Lonely room

⏱ ~4 min reading

Ulyana loved her room during the day. The window with white curtains, the shelf with books, the soft pink rug on which it was so comfortable to sit and draw. Everything here was hers. Everything here smelled of her things.

But as soon as Mom said, “I’ll go to the kitchen, and you play by yourself,” the room suddenly became different. Bigger. Quieter. And Ulyana began to feel like someone was silent and waiting in the corners.

The worst was in the evenings. When mom and dad were watching a movie in the living room and Ulyana was sent to bed first, she would lie on the bed, look at the ceiling and feel the room pushing her away from itself. The walls were silent. The closet was silent. The lamp was silent. And this huge silent company made me want to cry.

“Mom,” she called out softly, “sit with me!”

Mom would come, stroke her head, then leave. And again — silence.

One day, the grandmother, who had come from the village, noticed that Ulyana was following her with her tail — now to the kitchen, then to the bathroom, then back to the kitchen. The grandmother poured herself some tea, sat Ulyana down next to her, and asked:

"Why don't you like your room, honey?"

"I love her," Ulyana sighed. "But she doesn't talk to me. When I'm there alone, I feel sad. It's as if the room isn't mine, it's someone else's.".

The grandmother smiled and took her granddaughter's hand.

"Let's go get to know her properly.".

They entered the room. Grandma sat down on the rug right in the middle of the floor and pulled Ulyana after her.

— Sit down. And listen.

Ulyana sat down. At first it was quiet. And then the grandmother began to show:

— Do you see this book on the shelf? With a yellow cover. It's the same one that Uncle Zakhar gave you. It's been waiting all summer for you to finish reading it. Do you see the doll by the pillow? It's always here, it never goes anywhere. And here's the pot with the violet on the windowsill — remember how you watered it with a teacup? It remembers you too. It's just silent, because that's how violets are. But if you look closely — it's about to bloom a purple flower for you. That's how it thanks you.

Ulyana looked around the room. A doll with fluffy hair, a teddy bear with a torn ear, drawings on the wall (her drawings!), a box of felt-tip pens, a soft sun pillow that Aunt Bohdana had sewn for her. None of this was foreign. All of this was hers. And all of this was waiting.

"Grandma," Ulyana said quietly, "how can things be with you? They don't talk.".

"Not everyone who is with you talks," replied the grandmother. "Grandpa didn't talk for a long time in the garden either, when he was digging the beds. And I knew he was there. Sometimes the best company is the one that is just there. Doesn't demand anything. Doesn't ask. Just with you.".

Ulyana thought about this and moved closer to the teddy bear. It looked at her with its black button eyes, calm and peaceful. Like an old friend.

In the evening, when her mother kissed her and left, Ulyana did not call her back for the first time. She lay down on the barrel and slowly looked around the room. The lamp on the bedside table shone warmly. The drawings whispered from the wall - "we are yours." A book with a yellow cover lay patiently on the shelf. And the bear cub was dozing peacefully under her arm.

The room wasn't empty. It was full. It was just talking quietly—with things, colors, smells. And if you listened carefully, you could hear it softly saying, "I'm here. I'm with you. Sleep well.".

That night, Ulyana fell asleep quickly. And the next day, when her mother came in to call for breakfast, she saw a strange sight: her daughter was sitting on a rug in the middle of the room, holding a teddy bear in her arms and whispering something to it.

"What are you doing, daughter?"

"I'll introduce him to Violetta," Ulyana replied seriously. "They've been in the same room for four years, and they've never even said hello.".

Mom smiled and said nothing. And the room—the room just continued to be there. Quietly, gently, and always.