Вадим Иванович Кучеренко - Life is Boundless

anymore, – I agree with your condition. And now I must go and prepare for the astronomy competition, if you don’t mind. Time is getting on.

Whistling happily, Gleb left with a highly contented look, as if he gained a victory that turned out to be unexpectedly flawless.

For some time everyone remained silent. Then the woman humbly said:

–Will you forgive me?

– For what exactly, honey? – Asked the man with sincere amazement. He thought to hear different words from his wife, who was, without any doubt, disappointed in her dreams.

Words that were said after hit him like a ton of bricks:

–For turning you away from space.

He kept quiet for a while, thinking over that sudden confession

–That’s weird! – He said finally, – I’ve been thinking that you were the one who gave me the wings, and, thus I managed to fly.

– But here, on Earth.

– One can see starry skies even from Earth. That will do for me.

She came to him and took a sit on his knees:

–You’re a very, very, very good person, do you know it?

It was not if he didn’t agree with the statement, but his scientific objectivity made him doubt that.

–I just love you very much, my dear wife. I love you more than stars. That’s it. So you don’t have to ask for my forgiveness. I made my choice once. I have no regrets.

–Really?

–I swear by the Great Cosmos! – he asseverated – by every single star that existed, exists and will exist. Forever and ever.

And to make it more persuasive, he sealed his avowal up with a long kiss…

Many years have passed. The sea had calmed towards evening, and the dwellers of a small sea-shell shaped house came out to feast their eyes upon the setting sun the edge of which had already touched the horizon. The aged nestled down on comfy basket chairs by the house and muffled their legs up in blankets. Thus, they were sitting in dreaminess, having had short talks here and there, gripping the elusive meaning of the words unspoken, like a poet who creates an image or a scenery.

–He is to be back today. Our son, – the man said, when the ordinary topics for conversation had come to an end, and it became impossible to hide the anxiety, that had been unsettling them since morning.

–I wonder what he has become, – the woman responded, unfolding her hidden thoughts, – the space flight took several years.

– Let’s hope that he hasn’t changed at all, and he still resembles me, – the old man couldn’t help but demonstrated a slight reflection of vanity in his words.– Of course, I’m talking about the younger version of myself!

–Indeed, you were handsome and manful, – the woman commented indulgently, and then added with a wistful smile,– you loved giving gifts as well. You have gifted me a stellar necklace once.

–Oh, but you rejected it, a fey girl who danced flamenco and dreamed about the stage! – The man also smiled at his memories. – Then I gifted myself to you, and couldn’t gift you the stars anymore.

They were sitting in silence for a while, thinking their own thoughts. Then she pronounced quietly, as if she tried to excuse herself:

–But, we had, and, I hope, we still have loved each other.

–That’s why I have never regretted those stars forever lost, – he said.

She looked at him with doubts, and he repelled her look with a soothing eye. Her eyes became dimmed with unwilling tears. She wiped them, grumbling about a fresh rough breeze from the sea.

– How could it be that life has passed? – The phrase slipped out of her mouth, when the tears were running dry – In a blink of an eye!

– Do you hear it? – The old man asked, lending an ear to something, – somebody’s coming!

–Glebushka! – She burst out even before she saw her son.

Indeed, it was him. A tall man with hair streaked with gleaming grey, who was laughing with the pleasure of the anticipated meeting. He gave a long hugs to his parents, hiding the tears of happiness which he was shy of.

When everyone set their heart at rest and recovered their temper, regaining the possibility to speak coherently, Gleb asseverated in great excitement:

–Father! The engine has coiled the bounds of space and time. Instead of several thousand years that were required earlier, our ship has made it to Proxima Centaura in some years. And get back. Just as you dreamed.

Gleb turned to his mother and said in a different tone:

–Look, mom, what I’ve brought to you from that space trip, – he fished out a necklace, that flashed like a star in the rays of the setting sun, from his pocket. – These gems are from the planet that orbits Proxima Centaura, and that is similar to our Earth. I’ve gathered them and made a necklace. Let me clothe you with it!

He clothed his mother’s slim neck with the necklace, and she didn’t feel its heaviness. The bulky gems seemed to be almost ethereal, like if they lost their weight on their way to Earth in zero gravity.

–This necklace is beautiful! And it is smelled with the space… – she whispered.

– That’s only a part of the story, – Gleb said, looking with tenderness at his parents. They had grown really old during the time he participated in the space expedition, while he remained almost the same. Time flew different in the space environment. – The distant star, the different planet – that’s not everything I’ve encountered since my departure… During the flight, I met a girl. She was a member of the expedition like me. We talked to each other a lot, about things… We fell in love with each other.

He made pauses during his speech, as if he picked his words with care. He spoke to the closest ones about the most essential thing of his life, and he was afraid of misunderstanding.

But to no avail.

–That’s, like, really good! – His father nodded with a soft smile, and commented with invitation: – So?

–So, I would like to introduce her to you and mom, – he got things out in the open and turned red, like if he was still a little boy, – you.. – he glanced at his mother, – do you mind if I do so?

– That’s fine by me, – his father laughed, – and what about you, mother of the spaceman?

–I would be happy if you do so, sonnie! – His mother assured him. Of course, being a woman, she had read him like a book to that moment. – I’m sure she is remarkable, I have already loved her! What’s her name?

– Masha, – he said and corrected himself immediately, as if it was necessary – Maria!

– Maria, – his mother repeated, as if she meditated upon the word, – If I recall correctly, the name means beloved, desired. What a wonderful name! Am I right, father of the spaceman?

–Huh? – The old man sounded absently, thinking his own thoughts, – sure thing…

–What’re you thinking about, honey? – She asked with soft insistence. – Don’t hide even the most dire of your thoughts from me!

– I’m thinking about the recent conversation, – he declared, coming back down to earth, and, like a habit, taking her words seriously. – You have said that life has passed, haven’t you? I must say that in this particular situation you’ve got mistaken, honey, – he palmed her slender wrinkled arm, as if he tried to soothe her, with his bony hand, interwined with thick blue veins. – Yeah. Our life is boundless, endless! Life’s eternal spring flows through the bounds of time and space, through our descenders, even the distant ones. And I say we will never die until they are alive.

–So this what are you thinking about in the hour of need! – She exclaimed with a little sneer, and asked: Listen! What do you hear?

– I hear the plaintive cry of seagulls, – he answered, – they fly high above the water. The weather is --">