Birds and a Stone. Anastasia Novykh

of about two hundred metres remained to the district department, and there was a park on the way. Rebrov was walking leisurely, pondering over the unusual phrase which had formed. “Prove to God that you are Human... Prove to God that you are Human”, the words were scrolling in his mind. Suddenly, a sonorous child’s voice loudly uttered close nearby, “...and God will have faith in you”. Major gave a start and even turned around with astonishment.

      “Is it correct, granny?” a five-year-old boy prattled, happily smiling and shaking hand of his grandmother who was sitting on a park bench.

      “Correct, correct, my dear,” the touched old woman answered and kissed her grandson’s forehead.

      This scene and mainly these words simply staggered Rebrov deeply in his heart. The ready sentence forthwith assembled in his mind: “Prove to God that you are Human, and God will have faith in you”. Something Existent was communicating to him as a totally living being. It gave him the answer to his vital question by using signs. Suddenly, it dawned upon Rebrov: it had always been like this! That Existent neither appeared from anywhere nor disappeared, but it was constantly beside him throughout his entire life. Yet, being like blind, he had never noticed that support and those signs which his Destiny had been generously showering on him. Everything was so simple, wise and clear... “Prove to God that you are Human, and God will have faith in you…”

* * *

      Rebrov entered the district department and was surprised with his own new discoveries and observations. When some people were talking about his last night’s action, they seemed to be trying on that “blanket”. They regarded the situation though a shroud of envy. Others were proud of themselves for working with a person who would always lend a helping hand. Several others were rejoiced over benefits of the grown unraveling statistics and over the reward they were to obtain for such a subordinate. Still others secretly laughed at Major, considering him “a duffer” and “a loser” who voluntarily “put his ass under fire for the sake of some shopkeeper’s family”. And only individuals, being his true friends, were candidly happy for the fact that everything had turned out all right and their friend was alive and unhurt. Rebrov seemed to be feeling people from their inside. In an incomprehensible way he sensed what they were really thinking. It appeared that out of a hundred percent of all greeting words only ten percent conformed to sincere, pure intentions. The remaining ninety percent were indeed from the evil one. Oh, humans, humans... Nevertheless, such circumstance made Rebrov rather laughing than angry because each of his colleagues fondly believed his thoughts were known only to himself. But that was precisely where Rebrov viewed a holistic illusion, feeling he was surrounded mostly by clones of the Ego legion very few of whom were truly individuals alighted with the truth of their spiritual world.

      Rebrov looked at life from another visual angle. Passing by “the monkey house”, he thought: was there a real difference between the inner essence of department officers and detainees? None, both were same people. Previously, Rebrov had regarded detainees as potential criminals, as dregs of human society, whereas now he first looked at them with humane eyes. They were same people with their own souls, inner world, good and bad intentions, imperfections, weaknesses. And the external difference was merely in the fact that once they had given in to provocation of their negative side which in its turn inevitably engrossed them with generated circumstances. After all, no one including the department staff was insured against such lot since it’s all about the internal holistic battle of good and evil inside each person.

      Surprisingly, people with extremely malicious cast of mind avoided Rebrov that day, as if they were afraid to whiten themselves with something buoyant and kind and to shake their life position once chosen. There appeared to be not many of such inner wicked ones in the district department, though there were only few candidly kind, too. Rebrov viewed the majority of people as standing on the border between good and evil. They inclined to where a thought would tempt them, behaving like drunkards swinging from one extreme to another. Nonetheless, they persistently clambered to the neutral zone, as if fearing to lose sight of this important life landmark. But the people didn’t see the volumetric picture like Rebrov who could grasp everything at once, for they were creeping in a circle.

      Major sat in the duty room to write a report, but, being regularly distracted by congratulators, he was able to finish only towards evening. People came in one by one. They just seemed to be never tired of talking to him. They were telling their life stories, jokes, sundry trifles only in order to prolong being near Rebrov. In the evening when the bosses had left, in the duty room there gathered a big noisy company. If previously officers hurried home after work, that day no one wanted to leave. Everybody laughed, jested, cheered Major up and “blessed” him for new feats. Men inspired each other with cheerful laughter, finding peace of mind. And the most unbelievable thing was that they neither drank that night nor even thought of alcohol. As the saying goes, when a soul sings a body is thoroughly delighted.

      Rebrov returned home way after midnight. Going to bed, he still could not calm down after the day’s rich impressions. And he felt he continued to change inside all along, although he didn’t have time to conceive and to explain everything with common logic. He now simply trusted his intuition. Rebrov was sure – it knew nearly everything about the world. When he was writing the report that day, his intuition suggested those were his last report papers in the district department though his logic asserted rather the counter. “Well,” he thought, “we shall see what we shall see”.