Quietly sobbing and wiping tears, I was sitting on a bench in the park behind the shop. I sat for a long time and couldn't decide to go into the shop. And the time went by. I understood that it was impossible to postpone any more. Now I was not waiting for a joyful return home and not to be late.
I swore to myself that I hurried, did not see what I was given. How could I not check the change? How could I put the money in my pocket so lightly? My aunt, unlike me, never forgets her "responsibilities". And today, having taken away from me a net of milk and sour cream, the first thing she did was count the change and immediately pointed at the discrepancy.
In my head immediately flashed all those cases when I forgot or lost any things. There hadn't been many such situations in two years, but each time Aunt Nyura raised an incredible scandal. Sometimes I even wanted to be beaten with a belt. It's probably easier to get hurt once than to listen to lecturing and reproaching over and over again.
After each of my fault, the morning started with reproaches that I was eating bread earned by my relatives. A little rest from moral teachings was only at school. And then everything went on. Aunt Nyura was coming home, throwing nets at the doorstep, and saying, "Where is this crap?
To be honest, I was always surprised at how she didn't get tired of repeating the same thing every day. While my own daughter, Lyudmila, my aunt allowed me to lose and forget things without ever bothering her for being distracted. Sometimes I regretted having relatives, and I was not sent to an orphanage. There, they say, life isn't sugar either, but it seemed like it couldn't be any worse.
Finally, having gathered all my determination, I crossed the threshold of the shop. After defending the queue, she explained the essence of the question to the cashier. She looked at me angrily, showed me the customers behind my back and explained that she couldn't and wouldn't "take off the cash register" now. But if I come fifteen minutes before the store closes, she will check the rest with me.
It was the end. Even if I bring the missing money, my aunt will not forgive me for being so late. All the nearby shops closed at six, but this one was considered the duty officer and worked until 9 pm.
I couldn't hold back my tears any longer. As in a dream opened one, and then the second door of the store. The setting sun blinded me. From tears and bright light, I saw almost nothing. But she did not turn towards the house, but went forward through the lawn towards the road. I wanted to die and be next to my mommy. I bypassed the bush I found myself in the way and continued walking along the grass. I couldn't understand why I hadn't made it to the road yet, where, if I was lucky, I would be hit by a car.
I couldn't wait to collide with cars, so I sank to the ground and started crying with delight. I didn't care what passers-by thought of me and how I looked from the outside. I was glad that nobody paid attention to me and tried to comfort me. And what kind of consolation can there be?! Aliens don't understand my problems. A meeting with my aunt is inevitable, and therefore, it is impossible to avoid punishment.
I don't know how much I cried. Only when my hysterics went into sobbing could I look back. She wiped out her tear-split face with the hem of her dress and took a closer look. There was still fog in my head. I couldn't figure out where I was? Why was it so quiet? The environment was more like a forest than a green area in front of the store. I tried to remember how long I was walking. It seemed like just a dozen steps. I couldn't have gotten that far, could I? Yes, and we don't have a forest near the house. While I was sitting there thinking, the sun had gone down behind the trees. It was dark. And then it occurred to me that if I was in the woods, maybe there were wolfes and other wild animals here. All right, let them eat me! Everything is better than going back to the store for a change.
I was still crying, and then I got under the roots of a big tree. I got a little carried away, made myself look like a mink and fell asleep.
I found a small stream pretty quickly. But then I thought for a while what to do. I remembered a poster on the wall near the school doctor's office with an eloquent inscription: "Don't drink raw water! And two pictures, with the image of a boy. The first one is how he stretches his lips to the stream, and then on the second poster, the same boy of green shade lies in the hospital. I hesitated for a few minutes, and then I reminded myself that I was going to die yesterday, so it's okay if I drink raw water today.
So I got drunk and washed.
I didn't go far from the water source and moved downstream, wondering where else to get food.