The Lost Switch (2010) is a collection of short stories and graphic art by young writer and artist Edvin Aedma. Edvin graduated from the University of Tartu with a B.A. degree in semiotics and culture studies and later a Master’s degree in English translation (2009). His friend JP Hallas describes him as an “unnaturally” happy, serene and multitalented person who has made promising first steps in a variety of genres, including theatre, music, games, stand-up comedy and animated movies. Here on our blog, we are starting a 3-part series presenting a fine selection of Edvin Aedma’s minimalistic art.
I tell Chris
Tomorrow, I will tell Chris that I don’t love her any more.
I have it all worked out.
I will wake up before she does and go to the bathroom naked. I will brush my teeth, take a shower and then dress. She will be in her room, lying in her bed with a book.
She will yell “Good morning…!” as she hears my barefoot walking.
I will reply her, perhaps in a tone more gentle than usual, but I won’t go to her door yet. I will think one more time if I’m doing the right thing and then I will go to her door.
The sun is shining through the windows and she is lying half-naked in bed.
“I don’t love you anymore.” I say.
Or “I love you.”
The 1000 Year Old Couple
An old man is sitting at the table with his wife. They are both a thousand years old and very, very slow. They stare at the two worn out bowls in front of them. The bowls are filled with dust-dry oatmeal that once used to be a soup. The table under the bowls is similarly dry, but also covered with a thick layer of moss.
The old man slowly turns his eyes towards his wife. The person sitting across the table is like a statue made of leather and bones. Yet she is alive and stares at her bowl of oatmeal. Realizing he is looking at her, she raises her gaze and looks back at her husband.
Their thoughts are like two echoes in a great, grand castle. A castle made of countless long, rich years. The castle has finally become so great that no king or queen could ever grasp the whole of it’s grandure.
But when their eyes meet, something changes in their thoughts. Something very small and silent. Something in the back of their minds making its way to their consciousness, into the silence at the dinner table. And finally, it is there.
They recognize each other. They remember their long journeys and adventures, the hundreds of of years spent together, their children and countless grandchildren, the dinner table that they made just a few hundred years ago, and finally the soup, now in oatmeal form, in front of them. They smile to each other and slowly, very slowly continue their dinner.
You are welcome to discuss these stories with the author and other fans, as well as order the book on Facebook.