791
Vanya's life was full of ups and downs.
A pen test. My story is written today. Not to be judged, maybe someone will like it.
- What about the boy?
While not breathing, Ivan Petrovich, most likely during the contraction of the uterus there was choking.
- Save the boy. Mother's time of death is 15:36.
Hearing that her time had come, Death walked away from the wall and approached the woman. During childbirth, Death stood by and waited for its moment. Death is very punctual, she was never late, but she did not come in a hurry before. For doctors, the battle for the life of the woman in labor is over, now the woman was on the verge between worlds and Death came to her to fulfill her duty. Extending a disembodied hand from under a black cloak, she closed the woman’s eyes forever. The hood covering Death's head turned towards the lying boy. In front of her lay a small body, bluish in color, doctors tried in vain to force the baby to open the lungs. She was ready to extend her hand to the boy, but then the ward was filled with the deafening cry of the baby, as if he had just emerged from the very depths of the lake. Death pulled her hand and on her face under the shadow of the hood appeared a fleeting smile: “Good boy, boy!” – read in her eyes. She was supposed to take both mother and child, but apparently the heavenly office decided otherwise this time. She stood behind the doctors and watched the boy scream. Mentally wishing the guy to meet her not soon and in due time, Death wanted to leave, leaving the case alive. Turning towards the door, she heard that the tone of crying had changed. She turned around and then it came to her that the boy saw, felt and reached for her, like a mother. Death was ready to lay down its non-existent soul, but it really was. The boy chose her! Sometimes Death communicated with living people when she was called by ritual, but people could see her only at the right time, and the time of this boy has not yet come.
Death returned to the baby and handed him a whitish finger, woven out of fog. His handles grabbed the void in front of him, Death stood and smiled, it was funny enough.
Death was not cruel and evil, sometimes she spent hours talking to her clients, telling them about another existence, giving advice, sometimes joking, making a person die with a smile on his face. For some reason it was customary for the living to fear her, but in fact she was only a guide to another “life”. She never took with her on a whim, most often she was completely impartial, because she did her job. Sometimes it happened that Death came to man and regretfully did his part of the work. For example, she recently had to pick up an elderly man who had lived 86 years and had done so many good deeds for the living that Death was sorry to interrupt such a dignified life.
Having calmed the baby with her presence, Death decided to continue the work planned for today, deciding to visit the boy. She lightly touched the hairs on the boy's head, for some reason calling him Vanya.
Soon the boy was called Ivan. From the hospital he was taken by the sister of the deceased. She and her husband could not have children and the appearance in their family Vanechka perceived a sign from above.
Vanya grew up, learned to sit, walk, talk, and Death came to visit him. She told him about the great, now departed, people with whom she happened to meet, about ancient times, various animals and wonders of our world and the other. The boy lay in such moments and listened attentively to her, as if he was told the most exciting fairy tales in the world. Time passed, Vanka grew up, studied the world around him and every incomprehensible question he asked Death, she also tried to explain to the boy the principles of the universe. The better Ivan said, the longer they talked about everything. Of course, Death was not always with him, but she came to him in her spare time. The boy grew up and Death began to think that soon he would realize that she was not a person and in principle should not communicate with him. When Vana was 6, Death decided to tell him who she really was.
- Van? Do you know who I am? she asked, sitting next to him in a baby chair.
“You are my friend, only I have such a friend,” the boy proudly replied, playing with a plastic machine. Death sighed deeply and continued:
Has anyone ever told you that there is life and death in the world? That sometimes people die, that is, leave us and go away forever?
“Yes, death comes after them,” Vanya seriously answered, raising her eyes. – My neighbor Aunt Masha told me that death came for her son Vadik and now he is no more.
- I came for Vadik. - Death's voice sounded deaf from under the hood, as if all the burden of responsibility fell on her shoulders at once. I'm Death, Ivan. I'm the one who comes in and picks up people. That's my job.
For a second there was a grave silence in the room. A bright yellow car froze in the hands of the child. Vanya looked at Death, and she waited for the boy to react. Suddenly Vanya smiled at her:
- You're my friend, you're not bad. There is a policeman’s father, everyone is afraid of him, but he treated me to ice cream – pride and firm confidence in his words shone in the eyes of the child. Death grinned and slapped his hair and said:
And rightly so, death is no enemy. And now I'm going to tell you about the great magician I went to not so long ago.
After that conversation, this topic was not raised for a long time, but something happened that sooner or later would have happened. Death awaited Vanya in his room, and he was about to return from school. She was just about to think about her plans for tomorrow, when Vanya flew into the room in tears:
- Who hurt you? - Death asked.
“I told the guys that I was playing with death,” Ivan said, and Sasha told his mother. She told him not to be friends with me and told him to show me to the doctor. But I didn't lie. I'm playing with you, right?
Death thought for a second about his answer and for the first time in all the time of acquaintance with Vanya realized that it was in vain that she interfered in the life of this child. It is unnatural for a man to be friends with death.
Yes, Wan, but you understand that of all people only you can see and hear me. I only come to everyone else at the right time. You're a different story. If you want, I won't come to you.
Nope! You're my friend! You are my best friend! – Vanya quickly tarted – No one knows so many interesting stories! Don't leave me! Friends don't leave each other. You yourself told me about the eternal friendship ... in the eyes of the child gathered lakes of tears, a little more and he would go in endless crying. Death quickly weighed the pros and cons, leaned over him and whispered conspiratorily in his ear:
Then let our friendship be a secret! You know how to keep secrets, right? Vanka smiled happily and nodded his head. Since then, Vanya has carefully kept this secret. He was very proud to have such a secret.
As the years passed, Ivan grew up, graduated from university. They were all secretly communicating with each other. Death was an outsider in his life, telling him instructive stories but never giving advice. Several times Ivan wanted to extort from her about his fate, but Death always answered him that everything was in his hands and in due time. As an adult, she let him know that he would live the life he would create for himself. Each of us is destined for a path, the path of each lasts a certain time and this time is life. Everyone chooses his own life, but within the permissible period of time and when the turn of death comes.
Vanya's life was full of ups and downs. There were happy times, and sometimes, like any person, he was obsessed with longing. Important discoveries and disappointments have occurred in life, including losses. There was an unspoken rule between them: “Never ask when the time of a particular person is right.” Ivan knew that sooner or later his aunt and uncle and other close people would leave. He never blamed Death and lived every day because he did not know when his time would come.
Decades passed, he had a family, children, grandchildren. Even when Death came for his wife, he smiled sadly and nodded silently to Death. He realized long ago that there is no other way, but with age he began to think more often about the end of his path. He became wiser over the years, and it happened that during the conversation, he himself taught Death. What an interesting picture of their communication. Here she is, in a black cape with a hood, sitting in a chair by the window, and opposite her is a gray-haired man whose legs are covered with a wool blanket. They could spend hours looking out the window and talking, or just being silent and thinking about their own.
The last few days, Ivan felt ill, his heart sobbed and bothered a whole bunch of senile diseases. He felt something was wrong and possibly soon and his turn. In the last conversation, he broke the rule and asked her when it was his turn. Death silently looked at him and left. Ivan later regretted his question, he even for a second imagined that she would not come to talk to him again, and from these thoughts everything in his soul turned. He imagined that she would never come again, and before he died, he would never see Death again, no matter how foolish it might sound. From these thoughts he laughed, it came to him that in any case, he would still see her and be able to apologize. He didn't have to wait long. Five days later, relatives gathered around his bed. The doctor told them that Ivan did not have long and that nothing could be done. However, Ivan did not regret the news at all, rather he took it for granted. Later in the evening, when the loved ones left him to rest, she came to him. It appeared as unexpectedly as ever, but only this time Death stood silently, unwelcome, against the wall, opposite his bed.
Are you visiting or following me? he asked. Death came silently and sat beside him on his bed.
- I'll follow you. Your time is right, Ivan.
“I thought after our conversation you would not come back again,” the man sighed relieved, glad that he could talk to her again.
- I couldn't help coming back. Being here at the right time is my job. Who would have thought that one day I would do my job and say goodbye to you?
- Goodbye? Won't I see you later? After all? You are Death in the end - sadness lurked in Ivan's faded eyes from old age, and a childish resentment flashed through his voice.
- Goodbye. Death comes to the living, but death will never come to the dead. She took his hand. For a moment Ivan’s face turned into a suffering mask, but a few moments later he smiled at her, accepting the coming. Death smiled at him and asked:
What joke do you want to tell for the last time?
They found Ivan a few hours later. On his face, a peaceful smile froze, and his hand seemed to squeeze someone’s hand even after death.
- What about the boy?
While not breathing, Ivan Petrovich, most likely during the contraction of the uterus there was choking.
- Save the boy. Mother's time of death is 15:36.
Hearing that her time had come, Death walked away from the wall and approached the woman. During childbirth, Death stood by and waited for its moment. Death is very punctual, she was never late, but she did not come in a hurry before. For doctors, the battle for the life of the woman in labor is over, now the woman was on the verge between worlds and Death came to her to fulfill her duty. Extending a disembodied hand from under a black cloak, she closed the woman’s eyes forever. The hood covering Death's head turned towards the lying boy. In front of her lay a small body, bluish in color, doctors tried in vain to force the baby to open the lungs. She was ready to extend her hand to the boy, but then the ward was filled with the deafening cry of the baby, as if he had just emerged from the very depths of the lake. Death pulled her hand and on her face under the shadow of the hood appeared a fleeting smile: “Good boy, boy!” – read in her eyes. She was supposed to take both mother and child, but apparently the heavenly office decided otherwise this time. She stood behind the doctors and watched the boy scream. Mentally wishing the guy to meet her not soon and in due time, Death wanted to leave, leaving the case alive. Turning towards the door, she heard that the tone of crying had changed. She turned around and then it came to her that the boy saw, felt and reached for her, like a mother. Death was ready to lay down its non-existent soul, but it really was. The boy chose her! Sometimes Death communicated with living people when she was called by ritual, but people could see her only at the right time, and the time of this boy has not yet come.
Death returned to the baby and handed him a whitish finger, woven out of fog. His handles grabbed the void in front of him, Death stood and smiled, it was funny enough.
Death was not cruel and evil, sometimes she spent hours talking to her clients, telling them about another existence, giving advice, sometimes joking, making a person die with a smile on his face. For some reason it was customary for the living to fear her, but in fact she was only a guide to another “life”. She never took with her on a whim, most often she was completely impartial, because she did her job. Sometimes it happened that Death came to man and regretfully did his part of the work. For example, she recently had to pick up an elderly man who had lived 86 years and had done so many good deeds for the living that Death was sorry to interrupt such a dignified life.
Having calmed the baby with her presence, Death decided to continue the work planned for today, deciding to visit the boy. She lightly touched the hairs on the boy's head, for some reason calling him Vanya.
Soon the boy was called Ivan. From the hospital he was taken by the sister of the deceased. She and her husband could not have children and the appearance in their family Vanechka perceived a sign from above.
Vanya grew up, learned to sit, walk, talk, and Death came to visit him. She told him about the great, now departed, people with whom she happened to meet, about ancient times, various animals and wonders of our world and the other. The boy lay in such moments and listened attentively to her, as if he was told the most exciting fairy tales in the world. Time passed, Vanka grew up, studied the world around him and every incomprehensible question he asked Death, she also tried to explain to the boy the principles of the universe. The better Ivan said, the longer they talked about everything. Of course, Death was not always with him, but she came to him in her spare time. The boy grew up and Death began to think that soon he would realize that she was not a person and in principle should not communicate with him. When Vana was 6, Death decided to tell him who she really was.
- Van? Do you know who I am? she asked, sitting next to him in a baby chair.
“You are my friend, only I have such a friend,” the boy proudly replied, playing with a plastic machine. Death sighed deeply and continued:
Has anyone ever told you that there is life and death in the world? That sometimes people die, that is, leave us and go away forever?
“Yes, death comes after them,” Vanya seriously answered, raising her eyes. – My neighbor Aunt Masha told me that death came for her son Vadik and now he is no more.
- I came for Vadik. - Death's voice sounded deaf from under the hood, as if all the burden of responsibility fell on her shoulders at once. I'm Death, Ivan. I'm the one who comes in and picks up people. That's my job.
For a second there was a grave silence in the room. A bright yellow car froze in the hands of the child. Vanya looked at Death, and she waited for the boy to react. Suddenly Vanya smiled at her:
- You're my friend, you're not bad. There is a policeman’s father, everyone is afraid of him, but he treated me to ice cream – pride and firm confidence in his words shone in the eyes of the child. Death grinned and slapped his hair and said:
And rightly so, death is no enemy. And now I'm going to tell you about the great magician I went to not so long ago.
After that conversation, this topic was not raised for a long time, but something happened that sooner or later would have happened. Death awaited Vanya in his room, and he was about to return from school. She was just about to think about her plans for tomorrow, when Vanya flew into the room in tears:
- Who hurt you? - Death asked.
“I told the guys that I was playing with death,” Ivan said, and Sasha told his mother. She told him not to be friends with me and told him to show me to the doctor. But I didn't lie. I'm playing with you, right?
Death thought for a second about his answer and for the first time in all the time of acquaintance with Vanya realized that it was in vain that she interfered in the life of this child. It is unnatural for a man to be friends with death.
Yes, Wan, but you understand that of all people only you can see and hear me. I only come to everyone else at the right time. You're a different story. If you want, I won't come to you.
Nope! You're my friend! You are my best friend! – Vanya quickly tarted – No one knows so many interesting stories! Don't leave me! Friends don't leave each other. You yourself told me about the eternal friendship ... in the eyes of the child gathered lakes of tears, a little more and he would go in endless crying. Death quickly weighed the pros and cons, leaned over him and whispered conspiratorily in his ear:
Then let our friendship be a secret! You know how to keep secrets, right? Vanka smiled happily and nodded his head. Since then, Vanya has carefully kept this secret. He was very proud to have such a secret.
As the years passed, Ivan grew up, graduated from university. They were all secretly communicating with each other. Death was an outsider in his life, telling him instructive stories but never giving advice. Several times Ivan wanted to extort from her about his fate, but Death always answered him that everything was in his hands and in due time. As an adult, she let him know that he would live the life he would create for himself. Each of us is destined for a path, the path of each lasts a certain time and this time is life. Everyone chooses his own life, but within the permissible period of time and when the turn of death comes.
Vanya's life was full of ups and downs. There were happy times, and sometimes, like any person, he was obsessed with longing. Important discoveries and disappointments have occurred in life, including losses. There was an unspoken rule between them: “Never ask when the time of a particular person is right.” Ivan knew that sooner or later his aunt and uncle and other close people would leave. He never blamed Death and lived every day because he did not know when his time would come.
Decades passed, he had a family, children, grandchildren. Even when Death came for his wife, he smiled sadly and nodded silently to Death. He realized long ago that there is no other way, but with age he began to think more often about the end of his path. He became wiser over the years, and it happened that during the conversation, he himself taught Death. What an interesting picture of their communication. Here she is, in a black cape with a hood, sitting in a chair by the window, and opposite her is a gray-haired man whose legs are covered with a wool blanket. They could spend hours looking out the window and talking, or just being silent and thinking about their own.
The last few days, Ivan felt ill, his heart sobbed and bothered a whole bunch of senile diseases. He felt something was wrong and possibly soon and his turn. In the last conversation, he broke the rule and asked her when it was his turn. Death silently looked at him and left. Ivan later regretted his question, he even for a second imagined that she would not come to talk to him again, and from these thoughts everything in his soul turned. He imagined that she would never come again, and before he died, he would never see Death again, no matter how foolish it might sound. From these thoughts he laughed, it came to him that in any case, he would still see her and be able to apologize. He didn't have to wait long. Five days later, relatives gathered around his bed. The doctor told them that Ivan did not have long and that nothing could be done. However, Ivan did not regret the news at all, rather he took it for granted. Later in the evening, when the loved ones left him to rest, she came to him. It appeared as unexpectedly as ever, but only this time Death stood silently, unwelcome, against the wall, opposite his bed.
Are you visiting or following me? he asked. Death came silently and sat beside him on his bed.
- I'll follow you. Your time is right, Ivan.
“I thought after our conversation you would not come back again,” the man sighed relieved, glad that he could talk to her again.
- I couldn't help coming back. Being here at the right time is my job. Who would have thought that one day I would do my job and say goodbye to you?
- Goodbye? Won't I see you later? After all? You are Death in the end - sadness lurked in Ivan's faded eyes from old age, and a childish resentment flashed through his voice.
- Goodbye. Death comes to the living, but death will never come to the dead. She took his hand. For a moment Ivan’s face turned into a suffering mask, but a few moments later he smiled at her, accepting the coming. Death smiled at him and asked:
What joke do you want to tell for the last time?
They found Ivan a few hours later. On his face, a peaceful smile froze, and his hand seemed to squeeze someone’s hand even after death.