He crawled through the crack, kicking out the remaining rotten board with his foot, and he and Anya crawled out.
– What is that sound there? – a woman’s cry was heard after him.
Then there was the click of the lock at the door to the room and again her scream:
– Oh, you little brats wanted to escape from me.
The brother quickly took his sister’s hand as tightly as possible, and they ran forward as fast as they could. A narrow path led into the thick of the forest and the forest was not going to disperse, but only became more and more dense. Dima began to see all sorts of fabulous animals, they stood along the path and followed them with a friendly look. It seemed to him that one of them shouted after them:
– Run straight and don’t turn off!
A few hours later, an old, dilapidated house appeared in front of the guys in the middle of the forest.
«Let’s go there,» Dimka exclaimed joyfully and took his sister’s hand.
– Probably Baba Yaga’s sister lives there – - the girl said with sadness in her voice.
– No. «Probably the forester lives here,» Dima said thoughtfully – «But let’s look into it?»
– I’m afraid. Suddenly there’s a witch sitting there or a goblin. Dima, I realized where we are,» Anya said softly.
– And where is it? – What is it?» he asked.
– I’ll tell you in your ear so that they won’t hear us, – Anya said very quietly.
Dima leaned closer to his sister. And she says:
– In a fairy tale, we are in a fairy tale, you know?
– Even if we got there with you, we should also meet positive characters. They will tell us the way or lead us out of the dense forest themselves.
– Well, let’s go to this house then. Suddenly there’s a kind dwarf living there,» the girl already chirped happily.
The gloomy house turned out to be completely empty and lonely in the wilderness. The inhabitants, if they lived in it, lived for a very long time. In the living room, a table made of planks and several chairs met their travelers.
– Let’s sit for a while and go back to look for our village and our house, – said Dima in a cheerful voice.
– OK. But just let’s look for water. Maybe she’s here somewhere?
Dima left his sister at home, and he went in search of a stream or remnants of rainwater. Or maybe it was left by travelers. The search was not useless, and the guy brought a pot of water.
– It’s great – - said Anya and began to drink water greedily – - It’s delicious, try it.
Suddenly the door creaked and someone entered the house.
It was a tall and slightly stooped figure that was moving straight at the guys. Already a little closer you could see a man with a small beard and a black mustache.
– Children? What can children do here?
The guys looked at each other and looked at him in fright.
– We… We are resting here,» Dima replied.
– Which village will you be from? And why did you come here? «is it getting warmer?» he asked.
But the boy did not have time to answer anything, suddenly a woman they already knew, whom Anya called baba Yaga, entered the house.
«These are my babies – » she said. – Let’s go home, bunnies, you haven’t eaten anything. Come on, I’ll feed you.
The guys tensed up and Anya immediately snuggled up to her brother.
– Uncle, take us away from here, please, we are lost – - she wailed plaintively.
«We are not her children,» Dima replied and looked at the man.
The woman stood next to them and began to cry quietly.
– The mother will not be recognized. How so,» she said in a whisper with tears.
The man grinned and said:
– Well, what kind of mother are you, what were you thinking up here? I recognized you.
– Do you know her?» Dima was surprised.
The man pulled out a chair and sat down on it stretching his long legs.
– Everyone who watches TV knows her. Honey, why did you run away from the fourth psychiatric hospital in Moscow?
– I don’t want to go there anymore… I don’t want to understand, they treat me badly there – - the woman screamed and ran to the exit.
The man turned out to be a hunter who was just passing by and, for the happiness of the children, went into the house to rest. He took the children home on the same day. Later, Dima began to search for information on the Internet about this woman and found it.
It turns out that she has been on TV for two years, they say that she is not only crazy, but also dangerous. In those parts where Dima and Anechka were lost, five more children went missing and were not found.
Did they catch baba Luba or is she still wandering through the forest, Dimka didn’t know that. But he learned very well the lesson that he should not go far from home into the forest and he also realized how defenseless his little sister is. Therefore, he must necessarily protect her and not only in childhood, but always protect her.
«That’s the story you just told me,» Ivan exclaimed.
He was no longer lying down as before, but was leaning against the wall and looking at Sergei with surprised eyes.
The candle had gone out, but the full moon was shining brightly through the window, and it made the room not so dark and gloomy.
– I’m going to tell you something else now, a new story is much cooler than this one.
– Serega won’t fall asleep with you. And what is it about?
– I’ll call her so «Hanged»…
Hanged
«Vanya, the walls of this gloomy house showed me this story,» Sergei said quietly, lighting a cigarette.
– Well, we have you this… what’s his name… psychic. I remember how you once said that you should go to star in a show of psychics. Why didn’t you go?
– The time has not come yet.
– You’re a strange one, how do you know it’s time or not? Ivan was surprised.
Sergey thoughtfully inhaled, but remained silent. It became quiet in the room.
– Serega, God be with him with this show. You’ll get ready again. You tell me the story you promised and we’ll sleep.
– Well, listen. She’s creepy only.
Slavik knew about the lonely house that stands in the middle of the forest. And he also knew that he would be there completely alone and no one would interfere with him.
Therefore, he prepared and planned everything in advance. And even the date of death, he noted on his calendar it was the New Year. Why exactly on this holiday, I didn’t really know. Probably, he wanted to leave beautifully and festively.
Or maybe just for the sake of pathos in front of relatives and acquaintances. Let them always celebrate the New Year and remember that Slavik left them on this day. They have not noticed him all their lives, but now they will definitely notice him.
And now this day has come. Slavik began to pack things for the road, a rope of two and a half meters,