By: Muhammadiyeva Sevinch Zaripovna
One of the cold winter days. It wasn’t long before we moved into a two-room mud house in a corner of the village, on an almost deserted hill. We had to because my father’s business stopped working. I didn’t like this uninhabited place far away from old Moydin’s house on the day I arrived. Maybe it’s because of the scary stories they told my friends when I told them we were moving here, but my parents said, “It’s nothing, don’t make it up.” We have been here for 2 weeks and nothing suspicious has happened. So they are myths, just lies…
Around 9 o’clock at night. My sister and I are sitting on the sofa with our feet in sandals. 1 candle placed behind the bowl flickers. My mother is sewing a tiny coat for my 5-year-old sister by joining small pieces of fabric together:
– The snow seems to disappear, the sky is clear. The moon is not even visible, said my mother.
– Do you have to do this with difficulty in the dark, mother, said my sister, who is in the 6th grade, behaving like an adult.
– I am trying to finish it today. If it snows, your sister will be cold without a coat, girl.
At that moment, my father opened the door and entered. There was no color left in his face, either because of the cold or because he came in a hurry. He whispered something back to himself. My mother led my father, who was leaning against the wall, and laid him on the bed next to the sandal, and gave him hot tea. Dad came to himself, took one look at us, felt that we were scared, and said, “I’m tired, I want to sleep” and put his head in the blanket…
About a week later, my sister told me the story of that day (when we went to my aunt’s house, my mother overheard her telling my aunt). My father came from uncle Normat’s house that day. Since our house is located on a hill, after crossing the river between two mountains, it is necessary to walk on the hill for a long time. Since my father came back in the evening, it was late until he came home.So, while coming along the hill, barely opening his eyes in the cold, he saw someone coming towards him. He passed 2 steps away without even saying hello. “Who is doing what in this place?” – he thought. He must be from the village, but he is not shy. After passing a little, he turned to take a picture from behind, and his heart sank. There is no one behind. A wide hill, the ghost of which could be seen even if it went far, there was nothing, neither tree nor bush, to cover it. He quickened his step, wanted to run, but could not find strength in his legs, as if he did not feel them. It was clear that he was afraid of something even when he came home…
In reality, no one lives on our side, there are no people, and old Moydin rarely goes out from his house, only when necessary. Adir is close to us, where shepherds (actually young school children) take care of cattle and sheep. They come at dawn and leave before dusk. They don’t stay at night, they say they have wrinkles. Even though I’m a girl with a lot of energy, I’m afraid to talk about wrinkles. Imagining them, the orphan is excited. Moreover, after the incident with my father, my fear increased.One night, my sister and I played a game of drawing beautiful pictures on white paper. We painted with paint. My sister Salima drew and painted with such love, her hands became stained with paint. “Look, Nargiz, let me put it on your face,” they pretended to touch my face with their painted hands. I screamed without realizing it. My mother told my sister, “Go quickly and wash your hands.” My sister went out. I looked out the window. He squatted down on the ground and washed his hands, and for a moment he looked around as if he had heard something. He put Obdasta on the ground and got up. He shook the water in his hand to dry it faster. He took a towel from his shoulder, wiped it, and started walking towards the house. At that moment, he was more surprised than before and opened his eyes wide. He ran into the house. His color was gone. He was breathing frequently. My mother was drinking water, my sister was shaking. My father took my sister Salima in his arms, kissed her forehead: “It’s enough, my daughter, don’t be afraid. “It passed,” he said. I could not understand what happened. The next day, my sister came and told her. When he went out, he heard someone shouting something from a distance. Second, this voice came from behind the house, not far away. My sister was terrified. “If he is a person, how can his voice come so close so soon, he probably didn’t fly,” he looked at my mother with a questioning look…Days passed. Sumak was held at my grandmother’s house, we also went, my aunts and uncles also went. We didn’t come home that day, we slept at my grandmother’s house. Every day we played with my aunt and uncle’s children. The adults dug sumak until allamahal. I fell asleep earlier than everyone else. When I woke up, my aunts were still digging and the children were sleeping. I watched them for a while without falling asleep. My mother gave my little aunt a kapkir for digging sumac and came and sat on the porch. They drank tea with my elder aunt and talked about something so as not to fall asleep. I was lying on the fire, my eyes were closing. In my ear, my aunt said, “What was the point of building a house in a desolate place?” “, and I was refreshed. I spoke to my ears. My aunt continued: “Anyway, they say, “a person lives in a place where he does not live.” My neighbor’s son also saw it recently. He drove the cattle and went to the dash. He was very happy to have lunch with him. By the time he sat down to eat at noon, his goods had gone away. After eating, he tied the knot and went after his cattle. When he approached, a creature like a 10-year-old girl with long flowing hair jumped and ran away, pretending that she was sitting among the sheep. He has legs like a goat. I repented” he said and spat on his collar. Imagining what they said, I shuddered…
When the moon began to appear in the sky, my sister and I were alone at home. My father usually returned late from the field, but it was a few hours after he left with my sister to deliver the dress that my mother made (she was a seamstress) to the owner, and they did not come. My sister and I were playing with our doll whose body was made of a thick branch of an apple tree. I heard a shelf that was about the size of four thin legs with dishes on it, as if someone had pushed it, and the dishes creaked. “Did the cat come in?” I ran to him and looked between the legs of the shelf. I looked at him and I was taken back carelessly. The ghost who was sitting between the legs of the shelf slowly came out. He walked towards the wall, not towards us. In fact, his legs did not walk, in my opinion, he was crawling. We saw it from the side. He went into the wall. My stomach was full of excitement, I froze like a cold. We still did not understand what we saw, and we opened our eyes with surprise and fear.We sat in this situation for a long time, unable to even speak, and once my mother and sister came. Hearing my mother’s words, “Wow, if I don’t die, what happened to Salima, open your eyes?” I turned and looked. My sister was lying down, as if she had fainted from fear. I cried. My sister opened her eyes, but she could not understand anything. My mother gives my sister a drink of water and wraps her in a blanket. He took me in his arms, stroked my hair, comforted me. My sister did not understand anything, she was looking at me and my mother. 2 days passed and my sister did not speak. We brought the teacher and taught him: “He was very scared,” he said. I told them what happened. Dad fell asleep. “Pack your things, our street said” to my mother…
I am Muhammadiyeva Sevinch Zaripovna, I was born in 2005 in Tashkent. Currently, I am studying philology and language teaching: Spanish in the 1st year of the Uzbekistan State University of World Languages. I am interested in learning languages and reading fiction.