,“ I thought, spreading tears over my face. I don’t remember how I fell asleep. Like you, eh?» Jeff smiled, and Vera chuckled.
«When I awoke,» continued Jeff, «I realized it was already the middle of the night. My clothes were wet, I was awfully hungry, and the darkness scared me. I went out and walked to the kitchen. To my surprise, I saw my mom and dad sitting at the table. Usually they went to bed very early, and I wondered why they were not asleep. When I entered, they gazed at me as if I was a stranger, or a ghost. Suddenly my mom uttered such an awful howl that made my hair stand on end. She flung herself at me, she grabbed me, she sobbed, and laughed, she kissed me, and she hugged me. I saw tears in the eyes of my father. I was so frightened.»
And, hearing his broken voice, Vera looked at Jeff with all the compassion that overflowed her heart.
««I’m sorry,» addressing my parents, I cried out. «I lost my toboggan… Please, forgive me… I’m very sorry. I lost it. It’s gone… It’s gone…»
«Without a word my father crouched down, picked something up, and put a toboggan on the table. I gasped, seeing that it was my toboggan.
««But if the toboggan is here why are you crying?» I wondered.
««You’re alive!» my mom moaned, still squeezing me.
««Nobody knew you weren’t on the toboggan,» my father explained very calmly. «We thought you’d drowned.»
«I was just six,» repeated Jeff, finishing. «But I understood everything.»
«My God!» Vera sighed. «Kids, kids, kids… Nice kids. How many troubles they bring, trying to avoid troubles. I remember once, on a birthday, we ate about a half of a cake without asking. We got scared, and hid a balloon inside to fill the hole. We thought, what when adults cut the cake the balloon would fly away, and it would’ve been a surprise. We hoped the parents would like it, and maybe they wouldn’t be angry, and forgive us.»
«A balloon?» Amazed, Jeff guessed what would happen next. «I’ve got it.»
«Yep.» Vera smiled. «Using the cream and fruits, we decorated the hole, and the cake began to look like it was untouched. And when the parents tried to cut it…»
«Kaboom!» exclaimed Jeff.
«You bet!» Vera nodded, and they both burst out laughing.
They already had reached the church. Jeff parked, and in a great mood they got out.
Vera looked around with curiosity, as it looked very different from Russian Orthodox basilicas.
They were some of the first to arrive, and Jeff seated Vera in the middle of the room by a window. He sat next to her, looking around with bliss and pride. Vera turned back and surveyed the others entering the church.