How is it called in English; the ‘flash’, the ‘rush’? In Russian this is ‘prikhod’…
I sat on the bank and it looked like Alisa was checking the construction for walking on the water’s surface. You know, she’s quite risible…
A small pond. It was very hot. Water threw back the bright patches of light…
I closed my eyes but not very much changed. Alisa’s shape became black-and-white. Somebody said distinctly, “We shouldn’t speak of the light specks’ colour.”
First I realised that Alisa was repeating one and the same comic phrase. And this at regular intervals. I knew it was a preparation.
I was falling asleep somehow. The birds’ chorus grew stronger. Alisa’s laughter became quieter but jerky. Now it was obviously a Morse code, and instantly the light specks glistened behind my closed eyelids.
They pulsated along the rhythm of Alisa’s laughter. It seemed that they were pouring down, all alike in a form, all like tiny smiles. The water was laughing.
Furthermore, I realised clearly that the main function of the water was to bring people to a smile, to make them happy.
Watching the dance of the light patches, I knew that I couldn’t influence their size or their speed, and I couldn’t turn my head away.
Immediately there came a confidence about music and the sound waves.
I could memorize it easily and knew that I would be able to explain it in words later. I learned that ice is the water’s slumber, that Geisha’s religion is a happiness to be in somebody else’s form, and that the speed of the clouds, not the wind, defines the rhythm of a day.
Everything came to me in simple sentences. Apparently with a slight accent.
Something touched my toes. I opened my eyes. A dog. She was looking at me attentively. We were interested in each other. Her master pulled on a leash. She jumped on the pond’s bank and started to bite the waves, her upper lip curled a bit. “She’s laughing”, said Alisa.
The dog was playing with waves. The world’s sounds returned but they were different now.
Text: Anton Adasinsky
English text editor: Jennifer Williams
Photo: Anna Bogodist, Elena Yarovaya
Photo design: Elena Yarovaya