The Settlement

12 hrs. 35 min.

Language Russian

Author Kir Bulychev

Narrator Ivan Litvinov

Description

The house was damp, gnats swarmed around the lamp—it should have been put out long ago, but of course Mom forgot. Outside it was raining, all in half-light. Oleg lay on the bunk—he’d just woken up. Last night he was on watch over the settlement: he chased away jackals; they’d come in a whole pack toward the shed, almost tearing him apart. His body felt empty and ordinary, though he’d expected something stirring in himself—maybe even fear. After all, fifty-fifty—would you come back or not. And if it was fifty squared? There must be a pattern, there should be tables, otherwise you’re forever reinventing the wheel. By the way, he’d been meaning to ask the old man what a wheel is. A paradox: there is no wheel, yet the Old Man scolds him about it, without even thinking about the meaning of the phrase.

In the kitchen, Mom coughed. She turned out to be home.

“Why didn’t you go?” he asked.

“Woke up? Want soup? I warmed some up.”

“And who went for mushrooms?”

“Maryana and Dick.”

“And that’s all?”

“Maybe one of the boys tagged along.”

They could have woken him up and called. Maryana hadn’t promised anything, but it would have been natural if she’d called.

“I don’t feel like eating.”

“If the rains don’t stop,” Mom said, “the cucumbers won’t ripen before the cold. Everything will be overgrown with mold.”