PROSE
A Winter Melody
(a real-life story)
Vera Stafeeva
Skovorodino (Russia)
It happened about three, four years
ago. The last month of the passing year was in
its prime, the weather was so cold that I didn't
want to go outside at all, not to mention going
out for a walk, frightful weather! So I can say
that it was a bit difficult to maintain my
temper that day. But suddenly I wanted to go
to the forest, to walk among our beloved birch
trees, which were quite near to our house.
I was going along the native footpath,
looking for some familiar birches, I always hug
them tightly. And the sky, a deep blue sky, just
like in Pushkin: “Under the blue sky, magnificent
snow carpets lie, they are glinting in the sun!”
Once again I admired such simple words, that
are keeping deep magic for centuries.
I thanked my little birch trees and went
further, thinking about something, and
suddenly felt that it was getting hot.
I took off my mittens, unbuttoned my
coat and then realized that there had come a
sudden thaw. The sun was shining, blinding
everything around. I stopped, looked up and
just stunned with what I saw!
Instantly, the words formed into the
rhyme: “I walked among the birches and saw a
beauty richness - on every branch,
unvarnished truth, the diamond facets shine
so smooth!”
Our grove was literally all silver, every
single twig was covered with ringing clear
droplets, they sparkled, and were shimmering
under the bright sun, just like little precious
diamonds! And these diamond droplets burst
and very, very quietly fell into the snow in the
ringing silence, creating a unique fairytale
pattern on its surface.
I stood there for a long, long time,
fascinated, admiring this marvelous miracle
and indescribable beauty. Here it is - the
eternity of existence!
And the melody of the soul, the melody
of nature, the charming melody of winter was
deafeningly ranging around me!
On my way home I've been walking on air,
in a perfect mood, holding in memory this
vision.
“Dear Lord,” I thought, please let this
m e l o d y e n d l e s s l y p l a y fo r eve r yo n e,
penetrating into every corner of people's
souls and hearts, so that the fearsome and
terrible sounds of war would never, ever drown
it out.
14
SUNRISE
It started to snow in the evening, and it
snowed heavily in rather large fluffy flakes; it
seemed that they rustled, creaked, gently
touching each other, making mysterious
sounds, adding some new notes to the winter
melody of the day. As if the fabulous fairies
took out their flutes and started to play, play,
play! I was standing at the window, unable to
take my eyes off this wonderful scene,
watching and dreaming of days when all
people would sometimes also listen to this
melody, being certain that the beauty would
actually save the world.
And so be it! The world is one, after all,
and it is same for all of us, same for everyone!
Maria Gerasimenko
February 2019 №2