Читать книгу Tales of Ghosts. Playing Another Reality. Edgar Allan Poe award - Alexandra Kryuchkova - Страница 27

I loved my Mummy and cranberries in the swamp, and Masha adored Lapland deer fillets and French snails in a cafe on Rublyovka. How had I not guessed right away that nothing good would come of it again?

I was ten years older than her, not a bad age difference to make a girl obedient to me in everything, but I was awfully mistaken! Masha didn’t consider me a genius, and, even worse, she turned out to be completely unlike Mummy, although I checked their birthdays in advance before going on ‘the offensive’, that is, to get acquainted!

Why not? At that time, I was an enviable groom! – a free man, unburdened by children and alimony, with real estate in a swamp! A handsome man in his prime! Mummy had just died, so the meeting with Masha seemed very appropriate to me!

As for my ex-wife, everything immediately had gone wrong, because my parents, especially Mummy, didn’t like her. However, we had lived together for several years. Yes, we had got a son, but I never considered him as my child! Not because I was not his father (unimaginable!), I just didn’t feel anything for him: what he was, what he was not.

Thank God, I quickly got rid of them both, my wife and that son, and life returned to its previous course… with Mummy! Well, with dad also.

I lived in the swamp and picked cranberries. And when there were no cranberries in swamps, I got them out of our fridges, picked in season. If you eat cranberries all the time, you will never get sick! That’s what Mummy said. It’s an axiom! What is life without cranberries?

Masha seemed to be so quiet, so obedient, so … like Mummy! But for some reason, she loved Lapland deer fillet and French snails! I couldn’t understand why then! And, apparently, I will never understand. Why should I sponsor a cafe on Rublyovka? After all, you need, at least, to work for this. And am I a fool, or what, to work? I have never worked. As soon as I graduated from the institute, or rather dropped out, I never worked! Are you still plowing?

Here I am, a free artist. I create pictures and poems. Like Mummy! Yes, she always wrote something at night in her diary. I used to show her my poems. And she liked them. She always praised me. And once she said that I became a poet. So, I am a poet. Did Pushkin really work? No, he was creating! And so do I! And to create poetry, one needs peace. And no other work. Therefore, I quit the aviation institute as soon as Mummy considered me as a poet, and bought myself a disability!

My ex-wife, like most people, ‘plowed for her boss’, while I wondered, “Why does the Muse visit me so rarely?” However, it’s a sin to complain! In thirty-odd years I have written as many as 200 poems, but, of course, that’s nothing compared to how much cranberries I collected, measured in kilograms or in fridges where they are stored off-season.

So, one day I met Masha. In the swamp. Picking cranberries. I have a house in the swamp. There, you know, it is a huge no one’s land. Well… not no one’s land, but not wanted by anyone. Mummy was born in those swamps, however, their house hadn’t survived. I decided to make a gift to Mummy, so I built a small house on the no one’s land, almost a hut, but with a stove! For my Mummy and me. Well, for dad also. And when Mummy died, a place for Masha was vacated in the hut. Or rather, for someone who would be like Mummy and love cranberries. So, one day I was picking cranberries and noticed Masha.

I can see through people and immediately realized that Masha was also a poet. She was looking for her Muse in my swamp! And I went up to her. And we got talking. I suggested us picking cranberries together. In cranberry season. And in the off-season, getting it from my fridge. Rather, I have several refrigerators, hidden in the swamp, I think I’ve already told you, I bought them specifically for cranberries.

Masha laughed for some reason. Did I say something funny?! It was the first sign from Heaven that she was not like Mummy! Mummy had never laughed at me! Okay, I supposed that Masha was flirting with me like that and forgave her for the first time.

However, Masha really wrote poetry! I told you I can see right through people! And she gave me her book. About ghosts! Wow! And I immediately passed it to my dad for verification… whether he would like her poetry or not. As a result, dad blessed me, and I went on the offensive!

Masha lived in the city. Sometimes in summer she stopped by a cafe on Rublyovka to eat a fillet of Lapland deer or French snails, and she came to my swamp by chance, while visiting distant relatives.

So… I accomplished a feat! I had to come to the city from my swamp in order to walk Masha along Tverskaya street in the evening. You see, in winter, Masha was ‘plowing for her boss’ in a bookstore… to eat Lapland deer fillets and French snails occasionally in summer!

I remember we walked from Mayakovskaya to the Kremlin, discussing many details important to me. I asked where her mother had been buried and told about Mummy’s funeral. On the stretch from Mayakovskaya to Pushkinskaya, we discussed cemeteries, where the Muses are found, like in swamps, and from Pushkinskaya to the Kremlin, we talked about cranberries.

I must have awakened Masha’s appetite with that, but – God forgive me! – I didn’t pay much attention to the second sign from Heaven, I mean, Masha hinted that it would be nice to go to a cafe! To eat near the Kremlin or even on Tverskaya?! Thank you! Mummy had never eaten outside at all, not to mention Tverskaya or near the Kremlin! However, instead of immediately saying goodbye to Masha forever, I pretended not to notice her desire to have a bite. I brought her to the subway and returned to my swamp. By the way, I drive an antique parent’s car! Mummy loved it very much, so do I!

The cranberry season was still far away… and I felt sad. I sent Masha a letter from the swamp. And she dared to write me back… nothing!!! Then I got angry and sent her a postscript, “And just dare to say something bad about my mother! I will kill you!”

Okay, Masha hadn’t said anything bad about Mummy at that time, but I decided to warn her in advance, just to let her know! I hadn’t warned my ex-wife. And when, after several years of our life together, she dared to say that Mummy should finally let us live separately… Imagine! Who would have thought! How many years I had endured her!

However, Masha was silent again! I saw that she had received and read my message and the postscript to it!

I got furious!!! Mummy had reacted to all my messages with lightning speed! So I decided, knowing where and until what hour Masha worked, to secretly follow her in the evenings – from her office to her home – to see if my passion had anyone to eat together Lapland deer fillets and French snails!

Thank God, Masha and I had nothing special at that time, I mean, I hadn’t even touched her with a finger, not to mention all sorts of ‘veal tenderness’. Anyway, I had accomplished a whole feat, driving Mummy’s favorite car from the swamp to the city and back only to walk Masha along Tverskaya that evening!

I settled in with the homeless bums in the basement opposite the Masha’s house. Well, it was okay, I could bear it, since I started it for a good cause, to get know what to do with Masha… I told my dad that I was on a secret mission of special services, so I would be absent in our swamp for a while.

And so… a week later… I noticed that Masha met some sort of a girl of her age!.. And they went to a cafe… near the Kremlin!!!

“What a shit?! How did she dared to change me for a girl??? Mummy! Forgive me! Sorry! I dared to imagine that Masha is like you!!!”

I returned to the swamp and wept! The bright memory of my holy Mummy was instantly desecrated by the mere thought of a possible connection with such a dirty and vicious Masha! How could I have allowed such a sacrilegious black stain to appear?! Damn! It needed to be removed immediately! Once and forever!!!”

That evening I went to the city and ambushed Masha, who was returning home from work, at the entrance to her house. She even smiled at seeing me and said “Hi”, as if we had seen each other yesterday. I suggested talking in Mummy’s car. And – how lucky I was! – she agreed.

Of course, Masha said I was crazy, because that girl of her age had been just her cousin. But did Masha’s words give a 100% guarantee that there had been nothing between them – well, you know, what I mean! – as I returned to the swamp out of grief…

I don’t go to a cafe even with my brother! I haven’t seen him in ages. Since he got married. Yes, he is a traitor! Left Mummy! Swapped her for some…

Sorry, I was distracted from Masha!

She could tell me anything just to escape, as I had caught her like a bird in a cage, locking in Mummy’s favorite car, but Masha was completely different from Mummy! And I couldn’t… just couldn’t do otherwise! After all, Mummy had promised to watch over me from Heaven and to be always nearby! So, she knew that I… fell for Masha and imagined her in the place of Mummy!!! Oh, my God!!! Just the thought of it drove me crazy!

I took Masha to the swamp (naturally, we didn’t go into our family hut, so as not to desecrate it by her visit!), and then, when that disgustingly vicious woman was already dead, I got myself cranberries from the fridge and ate, and ate, and ate them so that not to catch a cold after another stress! – as Mummy had always advised me to do…

April 02, 2021