A Lotus Grows in the Mud by Goldie Hawn

Author:Goldie Hawn
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
ISBN: 9780425207888
Publisher: Berkley Trade
Published: 2006-02-27T05:00:00+00:00

Driving back to the airport the following morning, I ponder how much I have learned from this trip. I feel sad. I realize that I will never see Kristina and her son, or Sofia and her family, again. By the time I reach the airport, I am in such a haze of nostalgia for the wonders of this proud nation that I barely notice the armed guards, with their stiff suits and cardboard attitudes, as I hand them my papers.

“Nyet,” an immigration officer tells me.

“Nyet?” My attention snaps sharply back. “What do you mean, Nyet? These are my papers.”

“Nyet.” They take my papers away.

My heart stops for a minute. I shift from a feeling of grand Russian romance and wishing I could stay here a little longer to a sense of blind panic.

Okay, wait a minute, I say to myself. I’ve got to get out of here. My heart palpitates as I see my Aeroflot plane revving up its engines out on the runway. I seriously consider making a run for it.

My voice a few octaves higher, I ask a guard, “Excuse me, is there a problem?” He doesn’t answer me.

Desperate for a cigarette, I reach into my purse and my fingers close around a bundle of pens that Murray advised me to bring as sweeteners but which I completely forgot about. Accepting them with a twisted smile, an official waves me through. “You are pleased to go.” He hands me my papers in exchange. Before he can change his mind, I dash past him out onto the tarmac and mount the stairs of my plane.

On the plane, I sit back in my seat, staring down at the lights of Moscow as we fly back west. Yes, I can play a Russian, but I could never be one. I understand their need to overcome obstacles, to make the best of their lives. I now know that their passion, love and art can never be extinguished, for it burns deep inside them. No matter what our political party, we are all individuals striving for happiness, just like Oktyabrina.

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