So, joking and teasing each other, the company spent a few hours on the road. Gradually the landscape outside the window changed: skyscrapers and neon signs were replaced by dilapidated buildings and unfinished houses. The people here looked different – they were engaged in hard physical labour; their clothes were simple and shabby. The contrast between the splendour of the metropolis and these suburbs was stark, as if they had crossed an invisible boundary between two worlds.
The taxi skilfully manoeuvred between people and dilapidated buildings, its magnetic cushion allowing it to smoothly overcome any obstacles. Several times they drove past huge piles of construction debris – concrete, bricks and charred beams, silent witnesses of the former construction boom. The air was cleaner here, and the taxi passengers involuntarily began to breathe more deeply.
Finally, the car stopped outside a small house surrounded by tall spruce and fruit trees. When the door of the taxi opened with a quiet hiss, the friends saw a marvellous picture: a veritable green carpet of grass and ferns was spread around them, and the air was filled with the chirping of birds and the distant chirping of woodpeckers. This soundscape was so unusual for the inhabitants of the metropolis that for a moment everyone stood still, enjoying this symphony of nature.
They were met by two elderly people, a man and a woman, dressed in old-fashioned but neat suits. Their faces, mottled with wrinkles, bore the marks of a long and difficult life, but their eyes shone with kindness and wisdom.
Dash, spectacular and confident as always, jumped out of the car first. Her high heels sank deeply into the soft earth, but she straightened up gracefully without a trace. She stood in a modelling pose with her hips slightly swept back and her hand on her waist, showing off her beauty and sexuality, waiting for the reaction of those she met. Her bright smile glinted in the sunlight filtering through the trees, and her long hair fluttered in the breeze.
The elderly couple, however, remained unperturbed. They only glanced at each other, the man raised his bushy grey eyebrow slightly, but showed no other emotion. Their gazes seemed to penetrate through the outward glare, assessing something deeper.
Faza, unloading the voluminous luggage from the spacious boot of the taxi, said with a warm smile:
– Come on in, girls. Make yourselves at home. – He looked at his parents, and in his eyes, there was a mixture of love and slight embarrassment at the behaviour of his guests.
Dash, realising her mistake with her choice of shoes, awkwardly tried to walk on the soft ground in her high stilettos. Each step was difficult for her, and she struggled to keep her balance. In contrast, Anna and Nova, who had taken care to wear comfortable trainers, walked easily on the grass, enjoying the softness of the natural carpet beneath their feet. Faza, noticing Dash’s predicament, held back a smile – after all, she knew where they were going, but preferred beauty to practicality.
Approaching the hosts, Faza began to introduce the guests:
– Let’s get acquainted. – He gestured for the girls to come closer, his voice warm and confident. – These are my friends from the city.
Each of the girls in turn extended their hand in greeting. Anna did it with dignity, Dash with some coquetry, and Nova… Nova, the most modest of them all, said quietly, barely raising her eyes:
– Hello, I’m Nova. – Her voice was barely audible, like the rustling of leaves in the wind. As if seeking protection, she pressed herself against Faza’s shoulder, her nose against his leather jacket. Her cheeks were slightly pink with embarrassment.
The elderly hosts smiled kindly and openly as they shook hands with their guests. Their eyes showed the sincere hospitality so rare in the cold world of the metropolis. They seemed to radiate warmth and calmness, which gradually began to be transmitted to the guests.
The golden rays of the sun softly caressed the tops of the trees, colouring the sky with delicate hues. Nova, a graceful and refined girl, accustomed to the metropolis, listened with genuine interest to every word of Fazu, a young man whose life was so different from her own. Her slender figure, clad in a simple but elegant dress, seemed alien to the countryside. But there was something about her – perhaps the genuine interest in her eyes or the slight smile on her lips – that made her presence here seem remarkably harmonious, like a delicate exotic flower that had accidentally sprouted among the field grasses.
Faz, waving his hands now and then, pointing now and then to one patch of land or the other:
– «Here, Nova,» he gestured with a wide gesture around a small plot of land covered with lush green grass, «I plan to plant a vegetable garden. Just imagine: fresh vegetables, grown with my own hands! Tomatoes, juicy and fragrant, cucumbers, crunchy and cool, carrots, sweet, as if honeyed…
His eyes lit up with genuine enthusiasm, and a dreamy smile appeared on his tanned face, revealing a row of snow-white teeth. Nova, unaccustomed to such conversations about land and plants, but genuinely wanting to keep the conversation going, timidly asked, rubbing a strand of her long dark hair:
– A., what else do you want to plant, Faza? Tell me more about your plans.
Her voice, soft and melodious, seemed to dissolve into the evening air filled with the scents of herbs and flowers. Faza, encouraged by the girl’s interest, began to talk with even greater fervour, his eyes glistening and his hands flying into the air as if trying to draw a picture of the future garden:
– Oh, Nova, I have grand plans! In addition to vegetables, I want to plant here various spicy herbs – basil, thyme, rosemary. Can you imagine the aroma in the air? And over there,“ he pointed to a small vacant lot a little further away, where wildflowers were swaying in the breeze, „I want to plant an apple orchard. Ten, no, fifteen trees of different varieties! Antonovka, white plum, pear… Can you imagine how beautiful it will be in spring when the trees blossom? Everything will be drowned in white and pink colour, as if in a fairy tale!
Nova, trying to visualise this picture, smiled involuntarily. Her eyes, accustomed to the neon lights of the metropolis and billboards, had difficulty perceiving this simple beauty of nature. But something in Faza’s words, in his sincere admiration, made her heart flutter. She felt something new, unfamiliar stirring inside her – maybe a longing for something simple and real?
– It must be very beautiful indeed,» she said quietly, looking at Fazu with unexpected warmth. – I’ve never seen apple trees blossom, you know. In Cyber City we have parks, but they’re… different. Artificial or something.
Faze, touched by her words, gently took Nova’s hand. His palm was warm and rough from working in the vegetable garden and with the circuit boards at the production facility of the corporate NeuroHubs, and that contrast with Nova’s soft skin caused both of them to shiver slightly.
– «Then we should definitely come in the spring,» he said with a smile. – I will show you the real beauty of nature.
He led her further, to a small hill covered with soft grass. From the top of the hill there was a breathtaking view of the whole village – the scattering of wooden and brick houses in the green of the gardens, the winding ribbon of the river glistening in the setting sun, and the endless fields stretching to the horizon.
– And from here,“ Faza said, pointing to the distant horizon where the sky met the earth, „in clear weather you can see the lights of the metropolis. You know, Nova, sometimes I look out there and think: how good it is that we are here, that we have preserved this corner of nature. Time flows differently here, here you feel connected to the earth, to the past, to something eternal and unchanging.
Nova, following his gaze, suddenly felt a strange feeling – a mixture of longing for familiar life and unexpected peace from the nature