his home and even furniture with them. After these events, it was the turn of her favorite guests. She accepted them generously. The pile of skulls disappeared, at the snap of two fingers of their owner. The servants brought tables and chairs for dead souls to sit at them, only in human form. They took the form of sitting down at the table, and did it by seniority. First the male elders sat down, then the female ones. Only then, in the order of dying, the bodies and souls mixed up and sat down as they had to. The sight of these bodies spoke for itself. It looks like they died a long time ago, and are already used to being in the dark. They did not pretend to be anything more, they liked their existence. Their eyes shone with a transparent light, and the shell around their eyes betrayed the absence of life. Their bony fingers were like skeletal bones, their hair was lifeless, and they were not breathing. They were just sitting at the table.
The guests took their seats and sat waiting for something. We continued to watch. An old woman appeared, she appeared out of thin air and splashes of frozen water scattered in different directions. In her hands, she held the pot from which I managed to drink the magic drink. The servants carried wooden cups, one dead man carried a tray with dishes, and another poured this drink and distributed them to the guests. There were several of them, and they did their job quickly. One of them made a mistake and was immediately deleted. The scattered like flakes of snow, and in his place was another. Then all the servants quickly disappeared.
– How are you going to save her if she appears and disappears? It can turn into flakes of snow at any moment.
– Yes, you are right. I do not know myself anymore. Can I approach Mara herself?
– «What are you going to tell her?»
– Let him take me, and let the grandmother go.
– You are stupid! Why. You still have your whole life ahead of you; you are only twenty-five.
– I know. Bat, it is also my fault that she is suffering.
– I do not think so. It is her fault that you are here being alive. She told you fairy tales. Our argument was interrupted by a third.
– Quiet. Do not collect troubles. We are already in hell. Her husband will also make skulls out of us. Let us wait. Maybe the grandmother actually knows something. We must wait for the moment.
– «You’re right.
The guests were sitting peacefully at the tables; the hosts of the holiday were talking about something among themselves, or even not talking, but exchanging glances. The house cleaner collected the empty dishes from the guests and disappeared. Trolls came out into the hall and began their single dance. They were dancing something beautiful, trying to please the guests, something like a ballet. In my opinion, this ball was nothing special. I had more idea how to do my job faster and get away from here. I looked away and thought for a second, closing my eyes. As soon as I did that, I heard a sharp sound. It was like a creak. I looked into the hall. Guests, devils and tables, everything was cleaned. The guests took their seats as before. Devils and trolls were sitting in their places. The tables disappeared.
Mara Marena was standing in the middle of the hall. She stood tall and began to change her appearance. Her hair looked like the sun, it was golden, a light beautiful dress complemented the image of spring. Having taken the form of summer, the color of her hair remained the same golden, and she was even more beautiful. In autumn, she looked like a decrepit old woman in old clothes and a hump on her back, and with the arrival of winter, she turned into a young beautiful woman. Her beauty was fatal. I could not get enough of her. Her hair was decorated with a crown with precious stones; her gaze was stern and proud. She was a great goddess.
The festive hall changed its beauty with her. It all started in spring, despite the time of year there has never been light here. The light was a bonfire on which people burned an effigy of spring. At that moment, Mara wrinkled her face and clenched her hands into fists. This picture ended abruptly.
Then summer came. The picture changed its screensavers the way I had seen it before when I came here and saw the abandoned dwellings of the gods. It was dark enough here for the summer season, and the black sun served as the light. Spring and summer left quickly enough, but autumn was delayed. It was a damp and cold picture. There was a dark and gloomy street in the hall. Gray wooden houses stood in an abandoned state. There was no light in them and the street was illuminated by a lantern. It was drizzling outside, but no one felt it from those present, the rain did not touch them. The trees stood like gnarled guards.
The picture began to slowly change its screensaver. The water began to freeze gradually, turning into icicles. The raindrops turned into flakes of snow and a blizzard began. Mara was coming into her own. The blizzard rose stronger and stronger until it turned into a tornado and abruptly stopped. After the stop, the picture disappeared, and the inhabitants of the hall, all except the gods, were covered with ice. All the servants, devils, trolls and guests in human form. They all turned into ice statues. This picture has already surfaced before my eyes. I remember this moment well. My grandmother was standing in a half-bent state and held a shaman’s tambourine in her hands. The Winter Palace was fabulously beautiful, as was its owner. Winter frowned. Mara has come into her own.
I finished my story. A doctor came into the room and interrupted him. The doctor was doing his rounds. He said rather sad words for me. My friend should be discharged soon. I had already become attached to him and I did not want to part with him. In addition, after the experience I was afraid to stay in the ward alone. The doctor left the room. There has been no talk about my discharge yet.
– Don’t be sad. We will meet again, you will see. I took a deep breath in response. How quickly you can get used to a person, I thought. I was sad because so many things happened to me in such a short period, I met a person, now everything is ending, and we will have to part. What a pity. Alternatively, maybe I really dreamed everything and nothing happened. I thought and went out into the corridor.
– Where are you going?
– Just to walk. Walk to the bathroom, I joked.
– Let’s go together. My friend never let me go alone, and I did not even think about why. We walked down the corridor, drank coffee, and I continued my story.
The inhabitants of the castle assumed their former forms. Many guests disappeared, turning into splashes of snow. So they got rid of unnecessary guests. Everything took its former form. The ice thawed a little and became much warmer, although no one felt the cold. Mara threw her gaze at my grandmother, and she turned into a young girl. Beautiful enough for her age and position, but no one could compare with Mara. The girl straightened up to her full height and carefully looked in the direction of Mara. No one dared to look her in the eye.
A moment later, the castle disappeared, and we found ourselves in the winter garden. Everything took its former form, only instead of the old woman there was a girl standing and shamanizing by the fire. The guests separated, the trolls and devils separated from the spirits and lived by themselves. Only the chosen guests remained, and this final part of the holiday was for them. They were facing each other and they were separated by fire. Only the chosen guests remained, and this final part of the holiday was dedicated to them. The gods sat invariably, as they sat originally in the castle. Koschei, did not take his eyes off his wife, he admired her beauty. His eyes glittered greedily; his bony fingers fingered the handle of the throne, lined with skulls. Mara looked with her icy eyes at the fire; her gaze was cold and ruthless, and still changed color.
The old girl was still brewing a miraculous drink;
