From the school years of the 80s to the Bosnian civil war in the 90s and Athens in the early 2000s, Thodoris explores the family trauma: the resounding absence of the father, the transformation of his older brother Nikos into Nikiforos, the silent mourning of the mother. And all this in an environment where questions are never asked and answers are never given.

A novella about the difficult coming of age of two brothers and the unbreakable bonds of blood against the backdrop of the echo of a war that refuses to fade.

"Mother is waiting for me with her hand shading her eyes. [...] She has, as usual, a lit cigarette in her mouth; every now and then she flicks the ash into the ashtray. The strong light accentuates the lines around her tight mouth. I take a pack of cigarettes out of my jacket pocket, ask her for a lighter.

"You smoke? Since when?" she asks as I light up.

I shrug, blow out the smoke.

"Every visit a surprise?" she asks.

"Maybe".

We stay there for a while. Silent, smoking.

The sun is starting to set now. Her shadow - and mine - as the day fades, lengthens over the courtyard tiles, which have been waiting for years for someone to whitewash them."