Book of Burned Bridges The Heathrow arrivals hall is a fluorescent dawn after so many nights of myth. I stand still just past the immigration gates, letting the static-pated crowd flow around me—families, suits, tourists blinking at arrival boards. I am unaccompanied: Tarmo had cajoled, pleaded for me to board his Zurich-bound jet, but I’d…
Tag: travel
The COMC Files: The Pivot
The Living Thread A pale sun claws over the ridge, sending light in trembling bands through the narrow window, gilding the swirl of smoke in the hearth. I take my coffee black—the only appropriate colour for a woman straddling the border of legend—and stack my notebooks, pencils, and a battered digital recorder. The villagers have…
The Myth Mapping Protocol
Zurich: Trust Amellal, 4:59 AM Tarmo leaves the blue-lit command centre on autopilot, muttering something to Sandi about “ten minutes.” The corridors outside feel colder, emptier—a different planet from the round-the-clock surveillance inside. He bypasses the kitchenette, shuffles into the locker-room showers, and starts the water scalding hot, as if heat and steam could cleanse…
The COMC Files: Blue light
Trust Amellal, Zurich Headquarters The command centre is flooded with blue light and sleep deprivation. Tarmo stands above three monitors—one cycling through riverbank thermal images, another frozen on a grainy satellite view of the Carpathians, a third pulsing with encrypted alerts from half a dozen agencies. His broad, pale face—so often unreadable—now bears twin crescents…
The Chronicles of a Memory Cartographer: Transylvania
While Karim secures our exit and radios Mikael, Sandi, and I move through the manor—door by door, hope burning with each threshold crossed. Whether Tarmo waits in chains or cowering in decades-old terror, I won’t abandon this borderland until we’ve carved our own ending into history. I slam through the study door, lungs burning, sweat…
The Chronicles of a Memory Cartographer: Lake Tarnita
Outside, the first bells ring through the valley, signalling not only another day, but also the pressing weight of what lies ahead. After breakfast, I slip on my jacket and gather the day’s documents:CYcrds identification, clearly visiblefresh grant letters bearing European emblemsa thick folder filled with signed permissions from museums, schools, and council offices—thanks, naturally,…
The Chronicle of a Memory Cartographer: Odoreu
I let Karim’s hand settle in mine, guiding him into the sparse hush of my room. The shadows shift as we draw the curtains, leaving only a sliver of moonlight across the bed—enough to see how hunger and doubt flicker in his eyes. We don’t speak. The space between us is already thick with memories:…
The Chronicle of a Memory Cartographer: Romania
Stories and Suspicion at Europe’s Edge The journey carries us into Ružomberok. Hills close in—dark and wild, as if the old stories about mountain spirits and forest witches linger here longer than in other places. The streams are rowdy, climbing over their own stones, reminding me of tales where rivers could be both guide and…
The C.O.M.C. Files 