Nick Webster

A New Beginning

            I arrived at the town shortly before sunrise.  A sign on the edge of the city said, “Шурышкары.”  I had no idea where I am.  I know I am by a river… I know it is night out… and I know I’m now in a small town that is super small compared to the city where Nikki and I were made.  I didn’t know whether this was good or a bad.  At first, I thought it was a bad thing.  There are fewer hiding places for me, less places for me to get lost if I needed to escape, and I assumed probably had less opportunity to find food and shelter.  On the other hand, it could be easier to find people willing to help me, but at this point, I haven’t met anyone who is willing to help me out.

            I walked down a road in the town.  I thought for a few moments.  If I wait and try to get some sleep while there’s still darkness, I risk being caught.  People will likely be coming for me.  I don’t know if they are going to believe that I had died in the helicopter, but I don’t think I should risk it.  On the other hand, I need sleep and food right now.  I don’t know how much more stress my body could take.  I could try to travel somewhere when it was light out again.  That might risk having my assailants find me.  It was a tough decision, but I had to start making these decisions on my own.  Nikki wasn’t here right now, so I needed to come up with a plan.

            I was in the middle of nowhere.  There was no telling how far the next city was.  This “city” offered very little.  If I try to take a car or something like Nikki, I risk being caught by either the police or the owner of the vehicle.  I don’t even know how to operate one of those things anyway.  If I stay in the town, I also risk being caught by someone who lives here.  I had to decide fast because the sun was coming up soon.  I could tell that the sky was getting lighter with every passing minute.

            I decided to get some sleep.  I was tired, and I could observe what happens during the day to better plan for a successful escape.  I needed to find a place to stay, though.

            I eventually found a small c***k below a porch at someone’s house.  It would be dark, quiet, and I don’t think I would get caught.  This is going to home for now, I guess.  With that, I laid down on the cold ground and fell asleep for what little remained in the night.

 ***************************************

             I woke up sometime in the middle of the day.  I could tell because the sun was high above the ground.  The porch was still cold, but I could feel some of the sunlight sneaking into where I was.  It felt warm.  I wanted to feel more of it, but I knew I couldn’t until I understood these people’s routines.  I was going to be an unfamiliar face in a small town.  I’m not sure how receptive these people were to new people, and I didn’t want to find out the hard way either.  I just wasn’t willing to risk it yet.

            I didn’t eat the entire first day I was there.  I just waited, listened, and watched for people.  I think there was only one person who lived in the house that was directly above me.  After several hours of waiting, the person arrived home in their car.  She was an older lady, but she was the only one that came in or out of the house.  I wasn’t here for weeks or months or anything, but it seemed like she lived a pretty quiet life.

            When the nighttime came, I decided to go hunting for food.  I was very fortunate that there was a couple of apple trees located a few houses down.  They were very sweet, juicy, and delicious.  However, a few of them were really bad tasting.  It didn’t matter.  They were all better than starving.  After eating about five apples, I was worried that whoever owned them might know how many apples they originally had.  I should be careful about how much food in the same spot I should consume.  I didn’t want anyone getting suspicious that someone was stealing their food.  But I was so hungry…

            I scouted out for some more food, but it was hard to see in the middle of the night.  I was next to a lake and river, so I could try fishing like Nikki did.  Perhaps I will tomorrow if I don’t leave before then.  I didn’t know how to fish like she did.  I… miss her.  She was so skillful in everything that she did.  I’m afraid that I’m eventually going to wither up and die without her.

            Eventually, I went back to the porch without eating anything else.  I needed to conserve my resources and energy.  There’s a chance that I’ll need to disappear quickly, so I need to have a game plan and extra food available if I needed it.  With a mostly empty-feeling belly, I went back to bed and fell asleep.

            The next day I woke up around dawn.  That gave me the chance to see the neighborhood for the whole day.  The old lady left again in morning.  I must have been still asleep the day before because I saw hear return, but I didn’t hear her leave in the morning.  That was good to know.  We’ll see if she returns around the same time today.  If she did, that would tell me her routine, which was very helpful to know.  It was going to be a long and boring day, but I think it’s necessary to understand these things.

            I didn’t want to hurt her or anything.  At the worst, I’ll just take her car and leave this place.  Maybe take some of her food as well.  I wanted to get to a big city where I could get lost in the crowds of people.  There would be more opportunities for shelter and food in a larger city.  Perhaps eventually a friend.

            The old lady eventually came back again.  I think it was around the same time.  I didn’t pay close attention to where the sun was the first time around when I really should have.  My next problem was how I was going to get into her house and find her car keys.  Because I was living under a porch, I was dirty.  If I walked on the porch or inside the house, I would leave a trail of dirt behind me.  I had to think of a solution about that problem.

            When nighttime came, I decided to leave this area.  At least, that was the hope.  I considered trying to take her car.  She would alert the police that her car was missing.  However, I felt like no matter what I did, the police would be alerted, and I would eventually be found out.  But there had to be some other way…

            A few hours after dark, I started walking up the porch.  The porch was somewhat noisy, but I tried to be quiet enough to not alert her or wake her up.  I looked in one of the windows.  Everything was perfectly calm inside.  I grabbed the window, but before I started trying to lift it up, I stopped.  I couldn’t go through with it.  There HAD to be another way.  I didn’t want a trail of police on me.

            After a few moments of thinking and just staring in the house, I took my hands off the window.  Feeling defeated, I started slowly walking off the porch.  Even worse now, I probably left a mess from my feet, so she knew someone was trying to get into her house.  I went back to the apple tree, grabbed several apples, and ate for the night.  I didn’t know what else to do.  I was starving and miserable.  I ate even less apples and left myself even more hungry than last night.  But what was the point?  I was just eventually going to die here.  I went back to the porch and tried to fall back asleep.  I was so hungry that I couldn’t fall asleep right away.  My stomach was so loud I thought I might wake her up at some point.

            The next morning, I woke up much earlier than the last two mornings.  The sun had not yet risen but was close.  I decided that I would test the humanity of these people.  Nikki was very skeptical of everyone else around her.  At this point, it was hard to argue otherwise.  But I felt like someone somewhere out there would have mercy on me.  After all, I was a lonely and hungry child.  Someone had to show compassion for me.

            I emerged out from under the porch with a small amount of morning light.  I wasn’t used to seeing sunlight.  Even though the sun wasn’t completely out, it still hurt my eyes.  I just decided to sit at the corner and see if anyone would approach me.  Although I’m not as skilled as Nikki, I think I could handle myself against someone as long as they didn’t have a weapon.  That’s one of the biggest reasons why I feared the police.  They all had guns, and I had no way to defend myself against them.  It’s much easier if I was in tight spaces like the kitchen from the first home that I stayed in.  I don’t think ordinary people had those kinds of weapons, though.

            About an hour or so later, the old woman came out of her house.  I tried to look as pitiful as I could to appeal to her empathic side.  I didn’t make eye contact with her, and I just sat on the ground with my head on my arms.

            I think she noticed me from the window or something because I could see from the corner of my eye that she immediately looked and stared at me.  She locked her house up and came over to me.

            She slowly approached me and asked, “Son, are you alright?  Where are your parents?  You look like you haven’t showered in weeks.”

            I managed to bring about the start of some tears.  I didn’t really have to cry, but I tried to make it look like I did, so she’d have more pity on me.  I think it worked.  I didn’t even have to answer.  She just looked at my face and followed up by saying, “Oh my god.  You poor thing.”  She gave me a hug.  It was very uncomfortable, but I couldn’t show that.  I didn’t know this woman, but I knew I was using her for my own means.  It didn’t seem right, but it was the best option I had so far.

            She asked, “What’s your name, son?”

            Uh oh.  Do I give her my actual name?  That could ruin everything.  I was already in a lie by faking sadness.  But what’s another common name?  I tried to think.  At the same time, I think the silence was working well too.  She looked more and more worried, but she also kept asking questions that I didn’t answer.

            “I don’t think you live around here.  I’ve never seen you.  Where are you from?”

            Well, I tried to make my answers as close to the truth as possible.  “I don’t have parents.  I’m trying to make it to the city.”

            “You’re an orphan?  You poor child!  How long have you been wandering the streets?” she sounded very worried for me.  I appreciated someone finally having compassion on me instead of trying to kill me.

            “Yes, ma’am.  I don’t know,” I said.  I should stay as mysterious as possible.  I didn’t want to give much information that could identify me if the police were looking for me.

            The old woman grabbed my hand.  She led me into her house and along the way said, “Let me help you clean up and eat.  You look like you could use some food.”  And just like that, we walked to into her house.  That was a lot easier than I thought it would be.  I guess violence isn’t the only answer.  I’d like to let Nikki know that if I ever see her again.

            We both went to her home.  I still realized the big problem with my situation.  I don’t know who this woman is going to contact about me.  Do people call the police when they find random kids on the street?  If she called the police at any point, things could get really ugly really fast.  I hoped she didn’t.  She’s nice, and it could be tragic if she betrayed my trust.

            When we stepped inside, she immediately said, “Let me call into work, and then I’m going to get you a hot bath.  My grandson has some clothes here.  He’s a little older than you, so the clothes are going to be big on you.  You can just take a seat in the kitchen for now if you’d like.”  She pointed down the hall and said, “It’s to the right.”  Great.  The last time I was in a kitchen two men died.  Argh.  Enough of those kinds of thoughts.  I was going to become a new person.  Let’s just hope it stays that way.

            I followed my orders.  I really wanted to make sure her phone call wasn’t to the police, but at this point, I didn’t want to alert her.  I headed to the kitchen, and she went upstairs. 

            Her house was smaller than the house that Nikki and I stayed in.  It also looked older.  It was less clean and there was a c***k in the ceiling of the kitchen plus the walls looked like they were coming apart.  There was a layer of paper on some of the walls, and some of the paper was coming apart from the wall.  I just sat at the table waiting for her to return.

            She came down several minutes later.  I could vaguely hear her upstairs while she was starting the bath.  She came down and told me to come upstairs.  “How old are you, my dear?” she asked.

            I really didn’t know how to answer that question.  I don’t think I could tell her that I was only several days old.  I know I look older than that.  Nikki had said we’d be several years old.  But how old exactly?  I just managed to mumble, “I… I don’t know.”

            She suddenly stopped and asked, “How long have you been on the streets?”  Her look was so shocked and confused.  Uh oh.  This was what I was hoping to avoid.  I didn’t want to give her any reason to be suspicious or to contact anyone.  I just wanted her to get me to a train station or somewhere where I could get far away from this place.

            But what could I say to remove the shock from her face?  I just told her I didn’t know how old I was.  I felt like I needed to lie the rest of my way through this situation.  Lying is not as bad as killing people… right?  I think I’ll take that as a win for now.  Someday, I’ll be able to talk about myself without lying or worrying about exaggerating the truth or anything like that.  I looked forward to that day.

            But still… what’s a good lie to get me out of this situation??  I thought for a second and just looked at her.  I decided to switch the subject.  “I’ve been trying to find a train station.  I have an uncle in Moscow who I’m trying to find.  He said he would take me in.”  I had no clue where I was going to go from there, but it gives her a reason to get me to Moscow at least.

            “Heavens!  What’s your uncle’s name?  What’s your name?  I don’t think you answered that before.  You were probably too scared, and I threw a lot of questions at you at once.  Heavens!  I’m doing that again!”  It was kind of funny just listening to her.  She seemed to have a lot of energy for an old lady.

            But here’s the same problem that I had earlier.  I don’t know many common names around here, and I didn’t want to give away my actual name.  Wait!  I remember Nikki talking about the President of this country!  “My uncle’s name is Vladimir.”  I sure hope that’s a common name.

            “What’s his last name?” she asked.

            Argh.  Just stop asking questions!  Too many questions will not help me out.  “I… I’m not sure.”  I had to get out of this conversation.  “Can I have the bath now, please?  I’m tired.”  I didn’t want to come off as rude or demanding, but I needed a little time to think about answers to these questions.  Her questioning was making me nervous.  I was getting confident that she was going to contact somebody.  That made me even more nervous.

            “Of course, my dear,” she responded.  Thank goodness!  I was getting worried.  I’ll just take the bath and worry about everything later.  I just needed to rest and relax.  While I laid down to sleep early last night, I felt like I could use several more hours of sleep.  A warm bath would help me relax.

            She led me into the bathroom.  The water was still going.  She turned it off.  She already had some clothes waiting on a counter.  She said, “You can use any of the shampoo if you’d like, but I have to warn you – it’ll make you smell a little girly!”  She said that with a giggle at the end.  She continued, “I’ll leave you be for a while.  I’ll be downstairs cooking you some breakfast.  I bet you’re starving.”

            Yes, I definitely was starving.  Eight apples in two days were not enough.  I already started feeling my mouth start to water just thinking about food.  “Thank you,” I softly said.

            “You’re very welcome, my dear,” she said as she ruffed my hair.  With that, she left the room and closed the door behind her.

            I turned and looked to the bath.  It looked so amazing; I was speechless.  I had never experienced such hospitality.  All it took was me opening up myself to someone.  I’ll admit that I was probably lucky.  I don’t think everyone out there would be as nice to me, especially if they were a police officer.  But for now, it was a good thing, and I’ll take it.

            I took my clothes off and hopped into the bath.  It felt so warm and so good.  I laid back.  I don’t think more than a minute passed before I fell asleep.

            I have no clue how much time had passed before the lady came upstairs.  She apparently had knocked before coming in, but I didn’t hear her at all.  She opened the door somewhat frantically, which woke me up.  “Are you okay?  You didn’t answer when I knocked.”

            I jerked a little bit because she startled me.  “Sorry, ma’am.  I think I fell asleep.  I’ll finish up.”

            “Oh, okay. No rush.  I was just checking on you to make sure you were okay.  Your breakfast is ready whenever you are ready to come down.  I’ll keep it warm.”

            “Thank you, ma’am,” I said.

            “Please, call me grandma!  As far as I’m concerned, I’ll be your family until we can find your own family,” she said.

            I finished up in the bathroom.  She was right – the clothes were very big on me.  It’ll due for now, but I’ll need something more my size.  I always needed to think about what would make me noticeable.  Oversized clothes would make me stand out, so I needed clothes that properly fit me.  I haven’t seen anyone else wear anything excessively too big, so I needed to avoid that.

            I went back downstairs.  I walked down as quietly as I could.  I just kind of wanted to test how quiet I could walk in case I needed to for any reason.  I walked into the kitchen, and I guess I was pretty quiet because she didn’t hear me until I walked into kitchen.  She jumped a little and said, “Oh! You startled me.  Your breakfast is ready.  I hope you enjoy it!”  She placed the plate on a table in the middle of the kitchen.  She had a huge smile on her face.

            “Thank you,” I said.  I had been talking quietly up until this point.  Now, I spoke in a louder, more normal sounding voice.  I pulled out a chair at the table and climbed into it.  I looked at the plate.  I’ve eaten some of this food before, but there was one thing that was new.  There were sausages, bacon strips, and a biscuit, but there was a yellow puffy food that I didn’t know.  I just looked at it.  I don’t know why I didn’t just start eating.  I was so hungry that it hurt just looking at the plate of food.

            “Is something wrong?” she asked.  I must have been staring a little too long.

            “No, sorry,” I said and started eating right away.  I started with the sausages.  They were so delicious.  I drank a large glass of milk too.  Everything was so good, and I was so hungry that I nearly started to cry.  Once I got going, I couldn’t stop.  I ate everything almost without breathing.

            “Oh my.  You are a hungry one.  Aren’t you?” she observed.  She took my plate from me and asked, “Would you like more?”

            I really started to feel bad.  She was being very kind, and I was never going to offer anything to her in return.  I could still eat another three plates, but I didn’t want to overstay my welcome.  “No, thank you. I am no longer hungry,” I stated.

            I don’t think she really believed me, but she smiled at me, took my plate away, and put it in her sink without further questioning me.  She cleaned up the dish and started talking again, “So how are we going to get into contact with your uncle in Moscow?  That’s a long way from here.  You’re welcome to stay here as long as you’d like, but it sounds like you have some family waiting for you.”

            I didn’t want to answer any of those questions.  “I don’t know,” I softly said.

            “I’m sorry.  I just can’t imagine a child wandering from town to town trying to survive and live without anybody.  It sounds so horrible for you!”

            I bet a compliment would get her off my back.  “I have people like you helping me out.”

            I think it worked.  She smiled and went back to her cleaning.  I just watched her not knowing what else to do.  It didn’t take her long to start talking again, though.  “Well, in the meantime, we should at least get you some clothes that fit you.  There’s a big city up to the north that will have a lot of shopping options for you.  I’d be happy to help you find some clothes that will fit you.”

            To me, this translated as ‘opportunity.’  A big city meant a good chance of a subway, railroad, or airport.  That would provide me an opportunity to escape and get far away from this place.  I appreciated everything this lady has done for me, but I still was very uneasy around here because the situation with the helicopter.  Honestly, without her, I would probably not survive out here.  “Okay,” I said.  Again, I kept my talking to a minimum.  Every time I said some excessive information there would be a chance that I would be identified and/or caught down the road.  The quieter and more mysterious I was the better.

            “Great,” she exclaimed.  “We’ll leave in half an hour.  Make yourself comfortable until then.  It’ll be a long drive.  It’s about seventy-five minutes away from here.  There will be a lot of places we can shop, though.  It’ll be well-worth the trip.”

            I nodded and gave a small smile toward her right before she looked away.  I sat at the table and looked around the kitchen.  She didn’t have much in this room.  There were a few items laying around on the countertops, and I’m sure there were plenty of plates and silverware hidden away in the cabinets.  But there really wasn’t much here.  There was a picture on the wall.  There was a man, a woman, and a single child who looked bigger than me.

            I wanted to ask her about her family, but even my questions could give out too much information.  Still, I felt like I owed her at least being interested in her life.  My situation involved the potential life or death.  Freedom or captivity.  Asking her about her life would at least take the focus away from me.  That was more important to me at this point.

            I stared at the picture a little too long.  She eventually turned around and noticed me staring at the picture.  She went over to the picture, took it off the wall, and said, “Andrei is his name. He’s my grandson.  Alexandr is my son.  I love them all dearly.”

            “You have a nice family,” I said.

            “Thank you.  One day, you’ll also have a family, and you’ll know how it feels to be a loving parent and grandparent.”  Her voice cracked ever so slightly.  But she was very genuine, and I admired that.

            “I’m going to make a phone call.  Make yourself comfortable in the living room if you’d like,” she said.  She went upstairs to make the phone call.  I was worried again that it was a phone call to the police, but I couldn’t risk her catching me spy on her or something like that.  So, I followed the directions and went to the living room.

            I sat down on the couch.  Once again, I looked around.  There were more decorations, and items to look at.  There was a small bookshelf that got my attention.  There were several books and two boxes.  I could tell what their names were from the side of the boxes.  One box read, “шахматы,” and the other box read, “Шашки.”  I didn’t know what those words meant, but they both had a small picture on the cover.  They looked like games.  I stared at them for several minutes.  Surprisingly, I was mesmerized by them: they were symbolic of a normal life to me.  I didn’t know anything about them, but they were one small piece of what I didn’t have – a normal life.  They represented something larger than what I had, and I envied that. “One day, I’ll learn to play one of those games,” I whispered to myself.  I had no clue if I would ever play either one of those in my life.  But they gave me a hope and a dream for the future, which is what I needed.

            A few minutes later, she came downstairs.  She started working in the kitchen again, and I stayed in the living room.  I slouched over and fell asleep again.

            A short time later, grandma woke me.  “Ready to go?” she asked.  I rubbed my eyes and nodded.  She grabbed a few items and headed to the front door.  I didn’t have anything to grab, so I just followed her.  She locked the front door of her house, we entered her car, and she started driving us.  I ready to start the next chapter of my life.