river.
– Sasha, wait, they are not girls at all, but mermaids! I shouted loudly, but I didn't have time.
He had already run up and jumped into the water. The second girl also dived after them.
– Sasha! I shouted standing next to the water, looking at its smooth surface.
I stood and shouted for a long time until the sun began to set. Sasha immediately disappeared under the water and never showed up again.
I came back in tears. The old lady listened to my story, shook her head and said softly.
– So the river swallowed up your friend. The owner took him to himself.
– That's the end of the story, Ivan, and we have already arrived in my village, – said the old man, putting his old pipe in his bosom.
– Mermaids, it turns out they dragged your friend to the bottom, – Ivan said thoughtfully, – And then they found his body?
– No, Van was never found, – the old man replied, – I told you that I'm still that storyteller and my stories are all very interesting. Next time I'll tell you another super story. Thank you Vanya for giving me a ride.
Ivan stopped the old man, he got out, and he himself drove on alone, whistling his favorite song under his nose.
– The sun is shining brightly, a sparrow is chirping.
It’s more fun to live a good life in the white world!
CHAPTER 2. A STRANGE TRAVELING COMPANION
As if by an irony of fate, Ivan had to go to the city of Timashevsk, his money client was waiting there and he had to pick up the cargo to deliver it to Moscow.
If it works out, then I'll stop by the village of Fierce, about which the old man told me, because I wonder if people live there now.
Suddenly Ivan noticed that a tall man in a long raincoat was standing on the road, a hood was on his head that covered his entire face, he was standing and waiting for someone to stop him.
"I won't stop him," the thought flashed through Ivan's head. A strange type. I don't like strange people like that.
But the man blocked his way, so like it or not, he had to press the brake and abruptly stop the truck.
– Are you tired of living? Ivan shouted.
To which the man did not answer anything, but simply silently approached the cabin and began to open the door.
– Where are you going without an invitation?
But the strange man in the raincoat again said nothing.
– Maybe you're dumb? If so, nod.
The man nodded his head slightly.
– Well, what should I do with you, sit down, – Ivan pitied the peasant, – I can't leave you here. I'm going south. I have to go to Timashevsk. You then wave your hand where you need to stop.
The man again nodded imperceptibly to Ivan in response.
– That's settled. And now you can sit down.
The fellow traveler climbed into the cab and pressed himself into the corner and sat down right next to the door.
– If you want, I'll talk, and you nod or mumble.
Ivan looked at the man, who was sitting motionless again.
– Okay, sit down. Just don't forget to give a sign so that your stop won't pass. Otherwise I'll take you very far away," Ivan said and continued whistling his favorite song.
"-Let the road run into the distance
Sadness
Let it not lie on your heart
I can do anything in the world!"
The fellow traveler sat for a long time, pressed into the very corner of the cabin, and his black hood hung directly over his face, so that it was impossible to see not only his facial features, but also to determine his age.
Ivan had already relaxed during this time and even began to forget about the existence of an outsider in his car.
But suddenly the fellow traveler stirred, he began to carefully look for something in his raincoat. Soon he took out a jar, and worms and maggots were swarming in it. It was seen how he took them out with his bony fingers from the jar, they, bending their red body, tried to resist.
– You're probably going fishing? Ivan asked with a grin.
But the fellow traveler was silent again, he even stopped communicating with gestures.
Ivan wondered what he was going to do with the worms now, and he turned his head and looked at the strange fellow traveler.
And the man picked up the worm without paying attention to Ivan, as if he was not there, and pushed it into the mouth invisible under the hood, and began to make an unpleasant slurping sound.
– Ugh! – I couldn't stand it, Ivan said aloud, but he thought to himself, – Let him do what he wants with himself, if only he would sit quietly and get out of my car as soon as possible.
The man, when he had eaten all the worms and maggots, again huddled in the corner of the cabin, without making any more slurping sounds.
Lord, why did you send me such a strange man? Ivan thought to himself, looking at the road. – And when he gets out of the car at all, I'm pretty sick of it all.
Ivan stopped at a gas station near the village to pour diesel fuel into the tank.
The fellow traveler sat silently in the cab and was not going anywhere.
– Go out for a smoke break, maybe you need to go out? Ivan said.
There was only silence in response.
– Well, as you know, man, then sit, but no nonsense just.
Ivan bought instant noodles in the store, where a beautiful saleswoman brewed it for him with boiling water. There was a small table in the store for long-distance drivers like him, and he decided to use the service and have a snack.
Then he walked a little next to the truck, smoked and got behind the wheel.
The fellow traveler was still sitting in silence, his hood completely covered his face, perhaps he was even asleep.
Ivan started the car, she growled in response, they drove off and drove off.
Time passed quickly, the gray highway flashed through the windshield like a long ribbon. Ivan began to feel sleepy, and there was still a long way to go.
It was already quite dark. Night was approaching. The strange man stirred again and took out a small bundle from his cloak. Ivan turned his head and was stunned. There was fresh red meat lying there. He again took out a piece with his bony fingers and put it in a hooded mouth somewhere deep there, then the man began to slurp loudly.
Ivan was tired of the road and couldn't take it all anymore. He stopped the KAMAZ, got out of it, went to the door on his side, opened the door and said:
– That's it, man, you got me, come out, I don't owe you absolutely anything.
The strange traveling companion sat silently, and without movements.
– Come out, in a good way,» Ivan said angrily.
Silence.
Ivan climbed into the cab, grabbed the man by the breasts and threw him out of it.
The strangest thing is that he didn't even resist. When Ivan threw him to the ground, something fell out from under the raincoat, rumbled and remained in the cabin.
And the strange man himself fell to the ground like a sack and crumbled into pieces. Ivan cursed loudly from what he saw, spat in disgust and quickly got behind the wheel, recovering.
"What the hell is going on," he said angrily. – Who is this? A dead man?
Ivan saw in his car on the floor in front