it be that the sad reality is turned at 179°. When you feel that reality is rotated by 179°, you don’t shudder anymore, you don’t worry about various details anymore. You don’t cry bitterly anymore, you don’t feel guilty for all your sins… Oh, that reality is painful, but no matter what you do, you cannot change it. Kopteres, don’t get upset, don’t be angry, but it is a fact that the mother fox ate the chicken in its place. I mean, he didn’t eat, he devoured.”
“That’s enough, that’s enough,” Kopteres hit the roof, “why do you always have to exaggerate things. He was just tasting. Enough! You are ‘Sutasan’. ‘Sutlik Vorskan!’1”
“See? That’s why your name is Kopteres….”
“You don’t even know that. “Kopteres,”- he cried bitterly, trying to copy me as much as possible.
“If you had told me, I would have known.”
”If you told me, I would know,” mocked Kopteres, “but have you ever asked me to tell?”
“Please, Kopteres, tell me the story of your name.”
“I won’t tell.”
“Please…. I’m begging you desperately!”
“Okay, okay. I’ll tell you.”
“Well, start. Who are you waiting for?”
“So… My story has to do with a powerful man. He created me. He was Kop Teres. Kop is the first name, Teres is the last. He was such a kind and generous person. One day he decided to take the thread and the needle and sew a book. And that book is placed in front of you today. You named me Kopteres, which is the name of my author. And my name is actually ‘Diary’. You, the one called ‘my best and closest friend’, don’t even know my real name. And you’re my ‘best friend’?,” it cried almost in tears.
“Okay, umm, what was it? Oh yes – Diary! Diary, don’t cry, calm down, let me open the door to such a miracle like you.”
“You can’t,” he said gloomily.
“Why?”
“It’s a secret. Now it’s time to sleep. Take me and put me in the bookcase.”
Picking up and putting the Diary in its warm, but not soft bed, I also fell. Except not in the bed, but in my torrential thoughts. What secret did the Diary contain? It is strange, very strange! At that moment I wanted to put all my eggs in one basket in order to know the secret of that mysterious diary. Does that secret have anything to do with me? Maybe my little sister? What if it is about my mother? I have no idea! Eh… It’s one o’clock, but not in the afternoon. I need to sleep. I laid in my bed. And no matter how warm and pleasant that corner was, I still couldn’t sleep. That secret, which contained that wonder in itself, gave rise to various thoughts, doubts, and reflections. Should I go and reveal the secret? My first self said: “Of course, what are you waiting for? Open that surprise up!” The second said: “Be patient. The morning will open, you will try to ask and experiment with the Diary. If he doesn’t answer your questions, you will open it and find out.” On the other hand, I was worried because of my last name. Everyone in our house was Teres, right? What if it had something to do with my family? After that second I felt a wave of exhaustion on me. Consciousness began to betray slowly. My eyes gradually closed and I went out like a candle.
It was happening at school. Bunch of children were running around. But all this seems to have happened decades ago. The walls were not so nice and bright. The furniture was raggedy. The students were sitting and there seemed to be an exam. There were pens prancing in everyone’s hands. They were moving fast enough. In the corner of the room there was a table that was a little different from the student table and incomparably bigger. Next to it was placed a high and rather luxurious chair, but no one was sitting there. Why didn’t the students take advantage of the opportunity to help each other and cheat? They have gone bananas! Wasn’t the teacher in the classroom? Had everyone prepared so well that they didn’t even have time to cheat? Not time, but even need….
Suddenly, a loud bang was heard in the room. It was not ordinary, it felt like it had escaped from the horror castle. That sound was so clear and sharp that even the fly, which was buzzing the whole time and disturbing the rapid flow of that respectable silence, simply fell down in fear. The pens stopped immediately. Everyone’s face turned in an instant…. But when he announced that there were only five minutes left until the end of the exam, only the speed of light was faster than those speedy pens…
To Be Continued…
1)“Sutasan” and “Sutlik Vorskan” are two famous characters in stories of Hovhannes Tumanyan (a famous storyteller in Armenian history). These two words basically mean “Liars” in Armenian.