and Marina!! Are you alive, healthy? - my mother rushed to me with her arms, I barely got off the stairs of an inter-city bus at the bus station on Shchelkovskaya (Moscow).
Ma, is it you? I was sincerely surprised.
Who writes such letters, wonder you are in the feathers? My mom didn’t cry, I barely cried.
Oh, that’s what it’s about... It finally came to me. Everything is OK! - boldly reposted I, sincerely misunderstood: I asked myself to write how I got to my grandmother... well and what, that the letter began with the words: I immediately want to inform you that for the trip twice managed to ride the police... still well ended!...
This story happened to me many years ago, in the distant Soviet years. Yes, there were no mobile phones at the time, and the wires rarely had anyone; they communicated in letters, not by email, urgent and important information was in telegrams... Whatever you say, but there was a lot of good in them, personally for me, at the time of the child, is a sense of security, which in our time is so lacking.
In the early 80s, I finished 7th grade and gathered for vacation with my grandmother in the town of Gus-Krustalny from the sub-Moscow city of Pushkin. I grew up as a serious and independent girl, so my parents, after consulting, decided to send me one - well, they did not have the opportunity to accompany me. And the option of transportation was quite reliable: in the evening I was taken in Moscow on a direct inter-city bus to the city of Gus-Krustalny, and early in the morning, at 6 a.m., my grandmother or uncle met me there. A completely safe option. I was not afraid at all, on the contrary, I felt completely adult - for the first time in my life I ate alone! They trust me! It is cool! And I went.
All seats in the bus were occupied, people were driving to the end, so only a couple of technical stops were planned along the way (there were no toilets in those buses). The passengers soon fell asleep, I fell asleep, I woke up in the middle of the night and wanted to go to the toilet. The bus stands near some building of unclear, passengers enter the bus one by one, as it turned out - returning from the toilet. I jump up and carry the bullet to look for the toilet, then I also run to the bus, along the way encountering another passenger of our bus - a 20-year-old girl with a small one. We run to the bus from behind, as suddenly – it’s hard to believe, but it actually happened – its doors are closed, and the bus is touching from the spot. The girl stumbled and even knocked a couple of times on the run on the beginner's speed bus, but he went away, leaving us at night with no things, no money and no documents. That was fun! 😉
Fortunately, the girl was determined.
“Go,” she commanded and walked down a dark road following the bus.
Luckily, our stop was at the entrance of a small town we entered. The girl stopped the car, began to talk to some messy men about the fact that we were behind the bus, and we would have to be thrown before him - to my great relief, the men did not penetrate and left. So we walked along the road for 5 minutes when we stumbled upon a parked police UAZik. Oh my God, how glad we were!
- So, whoever is under 18, we don't take, - joked the young police officers when we came to them in the car.
The girl and I tried from all my 13 years of strength to look like all 18, sincerely believing in their joke threat.
In general, everything ended safely: the bus stopped at the nearest post of GAI, and the police brought us to it. I remember, I was very afraid that the driver would mourn us and sincerely didn’t understand why he was silent when the girl watered him with “untranslatable Italian folklore”, which a decent woman could not express... hm... my vocabulary then enriched greatly)))).
The smoking passengers were scattered in places, and we touched the way. Everyone fell asleep, forgetting about the incident. And we woke up at the entrance to Gusskrystalny, at 5-6 in the morning, when the bus suddenly parked on the sidewalk, did not reach the parking lot.
Who is Marina of Pushkin? Quietly asked a middle-aged man clothed in a police uniform who went up the stairs.
I answered quietly, confused.
"Go out," said the policeman calmly, and when he saw that I was carrying my suitcase, he helped me to pull it out.
What I just did not change my mind, coming out of the bus... Well, I think, the driver struck me in the police, and now I will be taken away...
On the sidelines stood a Soviet militia car - such a cargo type with bars, possibly in them and prisoners were transported. All the cranes for me...
Why are you sending messages so late? “The police officer spoke in a rough tone, placing my suitcase in the cabin next to the passenger seat and offering me to take that seat. He drove the car and we went.
What kind of telegram? I did not understand.
To see your grandmother. Late sent, late received by mail, the postman was afraid to go to your area in the evening and took a telegram to the police. So now I meet you...
This was my first independent trip. How many years have passed, and I still remember the details, as if it had happened quite recently. I don't know if the participants are healthy or not, but I really want to pass on a greeting to the girl-in-law, as well as to say a huge thank you to the cute haishnikovs from an unknown town, who picked up two "blondes" behind the bus, and the posthumous aunt, who did not ignore the telegram, and the responsible officer of the police of the city of Gus-Krustalny, who met and brought me to my grandmother in integrity and safety.
All are good!