Careful with the tea

Part 17

We had a long walk in front of us.

The forest was splendid, and as I forced myself to wonder its beauties, my jangled nerves calmed down slowly.

My body and my soul became still, and I started to enjoy this whole journey. I almost felt sorry, when we passed the woods.

We arrived to a huge lake. I could see sky-high snowy peaks behind the green forests around it. The sky sparkled in wonderful azure colours.

Only that large city of concrete didn't fit in the picture.

Marcus and I stood shocked at the feet of the houses. Many skyscrapers were built upon each other, but not the safely expected way, only just by fits and starts, as if a drunken giant would've thrown them in a pile.

I just stared at the hill of blocks, and waited the moment when it'd fall apart.

„Don't worry, it won't collapse." David laughed, and he showed us the way.

There were even more surprises in the city. Alice and David walked along the only two feet wide streets stuck to the side of the buildings. We hardly saw any real streets, we had to follow the open abyss. Sometimes there were stairs taking us to the next building.

After the first ten minutes I lost my sense of direction. I had the feeling only David knew the way.

I tried to talk to Alice several times to get some explanation, but she kindly asked me to be patient, I'd get all my answers.

I had no choice, I waited and walked after them silently.

We passed one grey building after the other, rarely meeting some locals. The shabby walls, the broken windows were a miserable sight.

However, as we reached the heart of the city, we saw more and more constructions. Some buildings were already finished, and obviously taken.

We stopped at the feet of a long building, next to one of the far-reaching channels of the city. David chose one of the dozens of similar doors, apparently at random, then knocked.

I heard some whispering, the David laughed.

„Come on Duck, skip this old game. Open up."

An old man opened the door for us, smiling widely with his toothless mouth. He hugged David and Alice. He shook hands with Marcus. But as he saw me, he went pale. He just gave a short nod, and closed the door behind us.

This didn't help me at all to strengthen my torn self-confidence. I felt even strangers blamed me.

Behind the door a bus was waiting. The fact itself was also really strange, that it stood inside the house, but to our grater surprise the old man pushed a button, and we started to go down.