Return from Siberia by John Shallman

Author:John Shallman
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781510763401
Publisher: Skyhorse
Published: 2020-08-05T16:00:00+00:00

For Rosa—

Last night I closed my eyes with thoughts of you

Floating through my mind like a sweet melody,

And dreamed I touched my finger to your cheek—

Your beauty flushed like the skin of a rose,

Your gaze so clear and brave and bright, glowing

Like two stars in the bitter cold of the night.

And though the icy breath of winter bit

And tore at our clothes and the silk of your hair,

Your eyes were warm: they spoke to me in holy silence

Of distant skies, golden plains and violet peaks—

Of vast horizons where the sun dips into stormy seas

And great countries where the sun sets on the free.

I woke and knew I’d found the answer to our cries

Within the shining promise of your eyes.

Comrade Rosa was deeply touched. She raised her delicate hand and placed it against my cheek. After a moment of looking into my eyes, she leaned forward and pressed her soft lips against mine. I felt a tingling running up and down my spine. It was my first kiss.

We sat in silence for a moment, marveling at the impressive Krasnoyarsk Railway Bridge that spanned the frozen river, a feat of engineering that had won a prize, I was told, at the Paris Exposition. Reminding me of the West, I turned to Comrade Rosa and exclaimed: “Come with me to America!”

I explained the escape plan along the river that Minne and I had been planning. I thought, with her own family gone, she needed a fresh start. The West could give us that. The journey would be long and dangerous, I knew—but I was convinced that, together, we could do it. To my great joy, she agreed.

Time was of the essence. Any moment, the authorities could separate us, once again, and send us back to our respective villages. So we resolved to go the following night, though it was still shy of a full moon.

My heart was pounding in anticipation as evening grew near. I couldn’t wait for the watchman to drink his vodka. It seemed to be taking forever. He was upset, it seemed, at how little remained in his flask and went to get an additional bottle from a hidden cache. When, finally, he leaned back in his chair and began breathing deeply, I grabbed the supplies I had hidden under my bunk and raced down the hallway where Comrade Rosa was all set to go. She had her hair back to look like a boy.

We darted to the window at the end of the hall and pried it open, careful not to make a sound. When I secured our makeshift rope to an iron bar near the window and threw it down, we became aware of our first challenge: the rope was not long enough. It would require an eight-foot leap to the ground—not impossible, since the fall would be cushioned by snow. But it could make noise.

I resolved to go first and test it out. With Comrade Rosa watching from above, I lowered myself, hand over fist, surprised at how cold it was.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.