“Lenochka, may I come in?”
“Of course, come in.”
The neighbor sat down beside her.
“I wanted to ask. Do you remember that old woman who talked about the snow?”
Elena flinched.
“How could I forget? I remember. Why?”
“I tried to find her. I asked at the store, nobody knows her. Sveta said she was there once, never saw her again. It’s strange,” Maria Ivanovna lowered her voice. “I’ve been thinking about her too. Maybe she was a guardian angel? How did she know about the snow?”
Elena smiled faintly.
“I don’t know. Maybe intuition? Or life experience? Or maybe it was fate?”
“You paid for her groceries, you did a good deed. So she paid you back. It’s only fair,” the neighbor sighed.
Elena was silent, watching the sunset. Maybe so. Good begets good. She helped the old woman, and the old woman helped her.
“You know, Masha,” she said quietly, “I’m grateful to her. If it weren’t for her, I would have gone on living without knowing the truth. It was painful. It was hurtful. But I was set free. From the lies, from the coldness. And now I’m truly living. For the first time in many years.”
Maria Ivanovna hugged her.
“You’re amazing, Lenka. You didn’t break. Many would have fallen into depression. But you stood up and moved on. I’m proud of you.”
They sat until it got dark. Then the neighbor left, and Elena stayed. She looked at the stars, listened to the silence. She thought about how unpredictable life is. You never know what tomorrow will bring. But it wasn’t scary. She remembered the old woman’s words: “Don’t touch the snow.” Such a simple phrase, yet it changed everything.
Elena mentally thanked that unknown woman. “Thank you for the truth. Thank you for saving me. Thank you for the chance to start over.”
And in the morning, she woke up with new plans. To sign up for English classes. To plant a flower bed. To keep living. Life went on. A new life, her own, a real one. And Elena was ready for it.
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