I was born in the northern part of Russia, where there was the much forest. I liked forest very much, and I like it now. Every New Year, our family had to decorate a Christmas tree. Father bought it or the oldest brother sawed and brought it from the forest. One year happened so that no one brought an evergreen tree. I decided to saw and bring it myself. We lived not so far from the forest. I took a saw, an axe, a piece of bread, and a little salt. When all was prepared, I set on my goal. All was well, but deep in the forest was a prison for dangerous people, and there lived many wild animals such as wolves, bears, and lynx. Sometimes prisoners run away from the prison and killed citizens who were in the forest and took their clothes. Sometimes people were good food for wild animals. Although I was only eleven years old, I understood well what would happen. In this time I couldn’t imagine our room without a Christmas tree in the first day of New Year. I was running and walking on white, soft, deep snow. I listened to the birds sings. I imagined how I would bring my surprise for everybody in my family, because my parents didn’t know where I went. I was very happy. I spent a long searching for a tree, but one tree was better than another one. I stopped only then when it begins to dusk. I was going home. But where is my way? Where is my path? With each minute it became darker. I thought “I would be a good snack for animals in winter.” I was not fat and big, but I had about 20 kilograms of bones in my body at that time. I understood I lost my way home. I don’t remember how long I roamed. My wonderful, lovely forest slowly became my grave. Suddenly I smelt smoke of cigarettes, and I began to hear voices of the people. Who are they? May by they are prisoners. I didn’t have a choice how to go to the them. There were two strangers.
Sergey P.
