The counting book came out a month out of the fog, full version. Matthew Arlidge - A month has emerged from the fog...

1) Original version

A hedgehog came out of the fog
He took the knife out of his pocket.
“I will cut, I will beat!
You still have to drive!”

2) On the topic of the day.
In clouds of smoky fog
cops burn marijuana.
A hedgehog crawled out of the fog.
He holds a sharp knife in his paws.

This is in his head!!!
There is no rest for the hedgehog...
You don't have to go to grandma's -
-will cut, will beat...

3) Peaceful
A hedgehog came out of the fog
He took the knife out of his pocket...
And again I went into the fog.
He put the knife in his pocket.

4) In Japanese.

Hedgehog-san came out
Thick fog around
The knife is clenched in the paw

5) Latvian
The hedgehog is out
He took out his knife and pockets
Will cut you, will fight you
It’s all the same for you to drive

7) Special...
(For the dictionary of the Odessa language, which I used to write this “Special” version about the hedgehog - special thanks to the resource l7e7o7n.narod.ru/raznoe/odessa_slovar.htm, which I found by chance on the Internet)

I won’t tell you for the whole of Adessa...
There was fog on Gapkenstrasse
Yozhu Syoma did antires
To take millions from the cash register

Hedgehog Syoma seems to be hinted at
If you make a face, we’ll spit in your face
Why would they go to the circus with such a wish...
Otherwise there will be a knife in the side.

Syoma thought - Hedgehog will be attacked
I was thinking about making pots
I understand, Syoma - they will cut the hedgehog
They will kill a hedgehog for a million...

It’s as if the fraer began to bully Syoma
I began to say in the words of an idiot
But he still molted all the way home
So that their Hedgehog does not have time to work.

I won’t tell you for the whole of Adessa...
There was also fog on Gapkenstrasse
Syoma made antires to the house.
Yozhin million remained at the box office.

Reviews

Children's counting rhyme

A hedgehog came out of the fog
He took the knife out of his pocket.
“I will cut, I will beat!
You still have to drive!”

Adult counting rhyme

A Hedgehog came out of the fog,
Hedgehog served his time.
But he can’t live like everyone else -
I found myself out of work.

He took a knife out of his pocket -
He didn't scare anyone
Only the Hedgehog didn’t like fasteners -
I cut off all the fasteners.

And accidentally behind the clasp
It turned out to be a wallet
Why not profit? -
Once the owner ran away.

“I won’t hit you,”
Good hedgehog
The lady said cheerfully:
-I will never forget you, -
He gave the wallet to the lady.

What to do, what to do!
I like you already.
Yes, I cut off the fasteners.
- I'm now in a negligee!

Sorry, not on purpose.
What can you take from Hedgehog?
He gave his jacket to the Virgin
Because he is a good Hedgehog.

Maybe play hide and seek?
It will be fun for both of us.
Did not have time. At this moment
A cop and a vigilante drove up.

And now our good Hedgehog,
In Magadan the deadline is ticking,
Well, that lady, of course,
She misses him a lot.

Because this Hedgehog
Not some boring guy.
What happened to them next?
I won't tell you.

The daily audience of the Proza.ru portal is about 100 thousand visitors, who in total view more than half a million pages according to the traffic counter, which is located to the right of this text. Each column contains two numbers: the number of views and the number of visitors.

You don't care bare .

And behind the month is the moon.

The devil hanged the sorcerer.

And the sorcerer hung, hung

And flew into the trash heap.

And Boris lived in a garbage dump -

Chairman of dead rats.

And his wife - Larisa

Wonderful rat.

He's different fell in love

He took an ax and hacked him to death.

A wife didn't die

I took it money and left.

He fell in love with someone else,

He took the perfume and gave it to her.

The month has emerged from the fog,

He took the knife out of his pocket

I will cut, I will beat,

You don't care drive.

And the next night

He stabbed your daughter.

This is not my daughter

And someone else's king.
There are other ending options:

And the next night

He stabbed your daughter.

And Elena is not mine,

This is the king's daughter.

And the king is in the market

I was selling boots.

And the wife is on the bench

Sells pins.
This is my daughter not mine,

And someone else's king.

And the king is on the bench

Eats boogers.
And the king is in the market

Eats shoes.

And the wife is on the bench

Eating pins.
“The car was walking through a dark forest...”
This story has a short and two long versions:
I was driving (walking) car in dark forest

For some interest.

Inter-inter-interest-res,

Come out with the letter es.
I was driving (walking) car in dark forest

For some interest.
Inter-inter-interest-res,

Come out with the letter es.

And on the letter there is a star, (1)

Trains pass there.

If the train doesn't pass,

The driver will go crazy.

So the train didn't pass,

The driver went crazy.
I was driving (walking) car in dark forest

For some interest.

Inter-inter-inter-res, (2)

Come out with the letter es.

Letter es didn’t fit (we don’t need it),

Exit on the letter A.
In some cases, the first line of the short version looks like this:
A cuckoo walked past the forest
While the short version doesn't vary much, both long versions have variations. The long version - 1 is joined by various continuations that are not widely used. Here is one of them:
He climbed onto the ceiling

I pinched my belly button.

And his wife answered him:

I don't have any green stuff.

And the greenery is on the floor,

A kangaroo plays in it.
Continuations of the long version - 2 are more common, but not too varied:
We don't need the letter A

Come out with the letter Y.
And on the letter there is a star,

Come out with the letter Y.
"On the Golden Porch..."
A striking feature of the texts related to this plot is the presence traditional And modern versions.

The traditional version has full And truncated forms:

Both forms of the traditional version involve not the usual one-time recitation of the counting rhyme, but a kind of game that requires an answer to the question (who will you be?) and repeated reproduction of the text of the rhyme. “The one pointed to by the one saying the rhyme is called “king”, “king”, “shoemaker”. The counting card is read again until the named word, and the one on whom it fell comes out” 3. After this, the recalculation is repeated; the game is repeated until one player remains: he becomes the driver.

There are many counting rhymes that, like this one, involve not a simple recount (one-time execution with an indication of the driver), but a kind of game that requires a reaction passive part of the players (those who are being counted). Such, for example, are the rhymes “The cuckoo was walking...”, “The bag was rolling” and “Dora, dora, tomato.” Rules of the game in different counting rhymes X are different. It is no coincidence that G.S. Vinogradov named the counting rhymes game preludes.“This kind of counting rhyme,” writes G.S. Vinogradov, - provide an opportunity for players to try their luck twice and eliminate deception” 4 .

Despite the widespread use of the traditional version of the plot “On the Golden Porch...” among modern children, the play type of execution of this rhyme, which requires a reaction from the “audience,” is very rare: usually the last word indicates the driver. Thus, we can talk about the unification of the functioning of counting rhymes in modern gaming practice 5.

This type of recalculation, which has become the only one, manifests itself especially clearly in modern versions of this story: the question requiring a reaction from the public has disappeared from the text:
Sitting on the golden porch:

Gummy Bears , Tom and Jerry,

Scrooge McDuck and three ducklings.

Come out, you'll be Ponca!
Sitting on the golden porch:
Winnie the Pooh , and Tom and Jerry,

Mickey Mouse , three ducklings.

Come out, you'll be Ponca!
Meanwhile, preserved in the modern version transfer heroes reminds of previous gaming practice in which this counting rhyme was included.

The modern version is also characterized by the introduction of new characters (in this case, heroes of popular cartoons): we have already observed this phenomenon in the example of the plot “The month has passed...”. Variation here also occurs in weak points (words located inside lines). Rhyming words “hold on” stronger: a successfully found rhyme moves from variant to variant (“sat” - “Jerry”, “duckling” - “Ponka”).

The modernization of this rhyme was especially noticeable in the change in rhythm.

The fact is that all the popular counting plots we have considered are kept in the rhythm of syllabic-tonic versification (tetrameter trochee):
Out \ month \ from \ mana \

He took out the \knife\izkar\mana\.
V.V. Merlin, a researcher of the metrics of nursery rhymes, also points out that the most numerous group of texts in this genre is written in trochaic tetrameter 6 . Perhaps this is due to the widespread use of this poetic meter in modern children's poetry.

Analyzing early children's poetry, K.I. Chukovsky notes the sharp predominance of this meter in children's works. “No matter how many poems like this I have heard, they all have the same rhythm - trochee. Why this is so, I don't know. Maybe because children all over the world jump and dance trochee” 7.

The traditional version of the rhyme “On the Golden Porch...” has a different rhythm:
-\\-\-\-\-\-\\-\\-\\-\\- + - + - + -\\-\\-\\-\\-\\-\\-\\-

Apparently this is tactician, a type of tonic verse 8: “the volume of unstressed intervals between ikts (stressed syllables) fluctuates in the range of three options: 1-2-3 syllables (less often 0-1-2)” 9. In our case, the number of unstressed syllables between stressed syllables ranges from 0 to 2.

This is the only one of the most popular counting plots that we have examined that has preserved the rhythm of folk verse, which probably indicates its archaic nature.

It is no coincidence that the rhythm of the modern version of this rhyme is trochaic tetrameter. Perhaps this rhythm is suggested by the first line, common to the traditional and new versions and close to trochee 10.

Note also that the modern version, unlike the traditional one, is presented brief And long options (short options are given above).

Long options:
Sitting on the golden porch:

Gummy Bears , Tom and Jerry,

Scrooge McDuck and three ducklings.

Come out, you'll be Ponca!

And Ponochka has a star,

Trains pass there.

If the train doesn't pass,

Scrooge McDuck will go crazy.

Sitting on the golden porch:

Gummy Bears , Tom and Jerry,

Scrooge McDuck and three ducklings.

Come out, you'll be Ponca!

If Ponca doesn't come,

Scrooge McDuck will go crazy.
Sometimes instead of the last lines the following is added:
If I don't like Ponca,

Come out, beauty!
Or:
I don't want to be Ponka.

Ponka didn't go to school

Ponka found the money.
We see that the long version consists of a short version and its continuation; in most cases the continuation is also in trochaic tetrameter. In one of the texts one can feel the influence of Chukovsky’s fairy tale “The Clapping Fly.”

The four plots discussed are the most common. Other rhymes are less common and vary less actively.
"The cuckoo was walking..."
Was walking the cuckoo is passing by networks ,

And behind her - children are small .

Everyone was screaming : “Ku-ku-mak!”

Squeeze (remove) one fist!
Was walking car dark forest ,

And behind her - two dunces .

Everyone was screaming : “Ku-ku-mak!”

Push up one fist!
Previously, this counting rhyme was used in the same way as the counting rhyme “On the golden porch...” - it was repeated many times until there was only one player left, who became the leader. G.S. Vinogradov writes: “Each player puts two fists in front of him, and the reader of the counting rhyme touches them with each stressed syllable. The one he touched when pronouncing the last word removes one fist, and the counting continues again until one player remains with his fist not lowered. He will drive. The counting book is usually read in cases where there are few players” 11.

Today, this form of recalculation practically does not occur. The requirement to “squeeze” or “remove” the fist is perceived formally; The last foot in the counting rhyme, as usual, points to the driver. In some variants, “modernizing” gaming practice leads to changes in the text:
Was walking the cuckoo is passing by networks ,

And behind her - children are small .

The cuckoos are asked to drink.

Come out - you should drive!
Unlike plots characterized by a high degree of activity, this counting rhyme does not have short and long versions; variation most often occurs at the level of individual words.

Noteworthy is the interweaving of this rhyme with the plot “The car was walking...” (She was walking) car dark forest, / And behind it - two dunce).
"Behind Glass Doors"
This story has 2 versions - brief And full.
Short version options:
Behind the glass doors

Mishka is walking with pies.

- Bear, Mishenka , friend,

How much does a pie cost?
Behind the glass mountains

Came out Vania with pies.

- Vania , Vanechka , friend,

How much does a pie cost?
Behind the glass carpets

Worth Dima with pies.

- Dima, Dimochka, buddy,

How much does a pie cost?
Full version options:
Behind the glass doors

Sat bear with pies.

- bear , Mishenka , friend,

How much does a pie cost?

- My pie costs three,

And you will be naked!
The full version has other sequels:
-The pie is inexpensive

It costs forty rubles.
- My pie costs two,

And I’ll be naked!
It can be assumed that the short version of this rhyme is the original one, since it ends with a question that may have previously required an answer “from the public.” This assumption is confirmed by variants of this plot published in the collection “Children's Poetic Folklore” 12: the oldest of them, recorded in the 20s - 30s, end with a question (short version).

After the tradition of repeating the rhyme repeatedly disappeared, the answer to the question was included in the text of the rhyme itself.
There is also an abbreviated version of this plot (without dialogue):
Behind the glass doors

The hedgehog is trading pies.

The pie is inexpensive -

It costs forty rubles.
"The rooster was sitting..."
The most moving part in this counting rhyme is the last line (output):
Sat rooster on the lava point ,

Counted my clubs glasses .

One two Three -

Come out, pin, you!

Sat rooster on the lava point ,

Counted my clubs glasses .

One two Three -

You will be the captain!
Sat old man on the lava ke ,

Counted my clubs ki .

One two Three -

Come out, pin, you!
Sat rooster on the lava point ,

Counted my clubs glasses .

- Ko-ko-ko,

Exit with the letter "O".
This plot, unlike the previous ones, does not have long and short versions; the text is quite stable and varies at the level of individual words.

This plot is used in a long version of the rhyme “The month has come…”, common in Zhukovsky.
“The tangerine was rolling”

Rolled orange

By name Marinka .

Didn't study my lessons ,

And I got a bad mark.

And when I went for a walk,

I got the number five.
Rolled orange

By city Marinka .

Didn't study my lessons ,

I got the number five.
Rolled orange

By name Marinka .

Didn't study my lessons ,

I got a two.

A when I came home,

I got the number zero.
Rolled orange

By name Marinka .

Didn't go to school

I got a two.

A When left for a walk,

I got the number five.

In these options it clearly stands out main part and ending (of two types). The main part and the ending are rhythmically opposed. The rhythmic model of the main part is a tact with interictic intervals of 2 - 3 syllables:

/-///-//-///-//-///-//-///-/
The rhythmic harmony of the main part is achieved through strict alternation of two-syllable and three-syllable interictal intervals.

The ending is in trochaic tetrameter.

The discrepancy between the rhythms of the main part and the ending is already familiar to us from the rhyme “On the Golden Porch”. The distribution of rhythmic patterns is also similar: in the main part there is a tactic 13, in the ending there is a tetrameter trochee.

The combination of modern themes (the school theme is not typical of traditional counting rhymes) and archaic rhythms is a certain oddity that requires explanation. The novelty of this plot is confirmed by the absence of this counting rhyme in the records of the early - mid-20th century. 14
The following options are also common:
Rolled mandarin duck

By name Irinka .

Didn't study my lessons ,

I got a two.

And when I went for a walk,

I got the number five.

A when I went home

I got the number zero.
Rolled mandarin duck

By name Irinka .

Didn't go to school ,

Got a D

A when I went home

I got the number zero.

And when I went for a walk,

I got the number five.
Rolled mandarin duck

By name Irinka .

Didn't study my lessons ,

I got the number five.

And the top five is not mine,

And someone else's king.

A then I went home

I got the number zero.

“Mice lived in an apartment”

One two three four,

Mice lived in an apartment.

Drank tea, cups beat ,

They paid three pieces of money.

Who doesn't want to pay

That's why you should drive (naked).

One two three four,

Mice lived in an apartment.

Drank tea, cups beat ,

In Turkish they said:

Chabi, chelabi, chabi, chabi.

One two three four,

Mice lived in an apartment.

Drank tea, cups washed ,

They paid three pieces of money.

Who doesn't want to wash cups?

That's why you should drive.
Rhythm - a tact with an inter-ict interval from 0 to 2.
"Aty-baty..."
Aty-baty, the soldiers were walking,

Aty-baty, to the market,

Atty-batty, what did you buy?

Aty-baty, samovar.

How much does it cost?

Aty-baty, three rubles.

Aty-baty, who's coming out?

Aty-baty, you and me.

(It's me)

(I came out)

Aty-baty, to the market,

Atty-batty, what did you buy?

Aty-baty, samovar.

Aty-baty, to the market,

Atty-batty, what did you buy?

Aty-baty, samovar.

Aty-baty, what is he like?

Aty-baty, golden.
This counting rhyme is quite widespread, but the degree of variation is very insignificant. In the first part of the counting rhyme, apparently due to the rigor of the form, there is no variation. The second part in each version is special, the only common element is the question-answer form and the “abstruse” introductory combination “Aty-Bata”; in one of the options the second part is missing.

All variants are in trochaic tetrameter.

The readers below are not very common.

Dora, dora, tomato,

We caught a thief in the garden.

How can a thief be punished?

We tied our hands and feet

And they let us go on our way.

The thief walked, walked, walked

And I found a basket.
In some versions, a small ending is added to it:
In this little basket

There are drawings and pictures.

One two Three -

Give it to whoever you want.
* * *

One two three four,

Me taught literacy.

Only by field jump.

I jumped, I jumped,

She broke her leg.

My leg began to hurt,

Mama began to feel sorry.

I regretted and scolded

And she sent for the doctor.

Doctor rides a bull

With a balalaika in hand.

One two three four,

cat taught literacy.

And for the mice jump.
(long and short versions, variation at the level of individual words)

* * *
An apple rolled through the garden

And it fell straight into the water.

Bool!

An apple rolled through the garden

And it fell straight into the water.

Gurgle!

Water - red dawn!

An apple rolled through the garden

And it fell straight into the water.

And there lived a snake in the water,

Come out with the letter “I”!

(constant main part and variant endings; the words “come out with the letter “I”” echo the ending of the rhyme “The car was walking...”).

* * *
Eni, beni, ricky, taki,

Turba, urba, synthbrucks,

Eus, beus, krasnobeus,

Bang!
Eni, beni, ricky, faki,

Turba, urba, eki, faki,

Eus, beus, cosmobeus,

Bang!
Eni, beni, ricky, paki,

Bul-bul-bull, scribbles, shmaki,

Eus, beus, cosmobeus,

Bang!
Eni, beni, ricky, faki,

Til, glug-bull, koriki, shvaki,

Deus, deus, cosmodeus

Bang!
(abstruse counting rhyme; variation at the level of sounds)

* * *
Zealous horse

With a long mane

Jumps and gallops across the fields:

Here and there, here and there!

He's rushing here!

Get out of the circle!
A zealous, golden-maned horse

Jumps through the fields, gallops through the fields.

How will he gallop -

Get out of the circle!
* * *
Glass, lemon,

Get out!
Hey Ivan,

Get into the glass

cut it off lemon

And go out out!
Polkan the dog,

Get into the glass

Grab it lemon

Get out out!
(increment to the beginning of the text; short and long versions)

* * *
A ram was walking

Along steep mountains.

Torn out (took) weed,

I put it on the bench.

Who will take the weed?

That out (drive) will do!
(stable, unpopular text)

* * *
Shishel-myshel,

Took it (kicked) yes he came out.
Shishel-myshel,

Took it went

I found a snuff box.

There is tobacco in the snuff box.

Who found

It will turn out like this!
A crocodile walked

He smoked a pipe.

The phone fell

And she wrote:

Shishel-myshel,

……, came out.
(far divergent variants, in some cases connected only by the words: “shishel-myshel”)

* * *
These stories occur no options:

Chiki-briki, where are you going?

Chiki-briki, to the market.

Chiki-briki, why are you there?

Chiki-briki, for oats.

Chiki-briki, who are you?

Chiki-briki, I'm a horse.

Chiki-briki, what are you?

Chiki-briki, voronom.

The month has emerged from the fog,
He took a knife out of his pocket:
"I will cut! I will beat!
Who will you stay friends with?"

(Folklore. Children's rhyme)

Cycle of stylizations

Or, as the classics would say about the same thing:

1 Catullus (ancient Roman poet) 87-54 BC.

Night! Among the stars the month hung like a piece of cheese,
A luminous path into the sea stretches into the distance,
It’s as if a living fog is dragging under the ledge...
It's time for the robber to come out with a knife!

Oh, and who did I foolishly call, dumbass?
The silhouette of an alien is moving straight towards me!
Might beat you up! If he wants to kill you, he will kill you!
I need to do something urgently now!

Was it in vain that I studied the art of public speaking?
I'll confuse the guy with syllogisms!
The main thing is that he understands Latin,
And he was prone to dialogue on a slippery path!

Who are you? I'm ready to die! Just answer - who sent it?
Here are my breasts! You will see the rider die!
- I am a new slave! And your wife commanded me
Bring such a chlamys for you in damp weather!

2 Basho (Japanese poet) 1644-1694

A month in the fog...
Here the ninja looked out the window...
Should I poke a knitting needle in the eye?

3 Omar Khayyam (Persian poet) 1048-1131

Dreams

The month has quietly emerged from the fog...
A good start to a novel!..
A purse of mists wouldn't hurt me
For an extraordinary dastarkhan!

4 Shakespeare (English poet) 1564-1616

Through the eyes of an eyewitness

How brazenly the Spanish Armada advanced!
It seemed impossible to resist her!
And a month in the sky was like a reward for them -
But suddenly Boreas turned them back!

Fog has crept in, a storm has rolled into the English Channel!
And the one who thought to cut us and beat us,
He ordered to anchor and frowned,
He issued an order: “Don’t leave your place!”

And we, of course, did not miss the chance,
They instantly set fire to their longboats,
And they let it go into the wind without pity!
And how it blazed in the distance!

...Tomorrow I’ll tell you about this prank, -
Otherwise there’s no night left for sex!

5 Lomonosov (Russian poet) 1711-1765

Altercation

I almost punched the Count in the nose!
Naryshkin made a dressing down, -
Like, damn it, Mikhailo, I’ll disgrace you!
I'll leave the Academy!

But I gave the satrap an answer:
“Are you out of your mind or not?
Leave me? Yes! Maybe!
It’s impossible from me!

Open the window where the month is the grip
In the cloudy fog, like a brother,
Leading with the stars for a long time
Your intimate conversation!

And just me and my students
I will be glorified, Count, for centuries!
Open the window quickly, Count,
To make sure who is right here!

And painted white bolts
Raised with an unwavering hand!
An abyss full of stars has opened!
There are no stars! The bottom of the abyss!

6 Pushkin (Russian poet) 1799-1837

Creative search

"The month has emerged from the fog
He is a thief, but who is to blame?
He took the knife out of his pocket..."
What should I write next?

Good! If I'm alive I'll be
How can I fast successfully?
Tomorrow for this sketch
I'll definitely come back!

Many days have passed since then -
One by five and two by five!
Having remembered the month, he went out into the hall,
I started writing about him again!

But a heavenly phenomenon
Has grown enormously
And my sketch, unfortunately
had to be adjusted -

"Through the wavy mists
The moon creeps in
To the sad meadows
She sheds a sad light!"

7 Lermontov (Russian poet) 1814-1841

(Chechen lullaby from the time of Lermontov’s stay in the Caucasus)

The moon has risen! He came out of the fog!
The Urus camp was illuminated in the darkness!
The songs are bawling! On a drunkard - drunk!
How these vile people are not dear to me!

They'll fall asleep soon!.. Let's beat the guards,
We'll slaughter them all like sheep later!
We'll take the guns away from the damned,
So that Ermolov would cry about it!

Month! Are you taking the knife out of your pocket?
In vain! There is someone to avenge our relatives!
Crows are everywhere! They are waiting for the death of the devils!
They smell a sure trap here!

Whoever burned villages is not worthy of living
The infidel will go to hell with tar!
...The month in the sky is both quiet and calm,
And the young warrior goes to battle!

8 Yesenin (Russian poet) 1895-1925

Out of the fog the Moon went for a walk
Throwing a cream bun to the stars.

In the gateway I met a proud Zhigan*.
Like a zhigan, he took the knife out of his pocket.

"We will fight, boy, only until first blood!
You know the rules! This is not new to you!"

The steel sparkled dully! A quiet grinding sound is heard!
They're not joking here! Who will kill whom?

The Month is broken!.. And Zhigan? He's cheerful!
He hung the enemy over Murka's window.

The flying poplar is silver and bright
Above the window is the month. There is wind under the window.

Matthew Arlidge

The month has emerged from the fog...


© M. J. Arlidge, 2014

© Publication in Russian, translation into Russian, design. Sinbad Publishing House, 2016

* * *Chapter 1

Sam is sleeping. Killing him now costs nothing. He lies with his back turned away from me - that wouldn’t be difficult. Will he wake up if I move? Will he try to stop me? Or it will even be glad get rid of the nightmare?

You can't think like that. We must try to remember something from real life, something good. But the days in captivity drag on endlessly, and hope is the first to die.

I strain my mind, searching my memory for happy memories so as not to think about the terrible things. But finding them is becoming more and more difficult.

We've only been here ten days (or is it eleven?) and normal life already seems like a distant memory. We were returning from a concert in London when this happened. The rain poured down in buckets, cars rushed past, but not a single one slowed down. We were soaked to the skin and were about to turn back when a minivan picked us up. It was warm and dry inside. We were offered coffee from a thermos, and the smell alone perked us up. The coffee tasted even better. Who would have thought that this would be our last breath of freedom.

When I woke up, my head was throbbing and pounding with pain. There was dried blood on the lips. I was no longer in the warm interior of the car, but in some cold, dark room. Did you fall asleep? I flinched from a rustle behind me. It was Sam who tried to get to his feet.

Robbed. We were robbed and thrown out of the car. Leaning against the wall, I moved forward. Cold tiles at hand. I bumped into Sam and held on to him for a second or two, inhaling the scent I loved so much. Gradually the full horror of what had happened dawned on me.

We were in an abandoned swimming pool. Abandoned for a long time and thoroughly gutted. There was nothing left: no springboard, no scoreboard, no ladders. Just a deep hole with smooth walls and a slippery floor, from which it is impossible to get out.

Did this scum hear us screaming or not? She probably heard it. Because as soon as we stopped talking, this happened. The mobile phone rang, and for a delightfully brief moment we believed that help was rushing to us. And then we looked at the lit up phone screen, which was lying on the floor of the pool, not far from us. Sam didn’t move, and I ran to the device. Why me? Why always Me?

- Hello, Amy.

The distorted voice on the other end of the line hardly resembled a human one. We have to beg. Beg for mercy. Explain that they are making a terrible mistake. “But they know my name,” I realized, and all my passion faded. I said nothing, and the voice continued with the same dispassionate ruthlessness:

- Do you want to live?

- Who you are? What do you want from us...

- Do you want to live?

I'm silent for a full minute. I can not talk. The tongue seemed to have dried up.

Finally I squeeze out:

“There’s a gun on the floor, next to the phone.” There is one bullet in it. For Sam or for you. This is the price of freedom. To live, you must kill. You want to live, don't you, Amy?

I can't say a word. I'm going to throw up.

- Do you want it, Amy?

And the phone goes off.

- What did they say? - Sam asks.


Sam sleeps next to him. I could do this right now.

Chapter 2

The woman cried out briefly in pain. Purple welts swelled across her back. Jake raised the whip again and lowered it with a sharp snap. The woman arched and exhaled:

She rarely said anything other than that word. Not the chatty type. Not like his other clients. Administrators, accountants, secretaries... Sexually unsatisfied, hungry for live communication, they all desperately wanted to please the man who would treat them with a whip for money. This one was different. Closed book. She never hinted at how she approached him. What brought her. She gave clear and precise instructions - she explained what she needed - and told her to get started.

He always started by fixing his wrists. He tied them tightly with two studded leather straps and secured them to the wall. Then he put bracelets with chains on his ankles and chained his feet to the floor. She carefully folded her clothes on a chair and, remaining in her underwear, stood awaiting punishment.

No role playing. No: “Please, daddy, don’t, it hurts!” or “I’m a very, very bad girl.” She just wanted him to hurt her. In a sense, this even suited him. Any job turns into a routine after a while, and for a change it was nice for him to deal with a client who did not require him to play along with her sad fantasies. Nevertheless, he was upset by her persistent reluctance to make contact with him. The most important element of a sadomasochistic session is trust. The sub must be confident that he is in good hands, that the dominator understands his needs and has enough experience to ensure that the session is satisfactory for both parties. Otherwise, the game turns into violence, if not abuse of position, which was not at all in Jake's interests.

Of course, he tried to break the ice - an innocent question here, a non-binding remark there. And over time I found out that she was not from Southampton, single, and under forty. And no complexes about this. He also realized that she only needed pain, and sex was unnecessary. She didn't ask for stimulation or advances. All she needed was punishment. While harassing her with a whip, Jake was not too zealous, but he was not slacking either, he worked to the fullest. She behaved well, and she had a body to match: strong, muscular, seriously pumped up. Old scars suggested that the client was not new to sadomasochism.

But all his tricks and cunning questions led to nothing. There was only one thing Jake knew about her for sure. One day, while she was getting dressed, a photo ID slipped out of her jacket pocket. She immediately picked him up - she thought he wouldn’t notice. But he noticed. Jake always thought he was a good judge of people, but here he was in for a surprise. If it weren't for this ID, he would never have guessed that she was from the police.

Chapter 3

A few feet away from me, Amy is squatting and unabashedly peeing on the floor. None of us feel awkward anymore. I watch how a thin stream of urine, hitting the tiles, stains my already stale panties with splashes. A couple of weeks ago I would have turned away. Now there is no.

Urine crawls like a lazy snake along the slightly sloping bottom of the pool to flow into the stinking puddle that has gathered at the far end. I watch Amy urinate without taking my eyes off, but soon the show ends. Amy returns to her corner. No apology, no simple nod. We have turned into animals - we do not pay any attention to each other.