“Killing you is not enough,” Vasily said quietly. They drank another glass, and spent several minutes in complete silence, chewing intently and each thinking about his own. The distant past suddenly became close, came to life, spread its wings, filled with smells, colors and sounds...
Oh, youth, what a wonderful time it is! So stupid! How much energy was wasted, how many opportunities were missed, how many mistakes were made, but how bright the fire had been burning, and the warmth of those days flies through the years, and sparks crackle, threatening to burn clothes, and reflections of flame play on faces heated with wine and memories...
They sat opposite each other, separated by a coffee table, two handsome strong men in full dawn of strength, similar, like two siblings, like two impressions of the same seal, and drank wine, and remembered, and thought...
There was something irrational in this night together, in the silence of an empty hotel, outside the windows of which the forest rustled. The shaggy branches of old fir trees almost touched the glass of the windows, as if they wanted to look into the room and find out what these two were talking about and what they were silent about.
They were not only in a strangely outlined space, but also outside of time, because in the place where they got there was no time at all - everything was mixed up, everything came to life and rapidly replaced one another, like in a hurricane wind: calm and storm, love and hatred, past, present and future, which was already breathing somewhere nearby, imposing its irrepressible shadow on all words and sounds.
Yes, they were sitting side by side, but one of them has to leave, while another one has to stay. And it's destiny and only who will decide...
This night was like a halt high in the mountains, far from people and everyday life, when one part of the difficult and dangerous path has already been passed, and the other is still ahead.
from the novel "From Eternal Point of View"