Romance without love

"Tamara? Ignatyevna, I think you like sweets, don't you? ..."

"What else can I do, Timofey? Andreyevitch..."

It was winter outside. I haven't seen such a cold winter for a long time. Or in October, it blew a strong wind, under the swirl of snow. The whole day and night, the snow did not stop, the wind did not quiet. It's no use trying to clear the snow from the trail now. It was very cold and hard to get to the road.

It's cold in the house, too. No matter how you make a fire, it won't warm the house. Everyone knows that a two-story house is very warm, everyone thinks so. But in fact, only upstairs can live, and downstairs is the cattle pen. Now it was empty and cold, and there was nothing else. It's cold everywhere. It was an old house, the walls were tilted and the wind was pouring in from under the floor. ... Sometime, long ago, a Finn once lived here. After the war, there were immigrants. Now it's her -- Tamara? Ignatyevna, the master of the house...

"Besides, you only like the kind of candy you like."

"Munching squirrel candy -- that's my only pleasure."

The woman was lost in thought. Perhaps she was thinking of moving here five years ago, when she traded her apartment in the city for this house. She remembered how in the spring she had dug up the ground and planted the white oleander. She remembered how sometimes, in the evening, she had walked along the path to the highway alone, in her blue coat and straw hat, and carrying her purse. She is tall but well-proportioned. From a distance -- he looked very young. Up close -- forty away. In the eyes of the boys, she is such a person. She also remembered how often she got on the bus in silence, went into town to see one last movie, and came home.

She was alone all spring. She was alone all summer. She was alone all autumn. She was alone all winter. She remained so year after year -- five years passed in a flash. Having forsaken the city, what did she seek? What did she find? Can she find it?

My God, how time flies! Just like the feeling of someone moving the hour hand forward. Wish as always, is still yearning for life, yearning for love. His eyes are as sharp as they were 20 years ago. Why does the face age so quickly? The figure still gives a person with the feeling of youth still in, the chest is still elastic. The face is indeed old. Yeah, I used to have two sweet spots on my mouth

Honey's dimples, and now the corners of his mouth are drooping...

"Do you often eat these squirrel candies?"

"Eat what you want, I bought a lot beforehand..."

The woman spoke as if she were asking forgiveness for this trivial hobby. Perhaps, a plea... This man, you know, is her husband. Yes, it was her husband... He lived next door to her at the villa last summer, and they met. He, too, was alone in his misery. He is past his youth, and in two years he will receive his pension. What can be done? Anyone younger seemed hard for her to find. His youth was destroyed by the war and will never return. She had left her old age to him as he had left his to her.

"No, I don't mean to blame, Tamara? Ignatyevna..."

"I have lost everything in my life, Timofey? Andreyevitch..."

"No, no, I have not the slightest objection. Would you like to eat, Tamara? Ignatyevna. Just take care of yourself..."

It was winter outside. I haven't seen such a cold winter for a long time.