Translated material
2024
One rainy autumn day in 2024, you accidentally find yourself in the middle of a huge crowd slowly walking in one direction. Many of them have tear-stained faces, and one older lady is simply sobbing into her handkerchief. Some guy with a black ribbon on his shoulder, you will notice a slightly crumpled piece of paper in his hands, and on it is a portrait of an elderly man with a thin, endlessly tired face. You know this face very well, the same portrait, but already a dozen meters in size, hangs on a neighboring building with the solemn signature “We will completely solve the housing problem by 2025!” A man in a shabby coat will walk ahead of you, and on his arm is a boy, probably about ten years old. The crowd is crowded and you will accidentally overhear their conversation.
-Are they all really that sad? - the boy will ask
- You, Misha, don’t ask stupid questions, especially since everyone here can hear us.
- How did people live before him?
“We lived badly before him, badly, Misha,” dad will answer irritably, looking around in confusion, and will add thoughtfully and in a low voice, “just like now, in one word.”
“I heard that they used to hold rallies against him,” the boy will also say in a low voice and his dad will shudder a little, “I read it on the Internet.” One hundred thousand people! On Sakharov Avenue! And he almost resigned. Did you go then too?
“I walked and walked, just don’t make any noise,” the man looks back briefly again, shrugging his shoulders nervously.
- Why did everything stop then?
- Well, why did it stop, then there was another procession.
-Did you go for it too?
- No, not on him anymore.
- Why?
- Well... it was cold, you know, it’s winter. And then, the car had to be sent in for repairs that day. And in general.
The dad will look at his son a little confused, but he will not answer anything. Dad will want to add something else, but will only say: “Oh my God, how stupid this is.”