Happy Ida
«Счастливая Ида» в переводе Александра Данилова.
THE day when old Ida died was terribly hot. She was in the garden basking in the sun. The woman didn’t notice as she fell asleep. When she woke up she had a heat stroke, and she left this world for good.
Ida had no kids. Her only family was herself and her husband who very soon afterwards found consolation in marrying a pretty young woman. And there was no one to mourn the loss of his poor wife.
Ida was kind and caring, never hurting or being mean to anybody, so she found herself in heaven after she died.
At the very moment her soul was no longer caged in the body, angels came from above to her folding their wings behind their backs. They were watching her with cold blue eyes. The passionless faces of the angels were covered in long white hair.
The angels brushed Ida’s hair and washed her face. Then they dressed her up in a shapeless azure garment, and took wing into the endless blue sky with her.
Ida was very sad when she realized she no longer lived but as she was learning every new thing that was now a part of her world it came to her gradually that it wasn’t all so bad. All she did in her former life was cooking, doing the laundry, taking care of the garden, and indulging her lazy husband. Actually, they lived a contented life, never had fights, but weren’t happy either, since they had no children because the husband never wanted them, and that was Ida’s biggest concern.
«Why should we? We are happy anyway», – he often said. Ida, after some grieving, calmed herself and didn’t touch that subject for a very long time not to make her husband angry.
So that’s the way they lived, all alone.
They were quite rich and had everything they wanted. But here, in Heaven, she never missed anything from her former life. She could spend days walking around parks filled with wonderful fragrances, feasting her eyes upon waterfalls with splashes shattering into thousands of fine diamond drops, enjoying the coolness, the quiet and the birds singing. Ida realized that it was the way the Eternity would last. She saw other people moving slowly, almost floating in the air. They wore the same shapeless garments and had same passionless expressions on their faces. No one was talking to each other and Ida, in spite of wanting so much to speak to anybody, could not either. However, one day she met a guardian angel from her childhood and came to her in her dreams. He told the woman that he wasn’t here just by accident – he was there to fulfill any wish of hers once in a hundred years. Ida was very surprised to learn that as much as a hundred years have passed since she found herself in heaven. The angel explained that a mere hundred years wasn’t much for an Eternity.
Yes, you are right, Ida agreed. And my only wish is to have a chance to talk to somebody. Although, I almost forgot that I’m talking to you now.
The only ones you can speak with are myself, and anyone else who wasn’t born. You will find them in the Land of Unwanted Souls, the angel replied. It’s not far from here. Go to the end of this alley until you reach a stone ivy-grown grotto, and then enter it and you will get what you’ve asked for. Now it’s time to say good-bye. See you in a hundred years, the angel uttered turning into a cloud, completely vanishing from sight in a moment.
Ida hurried to the grotto. She walked past it before since she got to live in Paradise but never entered it. It seemed from the outside that it was pitch dark inside but after walking for a little while, Ida saw a corridor with a light that grew brighter with every step. At the end of the tunnel, Ida noticed a tracery wicket. A vast green lawn stretched far away behind it. This is the Land of Unwanted Souls! – Ida realized. She already got used to the beauty of Heaven but it was so much more fascinating here: palaces and fountains laid in pure white marble, gazebos of finest crystal with clear water nearby that had golden fishes gliding all around. To her astonishment, this land was full of unusual animals, peacefully grazing around exotic plants. She had only few minutes to look around and enjoy the beauty of the Land when all of a sudden she saw a cheerful gang of kids who came running to her shouting «Mommy, mommy!». They went «Mommy, mommy» on and on eagerly as the smallest but agile kid climbed up to her arms in the blink of an eye. His fair curls tickled Ida’s neck. God, was she touched!
The woman was stunned by such an unexpected event.
– «Kids, kids, you must have mistook me for somebody else. My husband and I had no kids, I could only dream about it.»
– «Exactly», the oldest boy said, holding his hands behind his back just like her husband, which made him look important.
It was only now that she began looking into the faces of children who were all around Ida hugging her ever tenderly. All of them had an amazing resemblance with her husband and herself especially a little girl with long bending lashes and goldish locks who was a projection of what Ida was as a child if not her mirror image.
The same oldest boy continued: Don’t forget that you’re in the Land of Unwanted Souls. We all could have been born and be your children, but you and dad thought different, so here we are.
Ida felt a sudden grip of anxiety. She started hugging the kids one by one, and kissing their chubby little hands. Tears gushed from her eyes. How could this be real? These seven wonderful kids could have been hers. Her dream was to speak with some living soul but now it was as if she grew numb and couldn’t say a word.
At the same time, the oldest boy went on:
– We don’t even have real names, mom, they’re all conditional. My name’s Prize, my brothers here are Seth, Brig, Step, the little one in your arms is Case and my sisters are Solo and Jabot.
Ida kept on crying and instinctively hugging her unborn children.
– «My poor little babies», she thought. «They got nothing, not even real names. They will stay kids forever and won’t even know what it is to live».
In the meantime, Solo, the one that had a stunning resemblance with Ida, wiped her mother’s tears with the edge of her gown.
– «It’s too bad I wasn’t born, mommy», she muttered. From the Book of Destiny, that the Emperor of this Land keeps, we found out that I was meant to be your favorite daughter – I would inherit your unsurpassed gift of cooking. Our Jabot would be the winner of the World Beauty Contest, and then a really talented actress. We also read that Seth would have become a scientist, Brig and Step could have been marines, Case would take senator’s office, and Prize would devote his life to teaching children. You would never have felt sorry about our birth and we wouldn’t be much trouble so we could have been a great family».
Little Case who was meant to be a senator, added: «We know everything about you, Mommy, even what year each one of us was supposed to be born, and the reason of your unwillingness to have children. For example, I was supposed to be born in the time when you were quite ill, but I assure you that I would have been one healthy child and you could have got rid of your ailment once and for all. You preferred to go on a long tour to the birth of the twins, Brig and Step. Moreover, daddy even broke his leg during that trip. The girls were unwanted because of that fight of yours that nearly has grown into a divorce».
Ida still couldn’t make a sound. She could only sob gently and listen to what her might-have-been senator son said.
– «Seth was left in this land forever the year the earthquake occurred. You’ve been expecting more jolts and destruction instead of your son. As for Prize, your older son, the reason why he was never destined to see the light of day was a joke: you won a boat in the lottery and made up your mind to sail round the world. You’ve been preparing for it; you’ve dreamed about it and still, never made it. The boat spent a really long time in the shed, and was finally sold with a big discount as not wanted».
Ida looked at her first-unborn with grief. Prize hung his head. There was nothing left from his air of importance. His lower lip trembled. He was on the verge of tears. Sisters hurried to comfort him. Ida, watching this touching scene started to cry again: «My poor little babies! What have I lived my life for?»
Suddenly she felt a strong trembling inside. It was so hard that it seemed to her that she got into some deadly centrifuge. After another moment of trembling she… woke up. Her husband, standing beside her, shook her by the shoulder.
– «Wake up, darling. You’re all in tears. Why don’t we get inside, it’s so hot here now».
Ida was slowly coming to consciousness.
– «You must have had a bad dream. You better get over it quickly, because I have good news for you. Remember, we were downtown yesterday, and I bought some lottery tickets. And we won! Can you believe that? Come on, guess what it is.»
The woman rose herself a little bit on her elbows and looked at her husband. He was gleaming with happiness.
– «It’s a boat», she said confidently.
– «How on Earth did you know that? Why, you my sly little baby! Just imagine what a great life we’ll have. All right, let’s get inside».
After saying that, he headed for the house holding his hands behind his back as usual. Ida gently touched her stomach slightly tilting her head as if trying to hear some barely noticeable movements inside and whispered: «Of course I can imagine what a great life we’ll have. In any case, we are not going to have any time for some silly boat.
And that’s a promise, Prize!»