Tai (*english version, 28 illustrations)

Chapter 1 – S̄ụ nā miTo Maria Mazur, my beloved wife and guardian muse.You’re my endless inspiration, lighting and warming my soul.My very first reader.Without you, this novel would never come to beand my smiles would’ve been fewer and farther between.Phuket Island, ThailandDecember 2004International HospitalMother’s voice comforted Slava. Nothing bad could possibly come to him with her by his bedside.“So you stay here overnight, Slava,” she told him. “It’s not that bad. You’re big enough to manage. We’ll come in the morning and take you home.”A boy of ten, Slava felt chilly from the burn ointment over his itching skin. As the medicine they’d given him was taking effect, he was overcame by an urge to sleep.For the first time since their family had come to Thailand, he made no attempt to argue. That surprised Alyona, his younger sister, so much that she stared at him with pitiful eyes.Hi…