„A Word of Six Letters, Only One of Which Is a Vowel…“ (Story)
Translated by Todor Sirakov
"A word of six letters, only one of which is a vowel…“
I had come early and was sitting in the lobby bar. There were still ten minutes until the meeting. My eyes wandered to an unfinished crossword puzzle in the newspaper left on the table across from me... Hm!?
The blank white square in the middle of the crossword seemed to hold some kind of secret, staring back at me like an open pupil fixed stubbornly on me... Strange!
I tried to tear my eyes away from that “pupil.”
From the lobby bar one could enter the casino. It was early in the afternoon, not many people were inside, and the gloom of that “mysterious” place was still thin. Yet the slot machines divided time into sharp little fragments with their specific clicking sounds. The loudest clatter came from the machine closest to the door — a shabby, greying man was hunched over it. His hands moved over the buttons as if they were piano keys... But his eyes — his eyes were terrifying! For them, the rest of the world didn’t exist. Hypnotized, they followed the flashing and disappearing symbols on the screen, glowing brighter and madder with every second. His hands became ever faster, more impatient... A furious Expectation blazed in those eyes...
"A word of six letters, only one of which is a vowel..."
The pupil from the crossword seemed to be drawing me in.
At the next table, a mature man gently took the hands of the young woman across from him. His eyes shone, as if possessed by some Little Devil. What happened above the table mirrored what was going on beneath it... Their intertwined legs caressed each other, weaving into a strange knot. The man’s black formal shoes seemed to dance around her delicate white ones... His eyes stared with that same hypnotized look — like a fly caught deep in a fine web, still struggling, not realizing it would never break free...
"A word of six letters, only one of which is a vowel..."
The newspaper with the crossword kept staring back at me.
The kid at the table opposite had frozen in an unnatural pose — half-lying, half-sitting on the edge of his chair, about to fall off. His hands gripped a video game console desperately, clearly chasing some kind of demon inside it... His lips twisted into strange shapes, his face contorted like that of the very demon he was fighting... But his eyes — his eyes were wild! With them, he could have set the whole place on fire! The demon from the screen had fully possessed him. For him, the world had shrunk to that tiny glowing rectangle the size of a cigarette pack...
"A word of six letters, only one of which is a vowel..."
The “eye” from the crossword refused to let me go...
Outside, in front of the lobby bar’s glass wall, two young employees were smoking. They smoked as if fulfilling a last wish before the noose tightened around their necks... Their eyes flickered feverishly, measuring the world against the length of their half-burned cigarettes. The fading butts seemed to feed the fire in their eyes — little flames of dark Satisfaction, flames that would not go out even after the cigarettes did...
"A word of six letters, only one of which is a vowel..."
The “eye” from the crossword was now mocking me!
The door of the lobby bar opened and... She entered!
The scenes began to unfold slowly, frame by frame, like in slow motion. A bluish-transparent veil floated around Her. She moved gracefully, like a doe... gliding through space like a Vision. The eyes — the eyes were what held that strange Phantom suspended in the air, not letting it disappear!
"A word of six letters, only one of which is a vowel..."
She came to my table and gracefully extended her hand... Taking it gently, I lifted it toward my lips...
"A word of six letters, only one of which is a vowel..."
PASSION!!!
The crossword was no longer smiling at me...
