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TALES FROMTHE FUTURE
back over to her.
“Here’s something you can do. Try knocking or ringing at that house, the
one four doors down from me. There’s a doorbell on the gate there. Push
that button. Maybe the old granny will come out – she looks like Baba Yaga.
She’s a Greek, with a hooked nose. My husband said that all young Greek
girls are beautiful, but the old ones are like witches. So, Dear, go ahead and
ask her to put you up. Back when her man was still alive, she used to take a
lot of people in, but he died, and since then – this is the third year she
hasn’t taken in a single person, but you give it a try. Ask her. She might just
take you in.”
“Thank you. I’ll try that,” said Lyuba. And she walked up to the house the
woman had indicated. She pressed the button once, and after a minute, she
pushed the button on the gate again, but no one came out. Ten minutes
passed, the door creaked, and a hunchbacked old woman came out of the
house. Groaning, she made her way toward the gate along the path that was
overgrown with grapevines. She opened the gate and began talking without
even saying hello.
“What are you breaking down my gate for, Girl?” she asked disconten-
tedly.
“I’d like to ask you to put me up. A kind woman, your neighbor, suggested
it.”
“She’s not kind. She was having a laugh at you. I haven’t taken anyone in
for a long time now.”
“I know that. She told me that, too. But I’ve been looking for lodging for
the whole day without finding anything, and so I made up my mind to turn
to you and see whether I might get lucky.”
“You decided to see whether you might get lucky. You won’t get any luck
from me. You’ve all come here to get lucky. Did you show up to look for a
fiancé for yourself, too?”
“I want to meet my intended here. Please forgive me for bothering you.
I’ll head off to the train station now and spend the night there.”
It began spitting rain, and the old woman muttered:
“They’re the bane of my existence, these girls. The bane. And it’s begun
