I was about ten then. My brother and I were sent on vacation to the village. I remember we went for a walk, and it was already evening when he said to me: "Let's race home?" We walked along the main road, fields stretched to either side.
My brother darted through the thick cornbeds. So it was shorter, I knew it. He was the first to choose a successful path, leaving me in a fool. Of course, I didn't want to lose, and it would be a great victory to beat my older brother. I remembered how my dad took me fishing. There, through the swamps, the road to the house is greatly reduced.
Parents were not allowed to go there without adults. I myself understood that it was dangerous. But the anticipation of victory was already obscuring my eyes. After a quarter of an hour I was already stamping my feet in the wet grass and every now and then clapping mosquitoes. Frogs croaked everywhere, and there was an unpleasant smell, such as can only be found in swamps. It was only then that I noticed how it darkened sharply. It's amazing how such a coward even dared to go this way?
My grandmother always said that one should not be afraid of the dead, but of the living. I didn't understand it then. I saw demons everywhere, Satan. And although I did not really understand the meaning of the latter, it made me terrified. And how surprised I was when I met a man. It was a man. He was fishing near the shore. I remember that I also thought that mosquitoes and gadflies in his cloak must not bother him at all.
The hood completely covered the face so that it was impossible to see it at dusk. He was sitting on a log, holding a fishing rod in his hand. It seemed strange to me that it was thrown not far, quite near the coast. Whom did he hope to catch there?
He hardly moved, so I did not notice how I came close to him. From the depths of his hood came the words: “You have to take a different path. It is impossible here. His voice sounded even, monotonous. However, he made no movement.
The joy of meeting a person was replaced by a vague understanding that something was wrong. At ten, I could not think of anything terrible, but it might have occurred to me that this was some kind of mischievous uncle, like, for example, the old woman of the neighborhood. There was not a day when she, sitting on her bench, did not frighten at least one child. All the time he says that he will steal. And I decided that either he was joking, or God knows what! But I didn't want to go back, there were five minutes of walking left.
I made a movement back, as if I decided to return. And then she rushed forward, leaving the fisherman behind. But after running only a few meters, something made me turn around. And what I saw then puzzled me very much. The man no longer sat by the green shore, and some small lights flew over the swamp, like fireflies, only brighter. In the fog, they resembled the Milky Way. There seemed to be trees and reeds. But I seemed to be looking at everything through a dull glass. Everything was somehow vague and vague.
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I ran forward. When I managed to get out of the swamps, it seemed to brighten. As if the night had receded. I had a couple of minutes left - to pass the apple bushes, and the house would appear. But something was wrong. Instead of a grove, there were only a few old apple trees, and around just a couple of young shoots. However, I had no time for that. I really wanted to get home. And this vanilla sunset never passed. Usually the sun does not stay in this position for long, but it was the same when my brother and I scattered to the sides.
So there is a cornfield in the eyes, a brother drowning in it, and a sunset. The sun was setting unusually beautifully, illuminating the entire surface with a scarlet color. It was the same now. I walked along the deserted street and was surprised at the silence. Not a single dog barked, no cows were driven from the pastures. There were no people. My feet were already trampling the road of the main street, and I saw my house. But he, like everyone else, seemed somehow new. As if it was built just a few years ago. Each had curtains drawn, no lights were on in the windows.
The gates of each courtyard were closed. When I got to mine, I found that my gate was also locked. First I called my grandmother, then I tried to call the dog. Through the fence slot, I saw a chain going into the booth. But from its depths the darkness looked at me. The fence was tall and made of sheets of metal. It was impossible to climb over it. When I threw stones, they seemed to be sucked in by a black hole. No matter how big the stone was, it was buried in the courtyard and the sound of landing was not heard. And no matter how I shouted and called people, silence was my answer.
I have done this with every yard, but in vain. Meanwhile, the sun did not even think to set. It seemed that time had stopped. And the whole world was as if enveloped in a scarlet silk tablecloth. Even the clouds froze. A few hours later, when there was nothing to cry with, it occurred to me to go back. There were some trees growing in the swamps, and everywhere there was tall grass so that it seemed to be darkening again. Above the surface of the muddy water, some lights still hovered, circling in the milky space. And everything was as if on a canvas painted with oil paints.
It was painful to look at everything, my head was spinning. I reached the place where the man was sitting on the log. Blink of an eye - and I take a step. As if I'm crossing a certain line. And as if it became easier to breathe. Turning around, I saw a fisherman. He was sitting in a place where a second ago there was no one. And the world has taken on a natural look. The fisherman did not move, and the float sticking out of the water near the shore did not even twitch.
For some reason, it took me into my head to go the wrong way as I came here. I walked around the swamps, not in width, but in length. There, through the apple tree, you can go out onto the road where my brother and I parted. And although this path took me at least an hour, I wanted to see what trees are here? The apple tree was fine, exactly as I saw it yesterday.
Going out onto the main road, I saw people ahead. For some reason, the sun was slightly higher than in that world. And in the two men walking in front, I found a resemblance to myself and my brother. The boy nudged the girl lightly on the shoulder, just as his brother did to me, and rushed across the cornfield. And the girl, standing for a moment, rushed towards the swamps. When they had already fled, I reached the place of their separation.
Looking up, I saw the familiar scarlet sunset. The boy was drowning in corn. Something began to clear up in my head. And I slowly wandered home along the road, without any shortcut. I was at home, full of triumph, brother.
After a while, I think: what if I caught up with that girl, that is, myself? If I told you not to go through the swamps, would I disappear?
Author: Valeria