Passengers were coming and going. Looking for their trains and fussing. Only she sat and did not move. The old woman in black did not even seem to breathe. Beside her lay a bundle, from which an icon and a spare handkerchief peeked out. “For death,” she must have prepared.
The station was empty. There were few people. They lay down to rest and hid their suitcases from unkind passers-by. And she still didn’t move. From time to time she shuddered with an inner cry, sighed heavily, and continued to pray.
She did not turn to anyone for help. She shut herself away in her world, as if she were waiting for something. Sometimes she peered at the front door, trying to spot a familiar silhouette there. But no one was there.
It was morning. The old woman had not slept a wink all night. Apparently her thoughts kept her awake. She sat patiently in her corner and stared at one point.
Just a few hours later a young woman with two small children entered the waiting room. They sat down next to the old woman and began to dine. The children stared at the grandmother and tried to engage her in play. One of them even stroked her head. The old woman smiled, her eyes filling with tears. She stroked the baby back and wiped her grimy nose.
The young woman noticed this, handed her a boiled potato and said:
– Who are you waiting for?
– No one, daughter, – the woman answered and sighed heavily.
The passenger realized that something was wrong here, and began to question the old woman. The children surrounded the grandmother, and their mother swallowed every word of her new acquaintance. When the old woman dared to talk, she spilled the pain out of herself:
– God forgive him. My son… My little blood… I left him here… I deceived him… Have mercy on him, God. It’s not his fault.
The young mother listened to the old woman and ran to the cash register. People gave in line for her to buy a ticket for the abandoned grandmother.
– You be my mother and I’ll be your daughter. We’ll live together now, I have no one at all, – said the girl.
The station has seen many meetings and partings. Do not doubt the veracity of the story, because I myself have watched the reunion of this family.
