112
TALES FROMTHE FUTURE
only sold water in bottles in stores. But the water in bottles is dead, suffoc-
ated, and people started getting sick. That was how it used to be, but I just
couldn’t imagine how people could pollute the water they themselves were
drinking. But my papa said that even now on Earth there were whole coun-
tries where there wasn’t any living, clean water, and people in those coun-
tries were dying from agonizing diseases. There aren’t any apples in those
countries, or delicious berries, because everything living is sick, and a person
who eats something sick suffers.
“You should come visit us all, come visit. And we’ll treat you to apples
that aren’t sick, and tomatoes, and pears, and berries. You’ll try them, and
when you go home you’ll tell yourselves, We shouldn’t pollute, it’s better to
live in cleanliness. Then, when you have everything clean, we’ll come visit
you with presents.”
The president, who had returned carrying the little boy, was standing in
the door and listening to Dasha speak. And when she fell silent, he walked
up to the podium, still holding the child, who was comfortable in his arms,
and added, “Yes, of course. . . . You should come, indeed, you can heal your
flesh here. But this is not the main thing. More important is for us all to un-
derstand ourselves and our purpose. We must understand this so we aren’t
cleared off the face of the Earth like trash. Together we must all clean up
after ourselves, clear away the dirt we’ve created. Thank you all for your at-
tention.”
The scene in the president’s office disappeared. And Anastasia’s voice
continued:
“It’s hard to say whether the president’s speech or little Dasha’s had an
influence on the people listening to the live broadcast from Russia. But
people didn’t want to believe the rumors being spread about Russia’s ag-
gressiveness anymore. People wanted to live, and to live happily, and they
believed in that possibility. Those wanting to visit Russia and spend time
there increased many times after the direct broadcast from the Kremlin.
Those who returned from Russia could no longer live their former life. An
awareness blazed up in each of them, like the first ray of sun in the morn-
ing’s dawn.
