genre! I wouldn’t be surprised if you have a hard time finding your socks in the morning.»
Alex hints at our online game together. But he’s right again, this quest subgenre is not my strongest point. We’ve known each other personally for only a few minutes, and he again manages to drive me mad:
«And you declare it to me, master of negotiations! Yes, we lost only because you managed to quarrel with all the characters in almost every game dialogue!»
«Uh, and I was afraid that we would not reach an understanding,» Alex pretendedly wipes with his hand. «Where are you from? What motivated you to join this strange company?»
«You first.»
«It’s not a secret. I was born and raised in Moscow. Alex is short for Alexander. I have a law degree and worked in various small offices. At the age of 30, I am fond of online quests, engaged in mountaineering, basketball and I dream of opening a private legal agency to provide my services for both Russian and foreign companies. This is what I will spend my winnings for.»
«What about „giving money to the poor“, Robin the Hood?» I ask sarcastically.
«You have no idea how many people need free legal advice,» he suddenly becomes serious, «the poor are more likely to find themselves in difficult situations, become victims of unscrupulous realtors, traders, relatives, criminals, remain without a roof over their heads and lose all their modest savings… At the same time, they cannot even afford to receive qualified assistance.»
I feel ashamed, so I change the topic and tell about myself:
«My name is Victoria, I’m from Samara. I teach English courses at a language school and occasionally work as a translator. I love adventure and look for them in every possible way. That’s why I am here, aboard a plane flying in an unknown direction. I’m 25, and instead of thinking about family and kids, I sit for hours at the computer, pondering on another puzzle.»
«And what will you spend your winnings on?»
«I don’t think it will come to that,» I wave it off. «For me, the Game of the Century is a way to break out of routine and become part of something great and one of a kind.»
Alex stares at me intently, as if trying to see through, and suddenly hits me on the spot with his phase:
«You clearly underestimate yourself.»
I raise my eyebrows in surprise, not knowing how to respond to such a statement.
«You have one important, I’d even say, a unique quality that will make you special in this game.»
«Yes, and which one?» I strain like a string, expecting another joke.
«A very kind heart.»
I have no time to think about his words, as the plane suddenly gets into a zone of turbulence, and it starts to shake severely. With the mind I understand that this is not dangerous at all, nevertheless, I can’t help being nervous: I grip the armrests of the leather seat with my hands and even forget to breathe out of excitement. After a minute, everything calms down, and I feel ashamed of my fear.
I’m already planning a response to another stinging joke from Alex, when the plane seems to fall into an air hole. It takes my breath away for a second. But outside the window the sun is shining brightly, the sky is blinding with its blue – it can only be so blue here, at an altitude of 10,000 meters. Fluffy clouds float beneath us so peacefully that I manage to pull myself together and calm down. And the moment I completely relax, the plane shakes with renewed vigor.
I have never experienced such intense turbulence before. The plane literally jumps in the air, then drops down for a few fractions of a second, then shakes from side to side. Horror binds me, so I can’t breathe or even just move. Instead, I have an iron grip on the seat and cannot formulate a single clear thought in my head. Shouts are heard in the cabin. Excited exclamations come through my own veil of fear. Someone is trying to call the flight attendant. Suddenly, everything ends as spontaneously as it began.
All I want now is to see Alex’s good-natured, mocking smile and make sure everything is in order. But when I turn in his direction, instead of the expected smile, I see a worried, even pale face.
«Alex, I’m really afraid to fly,» I babble.
«Be quiet! Something is wrong! Can you hear the engine running unevenly?»
«Stop that!» I am angry and expect that now he will laugh, rejoice at how well he played me out.
«Please,» I mentally ask him, «tell me it’s not true! I won’t even take offense.»
But looking out the window, I shudder from what I saw. Thick black smoke is pouring from the left wing. There can be no doubt that a serious problem occurred during the violent shaking. And as if in confirmation of my thought, the plane slowly lands on the left wing, holds for some time, as it seems to me, in one place, and then begins to plummet downward.
Fuzzily, I hear screams in different languages, panic in the cabin, Alex’s instructions:
«Fasten all the belts! Don’t move!»
Someone is crying, another one is praying hard. The blood rushes to my head, so I no longer know where the top and bottom are. The eardrums seem to be about to burst from sudden pressure. Seat belts bite painfully into the shoulders. I want to scream, but I can’t open my mouth. I register the impact of some objects flying around the cabin and the deafening roar of a falling plane.
The entire cabin is clouded with thick acrid smoke and filled with the smell of burning. The oxygen mask hung in front of my face, and somewhere deep in my subconscious, the flight attendants’ briefing before the start pops up. With shaking hands, I pull the mask over the face and try to take my first breath, but the lungs sewn with the threads of fear refuse to obey. I close my eyes tightly.
The thoughts get confused in my head.
«Is that all? The end? Is all this happening to me in reality? Is the biggest fear of my life, my nightmares coming true? "I think in some daze. I used to be sure that «pictures of the whole life’s journey» in the face of death is a myth. But now scenes from the past are really flickering before my closed eyes: people, events, experiences. Clearly, distinctly, in some specific moments of life and, most surprisingly, in the reverse order.
Meeting Alex. The Glossy Lady. I board a plane at Sheremetyevo airport. I open the letter with a trembling hand, stamped Antakarana Corporation. I press the «Fill» button of the questionnaire opened on the monitor to participate in the Game of the Century. I study English irregular verbs with first-graders, translate negotiations on the delivery of a new tomograph to the city hospital. Euphoria during the second parachute jump. Horror before the first one. Graduation party at the institute, generously flavored with laughter and tears. Disappointment due to the failed ascent of Elbrus. Painful parting with Andrey. I jump for joy in front of the list of applicants on the wall of the university. First kiss with Kirill at the school prom. – Pictures in my head speed up. – Tears because of the first bad score in math. Mom fries pancakes on Sunday morning, and I burned my finger. First day at the new school. Hike to the Ural Mountains. Grandma’s village, where the goose nibbles me and chases me for some
