a huge meadow, the end of which was not visible, a black shadow was swiftly sweeping. Travelers even sat down in surprise. Covering the sun with itself, like a giant quilt, a purple-black thundercloud crawled right across the sky across them. An imposing white hat rotated in a giant ball on its front, and then the meadow, the forest left in the distance, and the dusty road along which they passed disappeared into the black bars of the shower. A sharp gust of wind bent down the yellow feather grass, and nearly knocked Alice onto her back along with the bicycle. Lightning flashed brightly in the sky, and then another peal swept overhead. Andrew looked around, assessing the situation. In all directions, there was a meadow grass waving in the fresh wind. Only about two kilometers to the right was a small woods. Worst of all, the situation was that a thunderstorm caught them on top of a small hill, and lightning struck more and more.

- We run there! - shouting over thunder, Andrew called and grabbed the woman by the wrist, dragging him towards the forest.

- And the bike? - frightened, she argued.

- Throw! Then come back! - Andrei pulled Alice harder by the hand, and she ran after her. Powerful gusts of hot wind in the back gave them a significant acceleration, not allowing them to slow down for a minute. Alice shouted something several times, but every time her voice thundered out thunder. When several hundred meters remained before the forest, it rumbled behind its back especially hard. It smelt sharply of ozone, and immediately a restless cloud shot shrapnel of large raindrops in their backs. After a few seconds, the whole world around him disappeared behind elastic ice streams. It sparkled and thundered right overhead. The forest they were aiming for disappeared from sight, and they had to flee blindly. However, it was impossible to call it running. Drenched clothes hampered the movement, and muddy earth stuck to the shoes under their feet. Fortunately, the storm front swept quite quickly, and now it was raging somewhere ahead, leaving them in the rear guard. However, the downpour subsided and did not think, mercilessly pouring icy streams of frozen travelers.

- Andrei, wait! - finally a breathless woman has cried out, - Now, where is the hurry?

And the truth is, the thunderstorm has passed, but there are still no dry things. Neither on a body, nor in a backpack. There was nowhere to hurry. Andrew stopped. Alice, breathless, stood beside him. Former once airy dress, wet, tightly stuck to her slender body. The hem was all smudged in the dirt and wet grass, and the sandals were worn away from moisture and torn in several places, holding on to some narrow straps. Long wet hair, smoothly curled, ran down over her shoulders and chest, and thin streams of water flowed from her short bangs to her face.

- Something I have died a little, - she honestly confessed, looking at Andrew with dilated pupils for fear, - terribly afraid of thunder!

- Yes, the storm is serious, - Andrey shook his wet hair from his forehead, shyly looking away from the transparent dress of his companion - we can say we were lucky that everything worked out. Let's go look for bikes?

Alice looked around in bewilderment. The rain had become less frequent, and now ahead we could clearly see tall trees hiding some strange structure in the dark depths. The fact that they were taken from afar for the forest actually turned out to be an old abandoned garden with century-old apple trees, fairly overgrown with wild shrubs and young birch trees. Many dry trees have already rotted at the base and, leaning down, wearily leaned on their still-living sisters. Mostly preserved remains of a once-powerful wooden fence and two thick pillars, which, apparently, were supposed to hang a gate.

- We'll see? - Alice asked with interest. Without waiting for an answer, she kicked off her torn sandals and walked barefoot across the grass puddling in the puddles to the garden.Andrew hurried to join. He was always fascinated and attracted similar abandoned corners, retaining a unique imprint of long past times. Only now he noticed that Alice was holding in her hand a full can of strawberries, which she did not dare to quit. The closer they came, the greater admiration caused the pillars, made of logs forty centimeters in diameter. Since that time, they are not something that did not fall, and did not even squint. Rusty remains of several impressive hand-forged hinges remained in several places. The wide alley, which once led to the house, was overgrown with thin and tall trees, rearing heavy stone slabs. Rain pounded the leaves of the surrounding trees, creating a cacophony of amazing sounds. It seemed as if the dying garden were whispering something to uninvited guests, inviting them into their arms, adhering to warning of something. Andrei, who was walking a little behind, noticed how Alice’s shoulders twitched and shivered too. Ahead, bristling with shabby balusters of balconies, they looked at an old stone building with an attic. Empty eye sockets of windows in some places covered skewed wooden shutters. The front door was also in place. Stepping gently barefoot on the wet rubble of crumbled stone stairs, Alice climbed onto a spacious porch. Andrei walked around to his side and peeked out the window with curiosity. The high ceilings of the spacious hall were decorated with beautiful stucco molding, which in some places had collapsed from dampness.

“Closed,” quietly, as if afraid of disturbing someone’s dream, said Alice, tugging at the green door handle.

“Now I’ll see,” Andrei deftly clutched at the shabby window frame and pulled in, dived inside the building. Surprisingly, in the spacious hall a lot remained untouched. Faded rolls of wallpaper fallen from the stone walls lay on the floor. The remains of gypsum stucco, once encircling a high ceiling, crunched underfoot, two dilapidated sofas stood along the wall, with rusty springs peering out from under the torn upholstery. The door with the peeling paint was closed from the inside to the iron bolt, which opened without difficulty. Slowly, heavy doors opened with a creak, and Andrei froze for a second. A barefoot young woman with wet hair and a slightly frightened look standing on the porch suddenly caused such a rush of tenderness in him that she wanted to fall on her knees in front of her, and hug her tightly, pressing her cheek against her slim hips. Some youthful boundless joy fluttered into my heart, ready to explode with a fountain of unreasonable and impudent acts. Everything “but” and “if” instantly turned into disrepair and, like old wallpaper, rolled onto the floor with a rustling sound. He fell in love. This awareness came categorically as a brick falling from a roof falling on its head. Bah! And nothing can be fixed!

- I beg you, madam! - he smiled, he said, bowing to the side with a bow.

“Oh, what gallantry,” Alice’s bewildered face brightened with an answering smile. She took a few cautious steps forward and looked fascinated. Hall or living room, which was once located here, was almost the entire width of the building - about twelve meters. Semi-circular stone staircases leading to the upper attic floor were located to the right and left of the walls. Directly opposite the front door was another doorway to another room. Alice walked up to him, awkwardly walking barefoot on broken plaster. Apparently, there was a dining room. The wall was a solid smoked fireplace. It even contained several large coals and unburned birch logs. Someone recently tried to drown him. To the left behind the wall was a small kitchen with a wood-burning stove, and right next to the wall was a large, rusted, old bathtub, littered with fragments of planks. A huge hole gaped right above her in the stream. Two healthy windows combined with a doorway opened a view of the wooden veranda overlooking the garden.The dilapidated rafters of it have long since been torn down by a part of the roof, and now the veranda consisted of blockages of rotten boards and broken mossy slate. Andrei imagined how beautiful it was to be here at that time, when apple trees bloomed in a young garden, filling a warm afternoon ... Read more →