The Witch’s House. Mystical stories. Svetlana Mirrai

nothing to treat you with,» and I opened the package in front of her, in which the bread I had bought the day before lay alone.

      «I don’t need anything from you,» the girl laughed.

      Her mother came up to us, took her daughter by the hand, and they disappeared behind the house.

      And I was walking down the street not knowing how to live and where to go now. I was tormented by a lack of understanding of the situation and not knowing how to get out of it.

      Suddenly, my feet began to slide on something unstable and smooth, and at the last minute before falling, I realized that there was ice under my feet, which was lying unnoticed under the snow. My head started to hurt because I broke it and began to lose consciousness lying on the ice.

      I woke up on the train. The man’s hand was on my shoulder, apparently he was waking me up.

      «I’ve finally woken up,» he said in a pleased voice.

      – Hello, I thought I was dreaming this whole nightmare, – I replied.

      At first I took the man for a neighbor in the compartment.

      – Will you wake up a cup of tea? He asked politely.

      – Yes, you can. And where is my wife Lena?

      – You wait with the questions, I’ll bring tea first, and then we’ll start the conversation.

      And the man got out of the compartment.

      The train suddenly rocked, and I decided to look out the window.

      I opened the curtain a little, but to my great surprise, I saw nothing but white fog.

      – You don’t have to look out the window, there’s nothing there, – said a fellow traveler who entered, he was holding two mugs of fragrant tea in his hands.

      – And I already realized that there is only fog in the circle, – I replied.

      – Alas, but we don’t have a beautiful landscape outside the window here, what can you do, dear friend, we are on the border of parallel worlds, – the man replied.

      – So that’s how, and everything that happened to me means it’s not a dream, – and I even whistled from the information I received.

      – Did you Anton want you to dream all this? The man asked with a grin.

      – Well, yes. Yes, not one normal person would not want to be in my place!

      – Maybe so. We call such people losers. But, fortunately, there are very few such cases, one in a million.

      «What am I supposed to do now?» I asked sadly.

      – To begin with, I will introduce myself to you, I am the border guard Kazimir. To get into your world, you will need to strain a little and remember everything down to the smallest detail. From A to Z, so to speak. Your fate will depend on your memories. You will have no more opportunity to return, you will stay in that world and you will live that life to the end. Remember about the presence of your double, too.

      – And what do you need to remember right all your life? I asked in horror.

      – No, just the last ten minutes. What they talked about, what they did, who was there…

      We sat down comfortably, and I began to tell Kazimir my last moments that I spent in my world.

      – I’m so sorry because my wife and I almost had a fight over bread. How could I start this pointless argument with her! I sighed, having finished my story.

      – Perhaps you will have more time, and you will fix everything, – Kazimir said with a smile. – And now I will send you to your world, which you have described. Let’s say goodbye. Good luck to you Anton.

      – Thank you, Casimir, – I said.

      Everything that was around me disappeared, and instead I found myself in a hospital bed and my wife Lena was sitting right in front of me now, looking affectionately into my face.

      – Anton, what a blessing that you woke up! And Vanka and I didn’t sleep all night long, we were on duty at your bed. Vanya was very worried, and now he was tired and went home to sleep.

      – Lenochka, but how did he go? Probably not alone, but together with Grandma?

      – No, Anton’s mom is at home with us, she cooks food. I’ve already warned her that you’ve woken up and maybe you’ll be discharged today. Why would they keep a healthy person in the hospital?