TEMPORARY INSANITY

By Nikolai Mordinov

She was walking along the street on a sunny spring morning, looking at the rubbers she'd bought for her child a few minutes ago at the nearest department store. She was singing a lovely kiddies' song.

All of a sudden at the corner of the street something terrible, dark and long appeared from behind the corner of the street and embraced her.

The sun, shining brightly on the right , seemed to be taken aback and rushed to the top of the sky…The windows of the apartment houses nearby began twisting and shaking and turned backward…

Valentina Vassilyevna K., a young, healthy and good looking woman came to consciousness only at the hospital ward.

A car with a drunk driver ran over her in the street, and she had heavy wounds in her back, ribs and head.

She was not able to walk and kept bed at home after her discharge from the hospital.

Her husband decided to walk out on her and to marry another woman.

The invalid woman with her little daughter was left at home alone.

Gloomy dark days were passing slowly. Hard times and dark thoughts. As a result of all these temporary insanity had come down upon her.

She had been trying to drive away the dark thoughts, but like bothering flies they wouldn't leave her alone like bothering flies.

One evening she had given way to the dark thoughts and accepted them.

She decided to stop all these sufferings. So she sent her little daughter to her neighbors to spend the night.

Late at night her daughter returned home.

Valentina Vassilyevna was not able to speak. She didn't even want to speak.

The little girl was not able to be depressed; she didn't even try to be depressed.

The following dialogue took place between mother and the daughter.

"Mommy, have you walked today?"

"No."

"Good .You shouldn't try to walk when I am out. You can try to walk.

only when I am. Well, I'd like to share bed with you, and we'll have a talk."

The girl took off her shoes, breathing deeply, and then lay down next to her mother. Her mother was lying keeping her eyes closed. The girl tried to open her mother's eyes. Then she kissed her several times.

"Let's be quiet, "said the mother.

"Yes, that's right!" answered the girl.

"I've been talking to my friends too much. I'm sick and tired of talking. I don't like to talk much ".

She began to put up her legs one at a time, singing a lovely kiddies' song.

Then she stops singing and whispered something to herself. After a while she said, "Mommy, I love you a lot! You are the best mother in the world! And we'll live together all the time! Forever and ever! When I become a grown up, I'll be a head doctor. And I'll give you some pill, the strongest pill. And you'll recover. You'll be able to walk, run and even dance! You'll be able to do everything you want. Mommy, can you hear me?"

"Yes, darling. But you promised to keep quiet"

The mother was very touched by her child's words but to conceal it she made her voice angry.

"Oh, yes. I've clean forgotten, "she put her hands together under her cheeks and decided to fall asleep. They lay in silence for a while. Then all of a sudden the girl said:

"Mommy, I'll send a letter to Moscow."

"Why?"

"I'll write: My mother is seriously ill. Please, send the best doctor!"

The mother began to cry. They both began to cry. The mother cried being touched by her daughter's words. The child cried being touched by her mother's tears.

Later they sang songs and talked.

The girl promised her mother to leave the first form at school successfully in two years. The mother promised her daughter to come to school with a walking stick on this occasion.

Soon the girl fell asleep. The mother lay with her eyes open and was thinking how shameful it was to be carried away by dark thoughts, by a temporary insanity, having such a nice daughter, living in such a nice country.

She made up her mind to live, to survive and to recover.

In two years they both kept their promises, the mother did a lot of knitting, while keeping bed and wrote many stories and became a writer. The girl became the best student in her school.

And today for the first time the mother put aside her walking stick and began to walk without it waving her hand to all of us near the health resort building.

Translated by Nadya Varlamova