written by Maria Grigoriadi
Gargling stream is the water that crosses her bare legs. She cries not because she is in pain or because she is afraid for herself but because she fears if she will succeed in her most important role. She knows it she feels it her life is changing radically. A pain so sharp as if a butcher had just grabbed her in the stomach. She screams again. Louder than before, a scream that makes everybody want to scream. Now it is 'a patchwork, fear, agony and pain, all become one within her. Her husband is listening. He yells forthe maid to come as internally he begs this miracle that was about to appear to be a boy. The maid came. She finds her lying down, screaming in pain. The hours pass, she sweats, it hurts more now. She screams, squeaks, puts her fingernails in the mattress and cries. After a while- she dared to say that this birth lasted a lifetime, she hears crying. Crying redemptive, crying that redeems her. She and the baby are fine. The maid hands her the baby and she hugs it. But she does not care to see whether it's a son or a daughter, the creature God has given her, she only embraces it and kisses it with the few powers she has left. She hears her husband's voices. He cursed. Her, him, the maid, their newborn child, his misfortune and God who gave him a daughter. He is furious. This is how she learned that her child is a girl. That one day her too will hurt, as she did a while ago. She hugs her tightly and cries with her out of joy, but because she also knows what awaits her. The maid enters her chamber again - Well done my daughter she cried. Despite what she was put through by her husband because she gave birth to a daughter she adored her child more than any of her possessions. Every day she watched her grow.
This is just a piece from the text Maria Grigoriadi originally wrote in greek. Unfortunately, the rest has not been translated.
The painting from our cover is: “Maternal Affection” by Georgios Iakovidis