Cказки Призраков. Tales of Ghosts. Премия им. Эдгара По / Edgar Poe Award (Билингва: Rus/Eng)

Sergey caught himself thinking that everything had been turned upside down: he was himself in the theatre, while he became an actor in real life…

Turning automatically to the right into a small lane, Sergey reached the playground and sat down on a swing. Suddenly, as if sensing something, he turned around. Behind him, a girl was sitting on exactly the same swing.

«Natasha! What are you doing here?»

«Don’t you know I live there?» pointing out the house across the street, she asked in surprise.

Sergey remembered that he had paid attention during the interview to the address, indicated in her CV, although said nothing about their shared neighborhood.

«Sorry, I forgot,» he apologized embarrassed, «but why aren’t you at home?»

«I slammed the door outside and then realized to have left the keys inside. The neighbors are asleep, and it’s still a long way till morning. I’m sitting here wondering what to do…»

«Do you live alone?»

Natasha nodded. He wanted to ask something else to keep the conversation going, but…

«When you don’t know what to talk about, it’s better to keep silent,» she suddenly said.

«Listen, how quiet it is! What stars! We’re always running and looking down at our feet. And they’re always up there, so beautiful. They are looking at us… There’s the brightest one! When I die, will I reach that star?»

«Yes, you will, surely, but you’ll become a star in your lifetime! Why don’t you ask me how I ended up here?»

«And why should I know that?»

…Sergey opened the door lock with the help of some iron they had found on the road and… returned to his home, having refused even a cup of the kindly offered tea.

«See you tomorrow!» with bated breath he whispered to Natasha at the door.

…And all week they returned from the theatre together, talking about everything and nothing. They seemed to be on the same wavelength, to communicate «the same language» and to understand each other perfectly. However, as usual, all of a sudden, something that would have made Sergey glad just a little while ago, happened, and…

He entered Natasha’s flat for the first time.

«I’m sorry to be uninvited,» Sergey said with a heavy exhale.

She didn’t seem surprised to see him in doors and with a gesture invited him into the kitchen. Sergey sat down on a stool and didn’t know where to start.

«Today I dreamed of my mother,» Natasha turned to him first and, as always, in a completely calm voice. «She told me to live here and now.