Let’s go visit him!»
«I’ve got no time!» Peter sounded irritated.
«Please!» Sveta jumped around.
«Ok – five minutes!» Peter already regretted that he gave in.
Roma’s Café
Roma, a sixteen year old kid, was making pancakes. He wore caps, a grey striped long-sleeved shirt, jeans and black apron. Roma put a pancake on a plate. He smiled, while painting on it with sauce. Then he grabbed the plate,
«On the house!» he put it in front of Sveta.
Sveta ate it at once.
«Mmm… delicious sauce!»
Roma smiled.
«Take it easy, man!» Roma leaned towards Peter. «You think she’d fancy you with this… face?!»
Peter jumped up,
«What? Look at you, dropped out of school! What would you know…?»
Roma looked at him in a thoughtful way,
«You know, many great personalities considered a high school education to be totally useless as for helping them to manifest their dreams.»
Roma kept silent for a while, then he looked at Peter and added with a tone of mystery,
«Knowledge of another kind helped them to acquire success.»
«Loser! Just admit it, instead of covering up your failure with nonsense.»
Roma didn’t answer. He went back to the stove and started on a new pancake.
The door by the bar rack opened and a strange man entered the coffee shop. He was wearing a weird costume. Peter, Sveta, and Lisa exchanged looks.
«Roma, make me a coffee to take away,» he turned to kids and smiled. «Just love take away coffee here!»
Roma handed him a paper cup. The strange man took it and exited.
«Weird,» mumbled Peter.
Sveta looked at the door as it was closing after the man, and for a second in the tiny wind draft she saw golden lighting. It dissolved quickly.
«Just like this morning,» she whispered.
Sveta looked at Lisa, then at Peter. «Did they see?» She looked at the door again.
«Don’t even think about it!» Peter knew what was about to happen.
Sveta jumped to her feet and ran towards the door.
«I have no time,» Peter screamed.
But it was too late. Sveta ran out. He didn’t have a choice but to follow her.
A Place of Light
Running out the door, Peter and Lisa stepped into the tunnel of trees. Lisa looked up where the crowns met,
«Wow! It’s like a gate.»
They went through the gates and found themselves as if in another world, bright, colorful.
Peter blinked. Lisa breathed in the light and smiled.
In front of them was a beautiful meadow, framed by trees. A huge happening was going on. Music, competitions, contests, people laughing, enjoying themselves. The meadow overlooked a lake, covered by snow.
Lisa knew this place. She would often come here to chill out and to dream. It was always full of light, even in the rain it kept a kind of clarity of space. But she didn’t remember trees in the form of gates.
In the middle of the meadow there was a colorful whirl; a tall stick and bands of different colors attached to it. People caught the ends of the bands and ran around the stick, creating a colorful vortex. All this swirling looked like waves, giving the sense of space to be real and unreal at the same time.
Lisa watched it, mesmerized, feeling a growing sense of joy.
«Where is she?!» Peter searched for Sveta in the crowd of people.
Lisa didn’t hear him. Slowly, in step with the swirling, she moved towards the colorful vortex.
«You know, this interview…» Peter looked down, «Lisa, you think… Am I a loser?» he blurted out.
Peter didn’t dare to look at her, and when he raised his eyes, he saw Lisa running towards the colorful whirl.
«Lisa!»
Why should I waste my time on something that is not for me?
Denis entered Roma’s Café. He looked around – no customers. Rather perplexed, he ordered a cappuccino and took a seat, looking around one more time.
Roma put a cappuccino in front of Denis,
«They joined the Masleniza celebration,» Roma waved in the direction of the door by the bar rack.
Denis gave a look at the door. In his head he repeated Lisa’s question, «I wonder why handsome, rich Onegin, he who has all this success… Why is he depressed?» Denis smiled bitterly.
Masha entered the coffee shop.
«Masha! Long time no see!» Roma went forward to greet her.
Masha ignored him. She walked straight to Denis’s table and sat down in front of him,
«Hey.»
«Do we know each other?»
Masha looked puzzled at Denis, not knowing what to say. Denis left money on the table and walked out through the door that Roma showed him, without looking back.
Memories from the previous evening – the party, streamed through Masha’s head. He was with her and then left, without looking back, just as he did a moment ago. She remembered his spine, how he walked down stairs.
Sasha’s voice, «Denis, are you leaving?» No answer – of course.
Masha was not aware that she was crying.
Roma made some tea, walked up to Masha, and put a tea cup in front of her. Then he went back to the bar rack, sat on it, and observed Masha for a while,
«Why cling so hard to that which is not for you?»
Masha came to her senses.
«You don’t cling to anything. Dropped out of school. Happy now?»
«Of course… I don’t cling, I don’t worry… What do you think? I got it! I was aware of all the opportunities that our school opened up for us. Golden career opportunities, money… so what? It didn’t fire me up – none of it!»
