wasn’t particularly intriguing. George was lying in his bed, his head almost in the air, heavily coughing all morning. It was a man in his 80th, tortured by cancer for the last two years.
During his life, his health was so sound that he never took medicine or visited the doctor. Even now he was convinced that every doctor was a charlatan. Full of disgust to any pill he saw, he was trying to hide any medicine from the nurse, forge a prescription, but what could he do against his own daughter, who was a doctor herself?
He looked around. Previous months passed in a shock. Slowly but steadily he was realizing that he won’t overcome the disease. Like every other man in his family, he always thought he will live forever, and it always seemed natural. {} Realizing it’s not going to happen he was completely shocked. There was even more shock as he understood that he wouldn’t even reach the age of his own grandfather, who proudly passed through revolution, terror and labor camps in the Far North.
His wife entered the room. Even more pale than usual, she brought fresh flowers:
It’s from your nephew. Imagine, he ordered them on the internet from Vancouver. What an age we live in! -
Elizabeth was full of enthusiasm - they shouldn’t put you that high, it will hurt you. Maria, come here! Lay him lower. Don’t you remember what the doctor said?
Yes, ma’am. - a young girl changed the angle of his bed and silently left. In fact, it only required to push a button, but his wife never did anything on her own.
George looked at her even more humiliated. Elizabeth, or Halshka, as their children liked to call her, was eight years younger than him. Ill for all of her life, always complaining about her health, she was the one to die first, not him. Outraged by such inequality, he returned to his memories.
-Are you totally sure it will be fine? - his younger brother Jacob was standing near the entrance to the stables with two lassos in his hands - maybe we’d better just go home?
-It was your idea, bald guy. - George was sarcastic as usual - Noone will notice. Besides, it was our father who got these horses for a farm. We have a right to borrow them for a few hours - it always looks as if George was about to convince himself at first.
-I’ll take the grey one and will get to the square ten minutes before you! - Jacob enjoyed the competition. However, he chose a very risky horse. In fact, unless one was born on horseback, it was almost impossible to ride that grey stallion without a saddle, but George decided not to say anything and take advantage of his brother’s self-confidence.
As they opened the gates to the barn, a dozen horses were looking at them. Bright light in the middle of a summer night scared them even more. Every door in a table was already open, suggesting that a stableman was already drunk yesterday and probably was sleeping somewhere nearby. Everything went completely wrong when the brothers realized the horses weren’t tied, yet it was too late. They managed to close one of the leaves, but 6 or 7 horses ran away, among them the grey steed. Using their lassos, Jacob and George managed to catch some of the weaker horses and saddle them, yet three or four managed to escape. The brothers tied captured extra horses to the palisade and went out to chase the fast ones.
In half an hour only the grey stallion was left free. In control of another three horses via ropes, George was cutting the free steed from the forest. Jacob was about to saddle it in motion from another side. Yet right at the moment when his leg was already on its back, the loud howl came from the forest. George was scared, yet the horse was scared more than anybody - it threw Jacob off and immediately ran back towards the stables. Jacob fell on the ground, another horse fell nearby. In a panic, surrendering to instincts, George ran away with his share of horses, leaving his brother behind.
Only in a few minutes he understood what was going on and rushed back to assist his brother. Jacob was lying unconscious, yet to George’s surprise, his horse was peacefully eating grass nearby. His pants were torn apart, but fortunately, there was almost no blood. It seemed everything would be fine. George checked Jacob’s pulse, poured him with water a little bit, and in 10 seconds his brother woke up
What happened? Where are we? - Jacob was confused
You fell from a horse. Everything will be fine
What? Whose are those horses? - it was fascinating to see how his inner bravado was changing into cowardly pragmatism
Relax, they're from a farm - George was feeling relieved
What? Are you nuts? What did you do? - Jacob was in a panic.
The stableman lies completely drunk since the afternoon. Who'll kill us? Besides, the horses ran themselves - we were passing by, saw them and returned them back. And.. yeah, we were just passing by with the lasso... what's wrong?
By a miracle, Jacob and George managed to return all the horses back and didn’t get caught. That night was one of the brightest memories of their youth. Yet they didn't know how unsuccessfully this fall from a horse was, how it would change the life of Jacob, and how the fear of sudden weakness and the blame for an accident would pursue George for all of his life.
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