If nothing bad is said about the dead, then about ghosts - one continuous negative. They do not give life, they frighten the children, then they gnawed someone's neck. All of them were once among the living, rejoiced in life and in due time left their mortal body. But … for unknown reasons they stayed in the middle world.
Aunt Zina loved her husband very much. Clara, when she grew up, was told that when she was still in school, she glared at him and ran after the hoton to see furtively how he returned with the big girls from the local disco. Igor was known as the first guy in the village, he is handsome, he is sweet in speech, and he has a decent character. Rather, he was like that until he married aunt Zina. She grew up, stretched out, prettier. Well, youth itself is beautiful. Then he noticed her.
For three years, Zina gave birth to two boys and a little girl Clara. At first, the young dad was somehow spinning, earning, and then he took and sat on his wife's neck. He began to drink, glancing at the young people who flocked around him and giggled disgustingly. The first time he struck in a drunken stupor. The next day he apologized, said that it was accidental, out of stupidity. And one night, when he came home, he beat me with a mop, pulled him by the hair so that the bundle remained in his hands, and went to his drinking companions.
Aunt Zina lay motionless until the first roosters, the little ones squeezed into a corner and, crying, fell asleep. And in the morning she packed her things and went to the regional center, closer to her relatives.
The grandmother felt sorry for her daughter, supported her as best she could. Six months later, she was gone. We bought an old house, but our own. Zinaida worked at two enterprises: during the day she knocked on a typewriter, and in the evening she waved a mop. The children helped with the cleaning, and everyone went home together.
The new house looked gloomy, and life was not easy. The milk turned sour in a matter of hours, breathed with dampness and some unpleasant chill. Maybe that's why the children ran after her, did not want to be alone. And the hostess herself felt that something was wrong. With the onset of autumn days, the fear intensified. At night, dishes clanged in the kitchen, doors slammed shut by themselves. Zinaida heard everything, but could do nothing. I was terribly tired. Once I woke up and saw that the light was on in the room, and someone was walking along the corridor. She wanted to get up, but the desire to sleep was stronger. This someone approached and began to stomp. "If only he hadn't killed," thought aunt Zina and immediately fell asleep.
In the morning I found purple stripes on my legs, as if they were tightly squeezed by my hand. The woman took the children to kindergarten and ran for her typewriter. At night I slept badly, doors banged again, and howling was heard. And there was also an unpleasant rustle, as if nails were sharpening under the bed. The whole family began to sleep together. Warmer and less scary.
That weekend morning, a neighbor dropped in and, burning with curiosity, asked: is it good to live in a new place? The house had been rented out earlier, and all the tenants eventually fled, complaining about the old man who shuffled around the house and squeezed the guests out of the light. Aunt Zina just shrugged her shoulders. In the evening a light bulb burned out in the corridor. Clara was ill, the whole body of the girl was on fire. Zinaida put her sons in the next bed, measured her daughter's temperature. Strength seemed to be running out, I wanted to cry. She woke up from the fact that the blanket was pulled down. Black fingers caught the edge of the white duvet cover. Aunt Zina closed her eyes and pleadingly said: “Please do not offend us! I have nowhere to go! I have three children … My husband beats. Sobbed, trying to hold back the flow of tears, but to no avail. As if a huge pit of water had collapsed. Through the tears she couldn't stopshared her life. And for a long time she sobbed, falling asleep.
Promotional video:
“After that night, no one bothered us,” Clara says with a smile. Now in this house, she has matured and lives with her husband, two children and mother. The brothers have their own homes, families, but they are frequent guests of a cozy hospitable home.
Lena EGOMINA