Читать книгу Chronicles of the coast, or a ray of sunshine in the semi-darkness. Fantasy - Larisa Sugatova - Страница 5

I was jumping on mossy rocks in a shallow place of a fast but shallow river. To get to the village, you had to cross it. It is not wide, you could jump on large stones without even getting your feet wet. Someone laid them out one by one, like a bridge. I felt just like some kind of caveman in the wilderness.

I moved to the other side, found a barely noticeable path that went slightly away from the shore, but almost along the river, then it turned sharply to the left.

What is this, what kind of settlement is strange? Huts, some low, squat. In some places there was a faint smoke, as if a furnace was being heated. There is no electricity here. In summer, stoves are heated, probably to cook food. I haven’t seen any poles with wires anywhere. Gee, how is this possible at the end of the twentieth century?

In the village, I got into conversation with the women standing at one of the houses. None of them had heard anything about the factory on the shore. This caused me bewilderment, rather even a slight shock. Soon I was all agitated and panic seized me, why at the mention of the word «phone» they look at me like a Neanderthal? Have I grown horns?

Several women sitting on the bench told me that I had confused something. Two men approached. They confirmed the women’s words. I had already stopped asking, it was as if someone had put cotton wool in my ears, people were opening their mouths, saying something, and I was sitting and looking at them, there was only one thing in my head: «No! It can’t be! This can’t be happening.»

I wandered back. At least Grandma won’t have curious eyes watching me, because I aroused such interest with my questions. I have always been confused by the attention of strangers, and especially in such a situation. They won’t understand me, everything is fine with them, it’s not clear how I got here, I have to get out of it.

«Why me? Why did this happen to me? It’s not fair!»

Fear shackled me. «I will stay here forever! My life is over.»

And I returned to the hut on the bend of the river. Grandma Lisa welcomed me with open arms:

– Now I won’t be lonely on long winter evenings.

What? Long winter evenings? No! I need to return by that time not just to the fishermen’s village, but also to take a boat, that is, to sail away from the island, and then also to fly by plane. And I can only sail away before the start of the storm season. It was even scary to imagine that I would meet the New Year here, although it was at least interesting to be in a snow-covered forest with towering cedars and fir trees, but it’s better not here and not now.

With my grandmother, we talked about current problems and affairs. She knew a lot about everyday life and taught me. I learned how to brew the same delicious herbal drink as hers from St. John’s wort, oregano, thyme and various berries. My grandmother collected herbs herself even before my appearance, we collected some together.

I wasn’t alone, we talked a lot. She spoke mostly, I haven’t quite got used to it yet, I often tried to recall every minute of the last two days, to understand what happened.

The old lady told me about this strange island. A few centuries ago, all the inhabitants were united under one ruler, but neighboring villages still fought among themselves. Then the people elected a head in each village and concluded a peace treaty between the villages of the Kalshires and the Tariyans. She is a Tariq, her village is located across the river, where I went. The Kalshirs live a couple of days away from here, that’s if you walk. Now in each village there is a chief who manages the settlement. In general, Grandma Lisa turned out to be a very kind and pleasant woman.

Not far from the place where we lived, I found a large lake with clear, clear water. I liked to sit on the shore for a long time, hanging my legs in the cool water, and watch the sunset. Sometimes I swam, and it helped to distract me from unnecessary sad thoughts.

One fine August day I was sitting on an old fallen tree near the water and felt that someone was with me. There was no fear, as if this was the way it should be. I turned around.

Behind me, five meters away, stood a young man of about eighteen with dark hair, gray eyes and a kind smile. Well-built. Above average height, with delicate facial features and a dimple on the chin. He looked timidly, smiled shyly. I smiled back and asked:

– What’s your name?

– Ty.

– Where are you from, Ty?

– Across the river is my village, Tinia is called. I came to my grandmother, when I come to her, I like to look here.

– So you’re Grandma Lisa’s grandson?

We talked for a while, then just sat next to each other, occasionally exchanged words, fell silent and looked at the water of the lake for a long time, words were not needed.

The white lilies growing in the lake, we call them water lilies, are so beautiful and delicate. I really love these beautiful delicate flowers, their smell of freshness and purity is so beautiful. When I see them, I immediately remember my childhood, how I, a five-year-old girl, was sitting on the bridge on the old Chumysh and admired these flowers for the first time in my life, then we went with our parents to visit friends.

«I haven’t seen you here before,» he smiled, and his gray eyes shone.

– yes. I’m new here. I’ve been living with Grandma Lisa for a few days. I can’t find my way back. I came from the other side,“ I waved my hand to the right side, „as long as I don’t go there, there’s nothing there, there wasn’t even a phone in your village. So I’m still living with my grandmother. Maybe they’ll find me soon, I haven’t gone that far.

– And who will find you? Ty looked at me.

– There are many of us. We came from the mainland.

– From the mainland… How far is it?

– We sailed on the ship for two days. No one here seems to know about it. Everyone is surprised by my words and looks at me with pity.

– You’re just from afar. Our people know little about what is not connected with the island. And what is a motor ship?

I was surprised, but I said out loud:

– The ship is like that, something like that. Don’t you have any?

«We have ships, but we don’t call them that weird. Our fishermen go out to sea on them. There are also boats, they do not swim far, they mainly catch fish and crabs in coastal waters. And we don’t have phones. I don’t know what it is.

– The thing is, you can talk on it at a great distance.

I liked talking to him, he was so kind and understanding. I was glad that I had a friend with whom I could talk about something important and not very much, because, being almost isolated, I was very bitter and lonely. The future seemed hazy and distant, and Ty understood me, my pain, that I could not return to my own.

It turned out that Ty often comes here to his grandmother, brings her groceries. He and his father live in the village. Grandma prefers the edge of the forest.

With Ty, we chatted about everything, about, for example, how nice it would be to visit other countries. He didn’t know about Australia or Antarctica, but I didn’t know anything about this island, which strangely wouldn’t let me go. When I said that people are different in my country, Ty was not surprised. We have already realized that we are not at all like him, and at the same time, we have a lot in common.

– We have different people living in our country. This is called nationality. And then there are other countries. Some are friendly, some are not.

– I’m not surprised. We also have others besides us. We want to live in peace with everyone. But the kalshirs from the neighboring village want our village to belong to them, too.

As I understand it, there are many other islands near this island, and not all of them are inhabited, there are rock islands. There are a lot of bears on some of them, where people go with rattles in their pockets to scare away animals in case of something. There are many volcanoes, hot springs with colorful stones, there are some where the water is very hot, and you can cook bird eggs. In those springs in which the water is of a pleasant temperature, you can swim, and then it’s so cool to stand under the cool jets of the waterfall!

Ty told me that there is a city in the East. Not that far away. From here on foot one day and another half a day’s journey to the east. I wanted to go there. He promised that we would go together soon, as it was dangerous to walk alone through the desert lands. And he sometimes goes there, mostly for his grandmother, to buy something.

His grandmother lives in seclusion. She doesn’t have any friends, because that’s how life turned out. She settled down to live in the forest at one time, when her husband disappeared in the taiga, left and did not return, What happened to him is unknown. I experienced grief hard. I loved him very much. So they lived together with their daughter. And then, somehow imperceptibly, my daughter grew up, married a good guy and began to live in the village. When Ty was due to be born, she was staying with her mother. And died in childbirth. So everything happened in the house in the forest.

My grandmother lived alone since that time. Ty went to her several times a week, brought groceries. Sometimes Ty’s father visited. He is the head of the village now, he has a lot to do. Grandma was happy to talk to people, but not much. Tired of empty communication.

«She took me to live with her,» I said thoughtfully.

– yes. I went to see her today. She said she doesn’t live alone anymore.