Tales of Ghosts. Playing Another Reality. Edgar Allan Poe award. Alexandra Kryuchkova

was completely uninterested. So, he withdrew into himself, and the only outlet for his soul became that small experimental theater he had recently established. The theatre was the only thing that kept him on Earth. He plunged into his brainchild and lived in the theatre for real. Sergey caught himself thinking that everything had been turned upside down: he was himself in the theatre, while he became an actor in real life…

      Turning automatically to the right into a small lane, Sergey reached the playground and sat down on a swing. Suddenly, as if sensing something, he turned around. Behind him, a girl was sitting on exactly the same swing.

      “Natasha! What are you doing here?”

      “Don’t you know I live there?” pointing out the house across the street, she asked in surprise.

      Sergey remembered that he had paid attention during the interview to the address, indicated in her CV, although said nothing about their shared neighborhood.

      “Sorry, I forgot,” he apologized embarrassed, “but why aren’t you at home?”

      “I slammed the door outside and then realized to have left the keys inside. The neighbors are asleep, and it’s still a long way till morning. I’m sitting here wondering what to do…”

      “Do you live alone?”

      Natasha nodded. He wanted to ask something else to keep the conversation going, but…

      “When you don’t know what to talk about, it’s better to keep silent,” she suddenly said. “Listen, how quiet it is! What stars! We’re always running and looking down at our feet. And they’re always up there, so beautiful. They are looking at us… There’s the brightest one! When I die, will I reach that star?”

      “Yes, you will, surely, but you’ll become a star in your lifetime! Why don’t you ask me how I ended up here?”

      “And why should I know that?”

      …Sergey opened the door lock with the help of some iron they had found on the road and … returned to his home, having refused even a cup of the kindly offered tea.

      “See you tomorrow!” with bated breath he whispered to Natasha at the door.

      …And all week they returned from the theatre together, talking about everything and nothing. They seemed to be on the same wavelength, to communicate ‘the same language’ and to understand each other perfectly. However, as usual, all of a sudden, something that would have made Sergey glad just a little while ago, happened, and…

      He entered Natasha’s flat for the first time.

      “I’m sorry to be uninvited,” Sergey said with a heavy exhale.

      She didn’t seem surprised to see him in doors and with a gesture invited him into the kitchen. Sergey sat down on a stool and didn’t know where to start.

      “Today I dreamed of my mother,” Natasha turned to him first and, as always, in a completely calm voice. “She told me to live ‘here and now’.”

      “Today, the doctor told me… it’s cancer.”

      “Tea or coffee?” Natasha asked still calmly.

      “Coffee.”

      She was standing by the stove with her back to him. Sergey came over and put his arms around her.

      “We all will fly to the stars one day, darling,” Natasha said quietly, addressing him as ‘darling’ for the first time, and added, “There’s a great mystery in it, that you’ll discover soon.”

      “It’s funny! My wife started screaming, my friends expressed their pity for me. You are the only one… If you only knew…”

      “I know…”

      “I would like… the rest of my time… Well,” it was hard for Sergey to speak, and he thought, “God, how much of the precious time we waste in life on all sorts of nothing!”

      Natasha held out a cup of coffee.

      “I promise you that since tomorrow,” she said slowly and clearly, as an oath, “all the following days will be the best of your life!”

      Sergey took a sip of coffee and smiled. It was a childish smile. Open. Kind-hearted. Happy…

      At that moment Natasha’s phone rang. Her friend was leaving for a business trip and asked to shelter the black cat for a couple of days.

      “Cats are great! Especially black ones! As long as they don’t cross your path! Okay, honey, I have to go,” Sergey winked at Natasha, putting the cup on the table. And already at the door he stopped and asked again with hope in his voice, “So, see you tomorrow?”

      “See you tomorrow!” she nodded and smiled.

      Sergey left, singing some children’s song. He suddenly felt completely happy for the first time.

      They never saw each other again.

      That night he was hit to death by a car while crossing the road on his way home…

February 11, 1994

      2. A white dance “Ladies’ Choice”

      Ivan invited Inessa to a cafe. He was the CEO of a famous company, and she was just a fifth-year student, though, of one of the best universities in their country.

      “I’m sorry, I don’t believe you!” Ivan ended their conversation categorically. “Maybe in five or ten years…”

      “And what then, in five or ten years?”

      He shrugged his shoulders.

      “Well, okay!” she grinned. “I’ll become CEO as well, to prove to you that I’m not about your money. And then, if you want, you will find me yourself…”

      And in a bright red dress, so beautiful, daring, young, Inessa left him.

      ***

      He saw the same snow and a grey, hopeless sky outside the window. It was very cold, although on TV they had promised a sharp warming. Ivan was out of any mood. That used to happen when the Sun disappeared, and life had made no pleasant surprise for a long time.

      As usual, being late for work, Ivan started the car, drove through the archway to the exit to the embankment and turned on the signals, waiting for an opportunity to squeeze into the continuous flow. Yawning, he habitually glanced at the billboard and… couldn’t believe his eyes!

      Ivan got out of the car, forgetting to turn off the signals, took out cigarettes and lit up one, staring at the poster “I LOVE YOU!” on the billboard – just that inscription and the familiar face of the girl in a bright red dress! He looked at her, and five years flashed back in the blink of an eye. Ivan had turned gray and was no longer the CEO of either that famous or any other company, meanwhile Inessa had blossomed…

      He found her without any difficulty.

      Inessa invited Ivan to a restaurant.

      “That’s how I became the CEO,” she summed up, not without a sense of pride. “Now I have everything. Except for the man I love…”

      Ivan couldn’t believe her incredible success story.

      “Let’s get married!” Inessa said finally.

      “And where are we going to live?” for some reason he asked, being dumbfounded.

      “I was thinking of a flat with some veranda on the roof to buy. Do you remember tales about Carlson?”

      “The haunted roof?” Ivan smiled.

      “Surely, why not!” Inessa laughed. “Where do you want it, here or in Europe? Or… would you prefer a cottage?”

      “An