A story that proves it’s important to leave the past behind to move forward.

She was 30 years old and went out at night to work while her husband snored and her daughter grabbed her coat, screaming, “I don’t want you to go!” As for her son, a year and a half older, he didn’t throw tantrums. After two days, she saw a job opening for a nurse in a nearby town. She applied and was hired. She took out a loan and managed to buy an old house on the outskirts. She didn’t give up easily and kept moving forward, without thinking about the difficulties. She was only reassured when she saw the truck bringing the huge pile of her and her children’s belongings to their new home, a small house with a low roof. The tranquility was increasing when she took her first bucket of tasty, clear water from the well and lit the fireplace for the first time, which warmed the whole house. This little old house had everything to make them happier!

The air was filled with joy. The sun’s rays hit the windows every morning. Taking a refreshing bath in the river water and then feeling the warm floor of the porch with bare feet was a unique sensation. The first harvest of dill and carrots was unforgettable. Every meal was special. Despite the fact that the family drank soluble coffee, the cheapest available on the market, and only had pasta for dinner, their hearts were filled with peace. The lady of the house did everything possible not to let her ex-husband, who was trying to regain their trust, enter their little world, remembering her daughter’s desperate cry every night. She made the decision to never go back to him!

She spent most of her salary paying the interest on her mortgage, but after a few months, she got into a routine and learned to save money for food and clothes. She became more self-confident, stopped complaining about life and persistently continued her journey.

Once, her children brought in an abandoned puppy, who could barely stand on her feet, staggered with weakness, and had sore eyes. First, he took two sips of warm milk and fell over. After ten minutes he felt better and drank some more. In the end, the puppy survived. Then a kitten showed up at their house, on the verge of death, with a serious wound and a burned whisker. But he also survived.

The mother believed that whoever has a house and land must have an apple tree. So, once the family’s finances stabilized and she realized they would be harvesting their own vegetables in the fall, she decided to plant one.

“What species do you want?” asked the attendant.

“I don’t know,” her mother replied, smiling.

“Then take this one.”

He returned home without even imagining that, in a few years, everyone would fall in love with his shiny and appetizing apples, which would also be used to make extremely tasty cakes and jars of incredibly fragrant jam.

However, one part of the garden, always sunny, open and covered with green moss, seemed to be haunted. The branches of the raspberry bushes became stunted and dry, as if they had grown in the Sahara desert, not in moist, fertilized soil. A cedar sapling had been dormant for three years, a huge growth had grown on its branch, and the tree withered without blossoming. She spent days crying, as if she had lost a loved one, and then planted a plum sapling, which she found for sale in a noisy and busy city square. The plant was watered with lots of fresh water from the well and seemed to be enjoying its new home very much. After three years, the plum tree graced its owners with the first ten fruits and froze for the winter, because it could not withstand the low temperatures. But he didn’t die. In summer, the first thick branches appeared on the remains of the trunk, and the following year, a surprisingly fruitful plum tree grew that bore large, juicy, sweet fruit.

One day, she was given a cherry tree sapling. After three years, the tree grew, but it bore little fruit. In early spring, her owner was about to cut her, but she decided to give her one more chance.

In August, the tree was adorned with large beet-colored fruits that sparkled in the sun, leaving everyone enchanted with their beauty.

She never dated anyone else. Her teenage son took care of all the heavy housework. As hard as it was, she didn’t regret leaving her past behind. She preferred to feel happy, calm and at peace in a small old house than to live with her alcoholic husband in an exquisite apartment, and she proved that she made the right choice.

Now she drinks the best coffee. It’s expensive, but it’s her children who often buy it for their mother. She likes to stand with a cup in her hand and look out the big window. Those little windows, like the old house with the low roof, are a thing of the past. She now has a new, spacious home with large windows.

Another dog is lying on the warm porch, and another cat is sitting on the chair…

But the same trees will bloom next spring, cheer everyone up with sweet apples, large plums and burgundy cherries. She’s going back to making jam jars and apple cakes. And the house will be filled with the sweet aroma of vanilla, cinnamon and happiness…

O awesome.club publish the translation of this text
with permission from the author Anna Bogdanova (Gansefedern).