Chapter 1
This story is about a young man from Kyiv in Ukraine named Anton Gregor and his search of a bed for a night. This was the period of early 1970s and Ukraine was part of USSR. Anton was a brave and powerful bearded man in his early 30’s who had served a couple of years in armed forces.
Anton was a lively man and had a lot of friends and relatives. He loved to be in contact with his friends. He was currently working as an accountant and his skills were appreciated by his boss and colleagues. He took a break from his job and decided to spend a couple of days at his friend’s place.
Anton started his journey on a bright Friday morning; he caught a local bus and reached the station. His friend Ivan was staying in Donetsk, a beautiful city in Ukraine.
He missed the only morning train to Donetsk. Instead of losing the entire day, sitting at the station, he decided to take a train to an intermediate station and from there he would catch the early morning train to reach Donetsk.
Chapter 2
Anton was angry with himself for missing the morning train to Donetsk, but at the same time also happy that he took a wise decision and not losing the entire day in Kyiv. The train departed in the evening and he was happy about meeting his friend Ivan after a long gap. He was only carrying a suitcase that has some clothes and chocolates for Ivan’s only son.
The train reached the intermediate station at around 9 PM, it was already dark outside. He got down with his suitcase and lighted a cigarette and was wondering in which direction he should proceed. The train blew its whistle loud and left for its destination.
He looked around, the station was deserted and there was barely any light. He was worried about spending the night. Standing at the station he can only see a road amongst the woods in the opposite direction. He thought that this might be the road that can lead him to a hotel where he can get a bed for night.
He started walking on the road. He had barely walked about 100 metres in the road amongst the woods, he saw an old lady approaching him with a lantern.
Chapter 3
Anton waited for her to approach; the lady said: “Are you looking for something”. He observed that she was wearing a dark blanket and her face was barely visible. He replied that he was looking for a bed for the night, so that he can catch the early morning train to Donetsk.
The old lady said, her apartment is about an hour from here and if he wants he can stay there for the night. Anton seeing no other available options, agreed and started following the lady with his suitcase.
Walking amongst the woods behind the old lady, he was not able to spot any other light in the vicinity. He started wondering aren’t any people living here, which part of a remote world I am? He was hungry and tired so he wanted something to eat and a place to sleep, hence he continued his walk behind the old lady.
It was almost an hour that they have been walking, he asked how much more we need to walk, to which the old lady replied nothing and kept walking. Two hours later they reached in the front of a two-story apartment.
The lady opened the door, it was dark inside. Old lady lit a few candles and told Anton to sit in a chair beside a dining table. She started preparing soup for him.
Chapter 4
Anton was all along sitting beside the dining table and observing the things around. Lady brought the soup to Anton, first time Anton got a little glimpse of the face of the lady amidst the candlelight. He was amazed; to find out that it was a man face and not an old lady that he has thought initially.
While eating the soup Anton enquired, “do you live here alone”, “how did you find out so far from your home that I was waiting at the station and looking for someplace to stay”, “how do you earn your living”, none of his questions were replied by the lady.
After consuming his soup, he enquired again “where am I supposed to sleep for the night”. The lady told him to follow her. She climbed up the staircase ahead with Anton following her. She led him to a room dark room upstairs, opened the door and waived him to come inside.
Anton could see a comfortable bed in the middle of the room; a table and chair were lying beside the door amidst the light of the candle the lady was holding. He could see a glass window at the top. He put his suitcase on the table, removed his shoes and jumped to bed. He thanked the lady, who took the candle and shut the door behind. The room was dark again.
Chapter 5
Anton was lying in bed and thinking about the eventful day. He suddenly realised that he had not spoken about the money the lady would be charging for his meal and the room. He started feeling guilty and decided to ask the lady.
He got up from his bed, and lighted his cigarette lighter and reached the door. He tried to open the door by turning the knob, but found that the door was locked from outside. He returned to the bed thinking that he will pay whatever the lady demands.
After lying for some time, he felt the urge to pee. He again lit up his cigarette lighter and searched for the washroom, there was none. Then he searched for pot, he put his hand under the bed to check for pot, he seemed to touch some hairy object.
He jumped from his bed and lit up his cigarette lighter and looked under the bed. His eyes were wide opened. He found the body of a dead man lying under his bed. He dragged the body out from under the bed and found that body’s face was badly damaged.
Chapter 6
Anton was a brave man; he knew immediately that he was in some sort of creepy situation. He wrapped the body of the dead man with the blanket from head to toe and placed it in the bed. He slid under the bed.
After barely an hour, he could hear footsteps climbing the stairs. He kept himself quiet lying on the floor of the bed. The door opened, and he could see two legs amidst the candlelight. The legs were unusual with long fingernails.
The legs stood still beside the bed for some time. Then he heard two massive thuds and saw a crowbar fall to the ground. After a few minutes, the legs turned back, he could hear the door locked again and the room was dark.
Anton kept lying for a few more minutes trying to hear any sound. He then slowly peeped out from beneath the bed and looked around. There was no one around; he crawled out from under the bed.
He reached out for the table and placed it besides the wall having the glass window. With the help of the crowbar, he managed to open the lower pane of the window.
Chapter 7
Anton then bent the window rods to make room for him. He then took his suitcase and crawled under the window bars and slid himself on the terrace and managed to jump out with some minor injury.
He ran on the road along with his suitcase reaching the station, where he had disembarked last evening. He found an empty bench in the station and sat there spending the rest of the night.
Next day morning, the train to Donetsk arrived and he heaved a sigh of relief. That day onwards Anton decided not to venture out on an intermediate station on a train journey in search of a bed for night.
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