Desire by Yehor Boichenko

It happened a long time ago.

However, people still remember the events that changed the fate of one of the families of a small village in the Faraway lands. A village spread in the mountains. No one knows when and how it appeared, because old legends have been circulating about it for a long time. The Filin family lived far from the central square. Alfred Filin is an old lumberjack who inherited his house from his father. According to an old family tradition, the man had to hand over this house to his son, who was supposed to lead next generation of lumberjacks. Alfred's wife - Frida, loved her husband, although she did not like the rules that were created by this family.

She gave birth to three children and all of them were boys. She wanted to finally escape from the complicated and unfair world. Frida loved her family, but she valued the freedom her parents once took away from her more. She kept these terrible desires inside herself and was afraid to confess her terrible motives.

One day, Frida woke up early and went outside. The dawn beautifully illuminated the mountains that spread before her. The woman was looking at the sky, where a small bird was flying with widespread wings. Suddenly she noticed an old hag watching her intently. "What did this scarecrow forget here?", she thought. "Hey, what are you looking at? Beggars are not welcome here. You'd better go to the city!”, shouted Frida. "What are you… deaf?!? I say...", however, Frida did not have time to finish the insult. The old woman raised her right hand and said hoarsely:

"I feel that you are unhappy. You say terrible things, but you don't mean them."

"Don't you even have a rivet... go away," Frieda shouted, but not as confidently as before.

"Let go of the anger sitting inside you. Feel the lightness that you have been hiding so hard all these years," said the old woman.

"What are you talking about? I'm happy... I'm the happiest person in the whole world!”, answered Frida.

"You're lying. You have a completely different desires in your heart. If you have the courage to confess to me, I will reward you," said the old woman calmly.

Frida thought. Yes, she lied, but sometimes not the whole truth must be said. Sometimes it's easier to leave everything in the mind, because then it stays there. But the old woman was convincing. Maybe it was her glassy blue eyes that added credibility, or maybe it was the black hood she pulled over herself.

"Sometimes I want to change the life I have. Sometimes I want to feel free and look at what I've lost... Life goes by, and I have the feeling that I haven't lived it yet," Frida said quietly.

Suddenly the old woman rose into the air. Frida froze in fright.

"I, Frida Filin, give you one year to live your life the way you've wanted all these years. Thank you for the honesty you gave me in return!" shouted the old woman and disappeared. Frida remained standing alone.

***

"Why are you so silent?" Alfred asked his wife. For three days she hardly spoke and kept looking out the window. "Nothing. When will Arthur come back?', said Frida. "Don’t know. And it’s getting darker," said old Filin. Suddenly, Vicar - the third son - ran to the house. The boy looked at his parents in horror.

Arthur Filin, the eldest son of the Filins, died after accidentally cutting off his hand with an ax. No one still knows how exactly it happened, because at that moment only the middle son, Anthony, was with the eldest. After the accident with his older brother, Anthony stopped talking, and after the funeral, less than forty days had passed since he jumped from the mountain.

Everyone was horrified and only Frida continued to look out the window every day, hoping to see the old woman. "

Three months later, after two misfortunes, Anthony disappeared. The entire village searched for the boy for several days, and then the body was found on the riverbank. Alfred Filin took the news of his last son with difficulty and hanged himself from grief for his old life.

 ***

A year has passed. Frida was sitting alone on the bed in her room. A storm was starting outside. The woman looked out the window and saw the person she looked for all these years.

"Now I understand," Frida shouted from the window. "Put everything back to normal. I don't want this life. It is difficult for me to describe in words all the pain and losses that I experienced during this year. I held on. I held on all these months, but I feel that I can no longer pretend that everything is fine. Please, I need everything as it was before!".

"Why? Did you not like what you wanted so much? You wanted to change your life and now you can live it to the fullest."

"I didn't want something terrible to happen to my family... I wanted to change my life, not take theirs."

“Your life changed because your family was almost the only thing that made it unique. But you were too blind to see it all.''

Frida tears rolling down her cheeks.

"Can I take it back?" Frida said. “Can I take my wish back?”

"You can," answered the old woman.

"What do I have to do for this?"

"In your house lies the thing that united your family all these years. Its power is so huge that even now it still holds your entire family. Bring it to me and then you will get your old life back," said the old woman calmly.

"And how will I know what it is?"

"You only have one hour. If you don't find the thing I need on time, you can forget about the family."

***

Their family, although famous throughout the village, did not live well, and therefore there were not so many things. "It won't be difficult, I'm sure," the woman thought as she ran around the rooms trying to find the thing she needed. Suddenly she saw a wooden plate standing on the table. "Exactly! This is it! I remember how we all painted her together, and Alfred drove her all the way from the neighboring village," Frida thought and ran out to the old woman.

"Here! This is the thing that united us all these years," Frida shouted to the old woman.

"No, it's not. Time is running out," answered the old woman.

Frida ran back to the house. She was nervous. 

She stopped and closed her eyes and tried to feel what the old woman was talking about. Silence enveloped the room. Everything stopped except... time. "Time! Clock! This is what still unites us - the time we spent together. And yes, of course, the hour that the old woman gave me and the clock that can tell this hour." The woman grabbed the clock on the wall and ran outside. The old woman looked intently at Frida's watch.

"Congratulations, you've done it, Frida. Hope you will be happy again”, said an old lady and dissolved into thin air. Frida remained standing under the downpour. Suddenly, she heard voices that had not been heard in their house for almost a year. She turned and saw lights in the rooms of her house. "Mother, dinner is ready!", said Anthony. Frida smiled and hugged her son.

The End