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Looking into the «alien» hut, he certainly did not find a bicycle. There were only broken bottles, cigarette butts and some old worn sofa with the same kind of coffee table.
After standing for a while, coming out of the stupor that had seized him, he decided to go to the village, which was visible nearby, and resembled his native village.
– Probably came out from the other side of the forest – he thought.
– How could I get so lost? You need to ask someone what kind of village it is, and how to get to your own.
Igor suddenly remembered about the phone, but immediately did not dare to call his parents.
He was not used to complaining, but he was always used to getting out of difficult situations himself, although this case was somehow exceptional.
«I’ll call you later when I find out where I am,» he thought.
Approaching the village, Igor saw a man in his thirties. He decided to ask him where he was.
– Excuse me, please!
– Yes, baby?
– Uncle, please tell me where I am. I got lost in the forest.
Igor noticed how the young man’s face turned pale and his eyes widened in surprise.
– M-boy. What’s your name? – suddenly, stammering, he asked.
– Igor. And what?
– Igor … – the man thoughtfully cupped the lower part of his face with his palm, and, looking down, asked:
– Aren’t you Igor Zorin by any chance?
– Yes. And how do you know?
The man took out a paper handkerchief from his pocket and wiped the drops of sweat that appeared on his forehead.
– Uncle! Are you ill?
– No, Igor.
– So what kind of village is this? What is it called?
– Igor. Listen to me, don’t be scared.
Igor was already scared. He didn’t understand what this man wanted from him. He only asked where he was.
«How does this man know my name?» He was wary.
– I’m going home! – Igor blurted out, and rushed back to the forest.
His mother had always taught him not to talk to strangers.
– Igor! Wait! Don’t be afraid of me! This village is Zaustino, and Dimka is your friend, only already an adult! I’m Dima Ivanov! Honestly!
Igor was completely scared, and ran even faster, but he was very tired, so he could not run far.
The uncle grabbed him and hugged him, hugging him like a native.
– Don’t be afraid, baby! Better tell me where you’ve been.
Uncle Dema’s voice was soothing, and his grip was not very strong.
– Uncle! Let me go home. My mom is waiting for me. I promised to be back before dark.
– Igor! Don’t be afraid of me. Let’s go. I’ll take you to your father. Just don’t be scared. I got overexcited myself.
The student decided not to resist, but to call for help if they meet someone on the way.
The road ran along a street that seemed very familiar, but looked different.
There were low fences around the houses, which only fenced off the territory of the land plot, and did not hide the entire yard.
There were no vegetable gardens in the courtyards, but only lawns, paths and flower beds. There was not a single gray slate roof on the houses.
They were made of flexible multi-colored tiles, which pleased the eye.
As luck would have it, there was not a single passerby on the street. Everyone was sitting at home, from the windows of which electric light was already pouring.
The boy and the stranger accompanying him approached the house, which really resembled the one in which Igor lived with his parents. Suddenly the front door opened and an elderly man appeared on the threshold.
He didn’t notice the guests right away, just picked up a package on the terrace, and was about to go back in, but Uncle Dima called out to him.
– Mikhail Ivanovich! Wait a minute.
– Who’s there? Dimka! Come on in! And who is this boy with you?
It was hard to see at dusk, and the electric lighting of the street had not yet been turned on.
– Mikhail Ivanovich! Your Igor is back! See. He’s alive and unharmed!
Grandfather was stunned by such a statement, but when his weak eyesight saw his son, who had disappeared twenty years ago, in an unfamiliar boy, he almost lost his strength and did not fall. Dmitry managed to catch him.
– Dad! Dad! What’s wrong with you? What happened? Why? Igor shouted, and felt that he was falling and losing consciousness.
An unknown elderly woman jumped out of the house.
– Call an ambulance! Igor is back!
When Igor opened his eyes, he was again seized with anxiety.
– Are you awake? the voice asked.
The boy looked around. Apparently, he was in a hospital room. There was a nurse on duty nearby and another unknown elderly woman.
– Mom! Where are my mom and dad? Why am I in the hospital? I don’t have any pain,» Igor suddenly burst into tears.
– So! You stay with him, and I’ll get the doctor! – The nurse said, and left.
– Where’s my mom? Where’s my dad? Call them,» the worried boy continued to cry.
A doctor appeared in the room.
– Well, what are you, what are you? Now the nurse will give you a little injection, and you will calm down.
– No! What for? Call my mother! You are welcome.
The doctor looked inquiringly in the direction of the elderly stranger.
– What are we going to do? Maybe you can tell him? We won’t be far away.
The woman nodded, and the medical staff retreated into the corridor.
– Igor! Dear! Your dad is in the same hospital, but he’s fine. Just nerves played out, and the pressure jumped. He’s coming to see you soon.
– And Mom?
– Baby! It just so happened that you got lost. This happened twenty years ago.
– I wasn’t lost! I went for mushrooms!
– The inexplicable has happened! When you didn’t come back, they were looking for you for a long time, all over the country! And yesterday you suddenly came out of the forest yourself, the way you were twenty years ago. The same age, the same clothes, shoes, everything, as in the police reports of that time. Look. The woman handed Igor an old yellowed page.
– Dad still has a printed sheet with a wanted notice and your photo! My name is Galina Petrovna, I now live with your father. I’ve been his wife for twelve years.
«Where’s my mom?»
«Unfortunately, she didn’t wait for your return,» Galina Petrovna said carefully.
– Why?
– When it was the anniversary after you disappeared, she had a stroke and died in intensive care.
Igor had not yet had time to realize everything that was happening, when his father appeared in the doorway. He has aged a lot.
The hair on his head became less frequent, and was completely white, and deep wrinkles lay on his face, but it was definitely his dad.
– Son! My dear! How glad I am! – he showered his son with kisses, and tears of joy rolled from his eyes in streams.
– What a pity that your mother doesn’t see you!
Igor burst into tears again. It was a great shock for his child’s psyche. A doctor and a nurse appeared in the ward.
«How is he?» Maybe we’ll give you a shot after all? It won’t get any worse. Such a strong shock is dangerous for the child!
– Yes! It is necessary to give an injection to calm him down! – my father agreed.
The nurse administered a sedative and Dad continued to talk to his son.
– Remember, we watched the movie «Back to the Future» with you. There the heroes traveled on a time machine! – the father soothed his son.
– I remember. But I didn’t have a time machine!
– Remember! You also wanted, just like them, to travel and see the future!
– I wanted to, but I didn’t know that the forest would turn out to be a time machine.
– And we’ve been looking for you so much! And your friends were all looking for you, too.
– They’re grown-up uncles now, and I’m a boy. I was going to the forest with them only yesterday, and today they are adults. And Mom… died…
Tears were pouring from the child’s eyes.
– Dad! I want to go home.
– Let’s go! We’ll go as soon as we get an extract, and we’ll go.
Igor Mikhailovich was called to the scientific laboratory today.
After all, this day was significant, Igor participated in a trial expedition, for a journey that he had been striving for for the last eight years.
Today he recalled the events of that tragic day when he returned home from the forest, where they had already stopped waiting for him, where he had lost his mother forever, where everything had changed beyond recognition.
He remembered how he met with his classmates and friends who had grown up for twenty years in one day, about a school where his friend taught a physics lesson, and Lena was the class teacher, a classmate whom he always liked, and whom he often pulled by wavy red tails.
I remembered how after time travel I became a brilliant student with extraordinary abilities, how in three years I mastered the school
He entered the physics department at the university as an external student, and two years later defended his thesis on quantum physics.
Today he goes to meet his beloved mom.
He really wanted to see her again and tell her that he had found her while she was still alive. He had thought it all out in advance.
Galina Stepanovna was sitting by the window when he called her softly. She looked around and saw a translucent holographic image of a young man who looked like her beloved son, but only grown up.
– Mommy! – Igor said softly with love in his voice.
Mom didn’t move. She was heartbroken over the loss of her beloved son, and thought she was having a vision now.
– Mom! Know that I am alive. I’ll be back. I love you very much.
