The next day, I was scared to go to school. I was afraid I’d see Altynai with her large, tender eyes, and be unable to control myself, and say that I dreamed about her every night, and say that I loved her. But that could upset her, because you’re not allowed to talk about love out loud, because if you mention it, it will disappear, fly away. I really believed that. This truth had been revealed to me by my cousin, who was seeing a girl named Nadya. And my cousin had learnt this secret of love from somebody who he trusted, or perhaps he had readabout it in some book for grown-ups, and so I believed him without question. My cousin never said, “I love Nadya.” Instead, he said, “I am going to marry Nadya”.
I also understood that you can’t tell others about your love. After all, it could easil
