This terrible story took place in the fall, in the forests of the Leningrad region. And still I jump up in the night, shouting Martha, Martha …
In the autumn I went to the woods near our swamp for mushrooms. There weren't that many mushrooms that year. Well, anyway, I think I'll go, take a walk, get some fresh air. I was born and raised in the suburbs of Leningrad, from childhood, from morning to evening, I ran through the forest, through the swamp, and knew almost every bump there.
I walk along the grooves. I got to Marfina swamp. It is called that because there, during the Great Patriotic War, a girl drowned. My grandmother told me that when the Germans came to our village, they immediately began to take over.
The inhabitants were ordered - to whom to bring milk, to whom to bring eggs. For disobedience - punishment up to execution.
Many local residents went to live in the forest, in Vankin Log. Martha's parents were no exception. But they still could not save their daughter from death. Martha drowned in a swamp when she went to get some cloudberries. She left and did not return, only a basket and a handkerchief were then found in a swamp "window".
I walked through the forest, through the swamp, but there were no mushrooms. But it's warm, the cranes scandal. Okay! The air is clean - breathe deeply. Heart and soul just sing with joy.
I saw a girl in a sweatshirt walking ahead. I also thought: now no one wears sweatshirts. Anyway. I hear - sings, or what? I added a step - so it became curious who it was.
I walked fast, and she even faster. I hear - not singing, but laughing as if. Here curiosity finally sorted me out. I follow the girl, like an elk, right through. She also walks, but the distance does not decrease, and ahead is a clearing, an open area.
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So, I think I'll catch up with her there. I ran out into the clearing, and there was no one there. I shout, I call the girl, but only the wind makes a noise. It became somehow dark, uncomfortable. He looked around, but did not recognize the clearing.
The forest is definitely not ours. I stand and think: where am I? How many years I ran through the forest, I knew all the bumps, nooks and crannies, any tree, but here I don’t recognize - and that's it. I went north, knowing that our village should be there.
So I walked all night through the forest. Here, I think, is a familiar place, I come closer - no, I do not recognize. I got wet, I froze all over. Then I remembered how my grandmother taught: if you get lost in the forest, you need to take off your clothes, turn them inside out and put them on again. That's exactly what I did.
I go and read Our Father. An hour later I went out to a familiar place, finally recognized my forest, my swamp and could not understand how I could get lost.
When I came home, my family was in a panic. It turns out that they walked all night, they shouted at me. I told what happened to me. Mom decided that it was Martha who was taking me, and, thank God, she did not take me to the swamp.
This is how she lures the suitors. Two years ago, a young city guy went to the forest and never returned. They searched for it, but never found it.