Vita Nostra by Marina & Sergey Dyachenko EPUB & PDF – eBook Details Online
- Status: Available for Free Download
- Authors: Marina & Sergey Dyachenko
- Language: English
- Genre: Metaphysical Fiction
- Format: PDF / EPUB
- Size: 2 MB
- Price: Free
The prices—oh, the prices were simply ludicrous! In the end, Mom rented a
tiny room in a five-story building within twenty minutes of the shore, with
windows facing west. The other room in the one-bedroom apartment was
occupied by a young couple, with whom they would have to share the
kitchen, bathroom, and toilet. “Those two are on the beach the whole day,”
reasoned the landlady. “They are young… They don’t need much. The sea
is right there, you can almost see it out of your window. Pure paradise.”
The landlady departed, leaving behind two keys, one for the main entrance
and one for the door to their room. Sasha dug her faded, last year’s
swimsuit from the bottom of the suitcase and changed quickly in the
bathroom where someone else’s underwear was drying on the space heater.
She felt joyful and giddy: just a few more minutes, and hello sea, here we
come. Waves, salt on her lips, deep khaki-colored water—all that was
forgotten during the long winter. Transparent water changing the color of
her skin to yellow-white. Swimming toward the horizon, feeling the sea
glide over her stomach and back, then diving deep down, staring at the
rocks on the bottom, seaweed and tiny speckled fish…
“Should we eat first?” Mom asked.
She was exhausted by the long trip in the stuffy economy class seats, the
apartment search, negotiations with potential landlords—none of it was
easy.
“But Mom, we came to spend time at the beach.”
Mom lay down on a couch, a pack of fresh linen under her head substituting
for the pillow.
“Want me to run down and get some doughnuts?” Sasha aimed to be a
dutiful daughter.
“We’re not going to live on doughnuts here. We have a decent kitchen.”
“Can’t I at least take one little dip?”
“Fine.” Mom closed her eyes. “Get some eggs and yogurt on the way back.
Oh, and bread, and some butter.”
Sasha threw a sundress over the swimsuit, slid her feet into a pair of
sandals, grabbed one of the towels provided by the landlady and ran
outside, into the sunshine.
She had no proper names for the blossoming trees that grew in the yard, but
decided to call them “peacock trees.” Behind the unevenly trimmed bushes
began the street that led to the shore. Sasha decided it was going to be
called just that—The Street That Leads to The Sea. The street sign bore the
real name of the street, plain and insignificant. It happened so often—
beautiful things had stupid names, and the other way around…
Swinging her bag, she walked, no, ran, down the street. People moved in a
thick throng, some carrying inflatable mattresses and large sun umbrellas,
others burdened only with a beach bag. Children, as expected, were covered
by melting ice cream, and their mothers scolded them and rubbed the spots
with their crumpled handkerchiefs. A wide smile on her lips, Sasha walked
toward the sea, hot asphalt burning through the soles of her sandals.
They made it.
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