The year that President Putin invaded Ukraine (the first time), Russians from the former Soviet Union magically appeared in a restaurant called love when my immigration problems forced me to sublet my apartment in Paris, France. In my kitchen the warmest shade of yellow in the glow of a yellow lampshade, I was initiated on a kind of warrior’s path when my lithe and lethal roommate Sonya found out I studied clowning.
“This is very important,” she lifted her finger from my kitchen table.
“Why?”
“You will bring the message to the people in their language.”
An extraordinary thief/the underground justice keeper of Paris, France goes on an amazing journey to leave that life behind, and I guide a Ukrainian refugee through a terrifying hallucination he has on the run from war.
I find a family—underground—as my dream of living in Paris comes to an end. See a side of Paris both chic and off-beat in a heartwarming, enchanted, and unexpected alliance made with love.
