A Long Trip

by Dariia Popova

- I won’t handle it! I’ve read something, but I hardly remember
anything! Now there is such a huge amount of information! I can feel.

The girl was telling something to her friends in front of the auditory. She
was always loud with all her stories, discussions and jokes. Marta couldn’t
sit on the same place in silence and she often violated it even when it was
unsuitable. Andrew knew her from the first grade and firstly when he met
her he thought she was a hollow person, who only wanted to party, laugh
and shout. However, three years later something changed. The girl who
ought to be a bright and not needed passer by turned out to be a person
he was thinking about for lots of time. Of course, horrible things that
were happening in his home town Donetsk at that moment were much
more important than the obsessive thoughts about the girl he had known
almost for three years. She seemed to be friendly to him, but she was
friendly almost to everyone. Was he special?
Revolution changed lots of things: it took away more than one hundred of
people’s lives, made part of mafia run away from Ukraine, made people
consolidate with each other, but there was one thing that revolution
couldn’t change. It was spring spreading outdoors and making people feel
sympathy to each other. Even after all the blood and stress that seemed
to never end only several weeks ago, he felt sympathy. And towards
whom? Towards a girl, at whom he didn’t pay attention to for several
He tried to get to know her better, but it turned out to be a rather big
problem. Marta was always busy talking with somebody. He had never
seen her alone without any surrounding. There was one subject that they
studied together, but even there he couldn’t begin a conversation as to
do it he had to interrupt somebody she was talking with.
That day she was talking loudly as usual, but he heard her voice not from
the hallway, but from the auditory, where he got into the place near the
one she usually sat. It was such an important thing to talk with her that
only day before the thing he was going to do.
* * *
Marta was absolutely desperate and tired. She was so busy and nervous
during the revolution and she was naively confident in the fact that studying
would be easier because of all those political events. However, it wasn’t.
Her group mates, the big amount of whom stopped taking part in protests
after the dangerous events began to happen, felt themselves more inspired
for studying. Marta was tired for almost three months. She was often acting
and risking herself and after that she had to deal with such a huge amount
of information without any possibility to rest. Sometimes she felt like she
was about to get crazy, but she took a deep breath and calm herself down
thinking that all dead-lines and exams would finish in several weeks.
And at that moment she learnt that the next day she would have to write
one more test. One more! How long would they torture her? And she
- I won’t handle it! I’ve read something, but I hardly remember
anything! Now there is such a huge amount of information! I can feel
There was one thing that interested her. Marta tried to avoid thinking about
it, but she couldn’t do it. Where is Andrew? Isn’t he going to come to the
seminar again? But he could have a fail with all those skips. Marta made
herself think about something else.
She saw that Andrew was trying to talk with her. His eyes seemed to shine
when he looked at her, but Marta didn’t do anything to become closer to
him. She had too much hurting experience in relationships with guys. Even
though Andrew seemed to be kind-hearted, she was too scared. The month
before she went to Grushevskogo street and to Maidan in the time they were
attacked. And her native town soon could be captured by Russian soldiers. It
was enough fear for her. It was enough stress and nervous break downs.
When she came in the auditory, she realized that Andrew was sitting near
the place she usually sat. She didn’t change the location. She felt happily
thinking that he wanted to communicate with her so much that he made up
an idea to sit near her. Maybe they would go to dormitory together and learn
something about each other. But then she changed her mind thinking that
the boy had chosen that place accidently.
* * *
They didn’t talk to each other at all. Before the beginning of the seminar
Marta draw something in her copybook as she usually did at every lesson,
but the fact that Andrew was watching at what she was drawing made her
During the seminar they sometimes looked at each other, but they didn’t say
After the professor said that the lesson was over, Marta asked Andrew if he
was going to the dormitory at that moment.
- No, I have a train today.
Marta couldn’t understand what was happening. There was so much work
to do to make grades high enough to get a scholarship. How could he go
- To Donetsk. I can’t stand being here while such horrible things happen
- But what about exams?
- I will deal will them later.
Marta stood looking at him in silence that was a pretty rare thing for her.
She said and gave him her hand to shake.
Andrew nodded and shook her hand.
- I really hope everything will be okay.
- Thank you... I think, it will be.
- Marta, are you going to dormitory now?
June asked her coming closer to the pair.
- Yes, of course. Bye, Andrew!
June and Marta went out from the university building. Marta didn’t say a
- Yes... Oh, I forgot my scarf in the auditory. I will catch up with you!
The girl turned back and ran upstairs to the auditory where Andrew was
waiting for his turn to talk with the professor about his marks. Her black
scarf was peacefully waving on her neck.
There were four people in the auditory. Two of them were talking with the
professor and Andrew was standing in the other end of the room.
Marta came closer to him and gave him a hug.
- I think it is the correct way to wish you a good luck. This shaking hand
Andrew smiled and looked at her in a kind way.
The girl smiled back and went away. Andrew nodded. He didn’t know how to
* * *
The weather was poor. Huge clouds made everything grey and frightening,
the hard wind blew out confidence in what would happen next. Andrew
didn’t exactly know what was waiting for him in Donetsk, which was full of
aggressive separatists, but he was not upset. He had been wished good luck
for three times that day. What could happen to him after that?