Master of Fates. 11. A Script

"TALES OF GHOSTS"

about Love and Death from the Land of Mists
a collection of short stories
in the “Playing Another Reality” series

"MASTER of FATES"

11. A SCRIPT

Vera lived near the school. She studied according to her mood. She could skip for no reason and learn a long poem by Byron in original by heart. She was either pitied or hated, being an unpredictable ‘thing in itself’.

Vera’s father, a former cop, stayed in prison, and her mother hung herself on a hook in the bathroom, in fact, Vera discovered her there. Since then, the frame, embedded in the memory, periodically returned to the girl in nightmares. Vera lived at her mother’s sister, who had recently born a daughter, so no one cared about Vera.

Her class was divided into two companies, but Vera walked on her own. Soon she made friends with the ‘mafia clan’ from a neighboring house. Galla the Raven, a gothic girl with black hair and small sly eyes, enjoyed absolute authority, and the whole area was scared of her bald-headed guy, nicknamed the Black Cat. However, Vera was afraid of neither ravens, nor black cats, nor anyone else, and that was why she caused unspoken respect. In the same company, Vera met also the quiet Alex, next to whom she used to take a seat at evening movies at the cinema, where the mafia watched horror films. Of course, Vera wanted love, not horror movies, she liked Alex.

Once Galla invited everyone to tell fortunes on Tarot cards. Vera got “Hangman” in the past, “Wheel of Fortune” in the present, “Love” in the future, however, everything ended with the “Death”.

“Well, no one lives forever on Earth!” Vera thought and began to dream more and more about a happy future.

***

Soon the Black Cat invited the company to celebrate his birthday at a shooting range. The boys distributed the targets. Alex got a white swan. The old man who worked at the shooting gallery suggested changing the target, saying that it was bad luck to kill white swans. However, all the other targets were already occupied, besides, Alex didn’t want to seem a weak, believing in omens boy, he couldn’t miss, he shot and killed the swan.

***

On Galla’s birthday, the company went to the bird market, the Black Cat decided to gift her a real bird, but due to the lack of a raven, Galla eventually chose a canary. Vera had thought to get a pet, too, but hesitated about the kind of.

“You would have a white crow!” Galla chuckled.

Vera returned home in a great mood, not with a crow, but with… a mouse!

“The main thing is that the aunt will put up with it,” Vera thought. “However, the mouse is in a cage, and such a beauty! It’s so white, with delicate pink ears!”

Vera put the cage on the table and decided to placate her aunt. She opened the window and started cleaning the apartment. She took the flower pots to the bathroom and gave them a shower, wiped the dust everywhere, washed the floors, and when everything was shiny, she took another volume of Dumas and, flopping down on the bed, began reading. Having reached the moment when D’Artagnan took Anna of Austria to the castle, Vera heard a mouse squeak.

Approaching her friend, the girl couldn’t believe her eyes! The mouse was standing in the cage, holding in its paws one of the Tarot cards, the deck of which, as usual, lay on the table. Besides, it seemed not just holding, but actually showing out to Vera – pulled out at random? – the “Death” card!

Falling asleep that night, the girl saw her mother. She entered the room through the window and looked at Vera silently.

“Mom… are you here to pick me up?”

“Take your time, Vera! If no black cat crosses your path to happiness, you can reach the City of the Sun!”

Vera didn’t understand what these words meant, wanted to ask her mother and to talk about everything in general, since they hadn’t seen each other for so long, but she disappeared…

***

As spring came, Galla’s company began to break up into ‘couples’. Vera and Alex silently wandered the streets of the city, enjoying the Sun and the joyful wind, anticipating the imminent changes. Vera felt almost happy, Alex wasn’t at all depressed by her silent nature, and nothing about her irritated him. He even offered to introduce Vera to his parents. Mindful of the eternal scandals of her father and mother, Vera dreamed of a quiet peaceful family life in a cozy nest and was already making plans for a bright future, when …

***

Galla asked everyone to meet in their yard in the evening. They were brewing some ‘dark business’ related to revenge. Vera didn’t want to go, but she was afraid that Alex would consider her weak. Alex himself dreamed of leaving the Black Cat’s clan, but secretly was afraid of the same thing, that Vera would consider him a coward and a traitor. The white mouse had been acting too nervous all day, and the spirit of Evil was clearly present in the air.

When everyone gathered, Galla said that the Black Cat had been cheated in the store at the checkout, so for justice’s sake they must take revenge. They had never been engaged in anything serious before, confining themselves to verbal squabbles in porches, basements, on roofs and in garages…

Vera remembered her father’s case, ‘for justice’s sake’ as well, for which he had been imprisoned.

“The road to Hell is paved with good intentions!” she involuntarily burst out.

“Listen, White Crow!” Galla grunted. “You are here now, that means you are aware of and already inside the case! There’s no exit anymore!”

The Black Cat distributed the roles…

***

At night, just before the store was to be closed, Vera was assigned to guard outside the back entrance, and Alex had to ensure the protection of the Black Cat inside the store.

Everything happened suddenly and not at all according to the script. No matter how many options for the development of events one could think over in advance, there would always be room for the unforeseen.

While the gang was busy with the cash register, Vera stood on the street and mentally cursed herself for not finding the strength to refuse Galla. Suddenly, a very drunk man passing by stopped near her.

“Go ho-oome, dear dau-uuughter!” he yelled, obviously confusing Vera with his daughter.

Vera did her best to move the man away from the crime scene, but he started yelling some song even louder, in every possible way drawing attention to himself and not at all intending to get out of the way.

A police car, accidentally passing by, stopped to find out the matter as well as to help the girl get rid of the harasser. At the same moment, the gang ran out of the store through the back door, heard cries and… saw the police! There was no time to find out what was really going on. A shot rang out … one, another…

The guys rushed in all directions, and Alex ran up to Vera, but she suddenly fell as if she had been cut down, the drunken man hit the girl on the head with a bottle with all his might.

When Vera opened her eyes, she saw in front of her… no, not Alex, he had been taken to the police…

“Mom,” the girl whispered without understanding anything.

“Hello, Vera!” she answered sadly and smiled, holding out her hand to the daughter.

“I can’t believe it,” Vera whispered, rising above her own body. “Is it all over?”

“Yes and no,” she hugged Vera and stroked her head.

“Why? Am I… dead now?”

“In this version of the script, yes. In others, no,” Vera’s mother took the daughter by the hand and led her away.

“Do others really exist?” restraining herself so as not to turn back, Vera decided to clarify.

“Of course.”

“And can I get into them? Will you be there? You won’t leave me anymore, will you?” the girl asked hopefully.

“Each of us is doomed to go through his own earthly story in the Labyrinth of scripts until reaching the City of the Sun.”

Holding hands, they went out to return on Earth and find their way home to Heaven.

04.06–30.10.1989