The Forgotten Fire by Nick Peskind

"We wrapped our brothers in blankets, and lowered them into the earth. My grandmother read from the bible, and Oskina placed a wood cross at the head of each grave." (P.19)

nickpeskind — 2014-05-08 02:56:51 UTC

Group Affiliation

(Photograph from Vicki Knitorious)

"Amenouhi shook her head, and then she began to moan, and I saw the bag of poison beside her on the floor. Armenouhi did not answer; she could not speak." (P.38)

nickpeskind — 2014-05-08 03:00:20 UTC

Personal Choice

(Photograph from Tampa Poison Prevention Center)

"I wanted to tell Sisak that I could not go on. But somehow, I kept walking. And when I could no longer walk as myself, I pretended that I was my father." (P.56)

nickpeskind — 2014-05-08 03:06:49 UTC

Group Affiliation

(Photograph from The Road Less Traveled)

"I wish I could tell you that I discovered reserves of courage inside myself that I had never suspected, and that I became at last my father's son. But I didn't. I started down the street, trying to shrug of my fear, trying to find my father inside me, but he wasn't there; no one was there." (P.82)

nickpeskind — 2014-05-08 03:13:33 UTC

Personal Choice

(Photograph by Juergen Horn in Istanbul)

"I prayed for Oskina and my mother and Sisak and myself. I prayed over and over until all my prayers became the one prayer 'G'aghachem'- which I said until I slept." (P.84)

nickpeskind — 2014-05-08 09:38:10 UTC

Group Affiliation

(Photograph from The Orthodox Portal)

"That was the smart thing to do, the safe thing to do. The problem was, I did not want to be smart. The problem was, I had spent the last seven days in a closet and I could not stay in this house a moment longer." (P.85)

nickpeskind — 2014-05-08 09:45:16 UTC

Personal Choice

(Photograph from English Russsia)

"What did I have to fear? By the time I heard the shots, I would be dead; by the time I felt the sword, I would be with my family again." (P.93)

nickpeskind — 2014-05-08 09:53:44 UTC

Group Affiliation

(Photograph from Chasseurs de Memoire)

I opened my eyes, I knew then, hopelessly, that dying on this bench in the auditorium was out of the question. I had to escape. (P97)

nickpeskind — 2014-05-08 09:58:19 UTC

Personal Choice

(Photograph from The History of Oldbury)

"I was not a beggar, but as I watched the children that I would beg, that I had to beg. It was not a decision that I questioned or doubted, but a fact as real and as stark as my empty stomach." (P. 102)

nickpeskind — 2014-05-08 10:06:38 UTC

Personal Choice

(Photograph from Gregor Younger)

"If He asked me if I liked living in a stable, I would say 'No' or 'No, sir.' If he asked me why, I would say, 'because my mother and father did not raise me to live in a stable sir.'" (P. 117)

nickpeskind — 2014-05-08 10:14:19 UTC

Group Affiliation

Photograph from StableExpress.com

"'In this world,' he told me, 'there is no such thing as a country or a flag or a right or a wrong cause. There is only yourself. You are your own flag, your own cause and country. No one will care if you were a patriot or an honest man. All they will see is a beggar.'" (P. 124)

nickpeskind — 2014-05-08 10:18:10 UTC

Personal Choice

(Photograph from The Denver Post)

"I walked humbly, with my head bowed, even when the man and his wife were not in site. I was afraid even to look at his garden , afraid to utter a word, afraid that his eyes and ears were everywhere." (P. 149)

nickpeskind — 2014-05-08 10:27:26 UTC

Group Affiliation

(Painting by George Morland)

"In the eyes of all Turks, the physically or mentally infirm were friends with God, and therefore deserving of such kindness. As long as they believed I could not hear them or speak a single word, I would be safe." (P. 157)

nickpeskind — 2014-05-08 10:46:53 UTC

Group Affiliation

(Photograph by Daniel Nadler)

"I followed the dirt path to the old mans garden , where I could see his precious tomatoes growing plump on the vine. I reached out and picked one, smelled its ripeness, placed between my palms, and pressed until it burst in my hands. I set it down carefully in the soil where the old man would be sure to see it." (P. 152)

nickpeskind — 2014-05-08 10:53:56 UTC

Personal Choice

(Photograph from Luke Bush)

"I knew I should leave, but I did not know where to go. Without this village, I would have no home. I would have the streets to beg on and roads where the dead were not burried." (P. 169)

nickpeskind — 2014-05-08 10:58:35 UTC

Group Affiliation

(Photograph from Saed Bannoura)

"I would leave him tomorrow whether or not I had a place to go. I would not allow myself to be a danger to him and Serop any longer. (P. 190)

nickpeskind — 2014-05-08 11:03:24 UTC

Personal Choice

(Photograph by Bi Mingxin)