Many years ago Masha, a twenty seven years old Russian woman, was working in one of the Soviet collective farms which was restored after the Second World War.
Masha was driving a tractor in this farm and sometimes she used it kind of "illegally". On Fridays she drove her tractor from work to dance parties in a local dance club. Masha liked one man and she thought the woman driver would be very attractive.
Then of course the other men treated her like a buddy. They would offer her drinks and cigarettes.
And that Friday night Masha was drunk a bit and on her way back home she felt a sleep on a big empty land close the river.
Then some one touched her shoulder and woke her up.
It was a smiling young girl. A few other girls were standing near by and watching Masha. They all laughed and fast run away waiving Masha to follow them.
Masha looked around and noticed that the land was full of people. The people were dancing, singing or just talking in small groups.
Masha wiped her eyes, but what she the party was not a dream.
The people on the lend were real. They smiled to Masha. Three young women looked at her clothes and touched her short bright red hair. They were smiling. A group of men and women were dancing and asked Masha to joint them. Masha did not know that old dance and she just watched them.
Just now Masha noticed that all of them were dressed in old style clothes. No one now would dress like this, may be her grandmother's friends.
Then someone started to sing a very beautiful song and Masha went to to listen. The sat near the young man singing the song and thought how handsome he was. She was secretly watching him.
The night was very fan.
Early in the morning Masha felt a sleep again.
When she woke up the land was empty. There were no sign on the midnight party.
May be it's a dream Masha thought.
She drove home and told her girlfriends about the dream. Her friends thought Masha drank too much and it was just a dream.
One evening, about a months after, an old woman knocked to Masha's house and asked to tell her about
that night.
Masha told her the story. And the woman who was just wiping her eyes a bit, now stared to cry.
"Do you know, - the woman whispered, - it was a village on that place.
The village I was from, a big village before the war.
Then the Nazis came there. They brought everyone to one house and burned it with men, women and children inside. Only old and young were there, everyone else was at the war. No one could fight, no help to get" - the woman was crying and had to stop for a while.
Then she continued:
"Just weeks before that day, my mother told me to go to my aunt to another city. My aunt was alone with children, her husband was at the war too. It saved me, only one from that village.
I think my mother felt something. We could not go fast together, so she thought it would be the best if I would leave first. And they would go after.
My mother gave me all her good clothes, talked about the time I will get married. My grandmother gave me her metal ring for the luck. I did not know we would never see each other again.
On the train station I was crying, my father was smoking, my little brothers were hiding from each other behind our backs. My mother was showing me what she put in my small bag.
The train came and they all hugged and kissed me again.
My mother, my father, my brothers and my grandmothers, they believed that the war will end soon. It was 1942.
It was the last time we were together. I still see my grandmother waiving me from the train station window. They all were at that burned house."
Poems,stories and pictures by Irina Mouravleva.
