Читать книгу Tales of Ghosts. Playing Another Reality. Edgar Allan Poe award - Alexandra Kryuchkova - Страница 30

“I will do it instead of her!” Tanya said, stopping me with a gesture. She turned twelve years old that day.

***

We got acquainted in the bakery across from our office, where Nastya baked amazing buns. That evening, as usual, she knocked on the door and came into my office.

“Hello!” I said automatically, continuing to leaf through the mail, and Nastya silently stood at the table with the hope that I would honor her with a look after all.

She was unusually beautiful that day. Something seemed to have changed in her.

“What’s happened, dear?”

Nastya smiled enigmatically, nodded and, coming closer to me, sat down on the edge of the table. I frantically ran through the options in my head. A new dress? No. Had she changed hairstyle? Makeup? What was the difference?

“Don’t torture me, I’m tired, give me a hint!”

Nastya took my hand and ran it over her tummy.

“We love you!”

I was breathless with joy. Finally!

***

Tanya was always a joy to us, she grew up before our eyes, being a beautiful, cheerful and smart, albeit wayward girl. She drew wonderful pictures, played music and figure skating, studied foreign languages. We loved her, spoiling in every possible way. She, my long-awaited child, knew no refusal in anything.

***

Nastya came to the window. It was pouring rain outside.

“You know, Boris… I dreamed about my mother last night. She said that we would have a girl, and she would look like me. For some reason, my mother began to cry, then she added something, something important, but I didn’t catch it. She was called somewhere, and I woke up.”

“Darling,” I went up to Nastya and hugged her tightly, “you have no right to think about anything bad! My daughter will be the most beautiful, the smartest, the happiest, the richest! All that’s required of you now is to take care of yourself! My baby is supposed to be born healthy, so you have no right to worry! You have to live for her now!”

“Yes, okay,” Nastya said, turning to face me.

She loved me too much to think about our future. It would work out by itself somehow.

All that time I was extremely affectionate and caring with Nastya, turning the months of waiting for my daughter into a real fairy tale. Nastya dreamed of my coming to the hospital and taking Tanya in my arms, of going for walks in the park, and then… Nastya adored the sea, she wished one day I would take them to have a rest on a distant island where the three of us would be together… and happy, of course…

***

Tanya adored the sea, so we always took her with us on vacation to exotic islands. It was there, on a distant island, during celebration of another Tanya’s birthday, of the 10^th one, that she first had the dream, which she never told us about. I remember my daughter looked depressed. I should have paid attention and asked her about it after all…

***

I took Nastya to an expensive maternity hospital to the doctor, a friend of mine, where, after numerous examinations, a caesarean section was considered necessary to be performed. I held Nastya’s hand, saying goodbye.

“Everything will be fine! You’ll see! You don’t have to worry! I’ll stay by your side during the operation and after it… Don’t worry, honey! I’ll do everything to make my girl happy!”