An exercise given by Stephen King

An exercise given by Stephen King
WAS
 RAINY
     AUTUMN
           EVENING
SUGGESTED CIRCUMSTANCES
A STORM WARNING
Rainy autumn evening. The storm warning, which was announced the day before yesterday, has finally come into force. The wind bends trees, smashes shop signs to shreds, breaks bars from balconies. There is no one on the street. Only holding tightly to each other, two people walk against the wind. Big and small.
The wind hinders their progress, but they keep going. The storm broke the umbrella, which was in the hands of the man, and, therefore, the two wander no longer paying any attention to the rain.
Their main enemy is now the wind. It does not allow breathing, it blocks the way to the goal. Suddenly, the wind blows so hard that the man cannot hold his companion by the hand, and the air current drags the girl to a cliff, where all the trees and bushes have already been torn out.
A second before the fall, the man manages to grab the girl by the edge of her blue raincoat and, pulling her to him, hugs her and tries to catch his breath. While these two stand embracing, and afraid to lose each other again, let's try to see them, of course, making allowances for rain, wind, and the misfortune that just happened. In addition to the fact that the girl is not yet five years old, and she is very similar to her companion, there is nothing more to say about her yet. Maybe in the future, something will appear in it that will stop the look, but for now ...
For now, let's take a closer look at the girl's companion, who, as you probably already guessed ... Yes, yes, that's right! The two trudging through the stormy wind are father and daughter.
The wind, which had hitherto howled in a million faceless voices, suddenly found a voice for a moment. He screamed and raged in a woman's voice, and even if it all lasted only a moment, but for the man holding the girl to him, this moment was enough to come to his senses and remember the purpose of his journey. Picking up the girl in his arms, he took a few steps, but then stopped, and carefully tearing her wet face from his jacket, asked:
“Nellichka, baby, didn’t you hear anything?”
The girl just shook her head and clung to her father again.
The man listened. The ears, accustomed to the sounds of the storm, no longer perceived these sounds as something out of the ordinary. The man listened, afraid to hear that other sound again.
But he didn't repeat himself. But somewhere far away, a police siren gave its voice.
But the man did not even pay attention to this sound. Taking advantage of the fact that the wind had died down a little, he tried to increase his pace, but the storm was on the alert. Grasping with her wet and cold hands, she dragged the man to where his daughter had almost died a few minutes ago. But in this case, the wet bitch miscalculated!
The man, whom I never managed to describe, was monstrously huge. No, he was not an athlete and bodybuilder. He generally did not like sports in all its manifestations. Despite his ferocious appearance and tall stature, the man was timid by nature. It's just that nature made it that way.
In addition, the man had a profession that was very unsuitable for his height. He was a musician. He loved classical and popular music of the 1940s and 1960s, and could not stand modern rhythms.
The baby was a match for her father. In her incomplete five years, she looked about ten years old. And if the storm almost coped with the girl, then the father and daughter were beyond her strength. Completely unable to.
But on the other hand, it was a trifling matter for the storm to hopelessly ruin the clothes and hair of these two. However, the man almost did not feel all this. Tormenting himself with the question of whether the strange sound really was or he just heard something, the father walked forward like an armored car, not forgetting to shield the girl from the most harmful wind currents and brushing off everything that the storm had raised into the air.
Before the cherished goal, in the form of an old five-story building, there was very little left when the storm decided to strike a decisive blow. A cot, stolen by a storm from some balcony, flew with terrible force directly at the man, and only an excellent reaction saved the life of him and his daughter.
The cot still fell, but it fell not on the man's head, but on the sole of his foot. The man staggered. His face turned purple from pain, but then the baby sitting in her arms reminded of herself:
“Daddy, tell me,” she said sleepily, “are we coming soon?” I'm afraid to open my eyes!
The man tried to catch his breath and answer his daughter, but the pain was so strong that he stopped breathing. The girl, not hearing her father's answer, suddenly began to cry so loudly that she blocked the sound of the storm.
"Daddy, I'm scared!" Daddy, why are you silent? Daddy, daddy!
If the article the girl went to her father, then the timbre of her voice to her mother. Listening to this voice was like listening favorably to the sounds of a drill when the drill was about to dig into an aching tooth. Therefore, without waiting for the voice of the frightened baby to rise even higher, the father overcame himself and tried to answer.
“Hush, hush… little one!” We... almost... made it. Now I'll catch the music! Wait a minute...
The girl immediately calmed down and calmed down in anticipation of what her father had promised her. But a minute passed, another, and the promised music did not come.
The spectacle thatnow represented by a man with a girl in his arms, it would be funny if not for the man's mouth twisted from pain. The wind intensified to impossibility, but the man generally stopped noticing anything around, focusing on some kind of internal action.
Opening his mouth and relaxing his facial muscles, he slowly turned around on his axis, as if he was actually trying to find something. The girl began to cry impatiently again, the man tensed up and…
Music poured out of the man's mouth. He caught the musical wave. There was a pleasant male voice accompanied by an orchestra. Hearing the promise, the girl relaxed and fell asleep.
Apparently, the father was not the first time so calmed the baby, and it turned into a reflex. After waiting a few minutes to be sure, the man slowly closed his lips. The sounds of music slowly faded away.
At some point, the girl almost woke up and tossed and turned in her father's arms, the father parted his lips a little, and the music became a little louder. The girl fell asleep again. Strong and solid.
As soon as Nellie sniffed sleepily, the sounds of music disappeared altogether. Carefully shifting his daughter from one hand to the other, the man awkwardly turned and leaned on his bad leg.
The pain was so strong that if not for the wall of the house, the man would have fallen. Fortunately, the goal that the father and daughter aspired to was close.
Raising his eyes to the windows of the second floor, the man sighed sadly and for several minutes looked intently at one point, and then entered the entrance.
SUGGESTED CIRCUMSTANCES
A HOUSE WHERE THE FRONT DOOR DOES NOT LOCK
It is extremely necessary for a man to go up to the second floor, he simply has no other choice. The people behind the door of apartment number eight were his last hope. It's easier to devote two more pages to the description of the storm than even a single line to these public entrances.
So, ignoring puddles of a suspiciously yellow color, a man sleeping right in the middle of the landing, on heaps of garbage that do not fit into an overflowing garbage chute, let's follow the father and daughter through the apartment doors, which were opened by the hostess with great reluctance.
The woman who opened the door to the bell was almost as tall as the man who entered the door, but the elderly man, cautiously looking out from behind the door of the room, was half the size of the hostess, and the man who entered the door.
Once upon a time, these three were one big and friendly family. The difference in height did not in the least bring discord into this family. On the contrary, jokes on this topic were a favorite pastime of the household. And they loved to joke in this family. The jokes were not offensive, because everyone treated each other with love and tenderness.
Once. Now, seeing the guest, the elderly man was frightened at first, and then took a few steps towards, but was stopped by the woman's warning look. There was a pause.
Finally, the person who entered said.
Mom, I need your help! Kat, do you remember her...
Kat asked me to be on duty at her school for a few days, and Nellichka ... I took her to the kindergarten, but it is closed. A storm warning!
Yes, I heard about the storm warning. We, if you remember, have both a radio and a TV, and they are working, you don’t need it ...
- Mom, let's not do it again! I didn't come for this!
Why are you here Dan?
- Mom, well, I began to explain ...

The man did not have time to finish the sentence, because the sounds of music burst out from the next room, the music sounded so loud that the girl twitched in her father's arms and, without waking up, desperately cried and trembled!
The man struggled to hold her in his arms.
The woman, who had rushed into the room where the music came from, suddenly stopped and seemed to see for the first time the baby that her father had brought.
A grimace of hatred distorted the beautiful face of the woman, she wanted to say something, but only swallowed the air and, after a few seconds of silence, threw out to her son:
- Go to the nursery. We still haven't removed the soundproofing from the walls.
Dan's leg hurt so badly that the time it took him to get to the nursery felt like an eternity. Luckily, his old bed was right next to the door.
It remained only to bend over the bed and unclench her hands, but it turned out that Nelly was no longer sleeping, and when the exhausted father wanted to put the girl's head on the pillow, the girl's hands grabbed him with a death grip. The strength left him, and together with his daughter, Dan collapsed onto the bed.
There was a noise in her head, muffled sounds of an announcer's speech burst out of her mouth, from a sound wave caught so suddenly and inopportunely, and the baby was whispering something to her father. Only tensing up, Dan finally made out what the frightened child was whispering.
"Daddy, don't leave me!" I don't want!
“Nellie, baby, but it's only for two days. Even for one. Today can no longer be counted! Grandma will bake you cookies, and Grandpa...
- No, daddy, don't leave me! I'm dreaming of my mother now. I'm afraid! Please, do not go!
- Daughter, well, you heard what I talked about with Aunt Kate. She rarely asks me for anything. But if…
“Well then, take me with you!” You said yourself that Aunt Kate...
- Baby, well, I told you that you can’t come there with children. Aunt Kat works there and sometimes stays overnight, but it's not a place at all.dash. Well, don't cry like that! Well, you've started stuttering again! Well, calm down, I'll think about what can be done! Speak slower, I don't understand what you mean! Nellie! Oh no! Just don't faint!
While the inconsolable dad is trying to bring the baby to consciousness, let's look around. The apartment in which we are now, once knew better times. I will not describe the signs of impoverishment. Just take my word for it.
The apartment consists of three rooms. It has almost no furniture. And on the walls there are traces of frames. Yes, there used to be paintings here. Originals.
And here is the owner of the apartment, with whom we parted a few minutes ago. If it weren't for the sounds that followed her into the nursery, one might have missed her arrival, she walks so silently.
Dan, leave the girl alone!
“But how bad is she! She lies in...
- Here, let it lie. Don't you see that fainting is feigned? Well, look! When she heard my voice, she opened her eyes.
Nellie, why are you doing this?
You scared me!
- Mom ... Mommy always did that when you didn’t want to do what she asked! Daddy, don't leave me here! Take me with you. I will sit quietly, quietly, like a mouse.
The man looked helplessly at his mother, but she only pursed her lips sternly and said;
- What do you want? An apple does not fall far from an apple tree, but I warned you! Remember back when you were just about to get married!?
But did you listen to me? My Jane is like that! My Jane…"
Here's Jane!
Do you remember how you screamed when the paintings and gold disappeared?
"Don't you dare! You philistines!"
Well, to whom did you now come with your misfortune? It’s good that at least she didn’t manage to sell our apartment!
- Mother! Why are you saying this in front of a child? She is not a stranger to you, she is your granddaughter! And it's not her fault! Nelly, baby, look at daddy! You see, she didn't want to stay anyway, and now you...
“Is it my fault again?” If only you would listen to me for once! So you rented an apartment and left. And at least once asked what we live on? Everything that we have accumulated in our entire lives… She stole everything, dragged everything into this sect of hers! Remember how she repented?! Drunk on her knees, screaming that everything, never again! Never, never, will she take another's again! What was there to repent even then, if ... Do you know how much medicines cost now? But my father is so sick!
“Mom, have you forgotten that this guru fooled her then, or whatever they call him!” Remember when they took her to a psychiatric hospital, how she screamed that I cut her off from the divine light! Have you forgotten everything? And the most terrible thing was how she screamed that she would never forgive me that I separated her from the Spiritual Father! And Nellie saw and heard it all!
- What can I say to you! You hear only yourself again! I stared at this one as I once did at that one, and…
The conversation in raised tones would have continued indefinitely if Dan's younger sister, Natalie, had not come. Unlike her mother, the young aunt loved little Nellie with all her heart.
If Dan knew that his sister had already returned from the south, he would not have to go through all the humiliations that he experienced in his parents' house!
“Hi mom, hi dad!” Dan! I returned the day before yesterday. And today I felt like something was going on here! Has just arrived. Such a wind! I was about to stay at home, when I suddenly felt that someone was calling me insistently! Forgive me for not replying to sms. I…
In less than half an hour, Natalie and Dan and Nelly left the inhospitable house.

The wind died down a little, but it was still completely impossible to go.
Denis's leg ached to the point of impossibility, so Natalie's idea to take him to school came in handy. Carefully putting Nellie in the back seat, Nati whispered, so as not to wake her niece, finished the conversation that had apparently begun earlier.
- ... yes, at least a week. As long as you need, so much guard this school. Tomorrow my Victor will arrive, and you know how he feels about Nelly! The last time you left her with us, he took her to the zoo and the circus. Listen, why do you need to guard the school? There is nothing to take there. Three floors. Attic, basement and everything is completely empty! And why did she buy this building? Of course, I understand that beauty is a terrible thing! But still ... What is the use of the house if it is completely empty and unnecessary?
“Your information is out of date!” Now there is a lot of equipment there. Computers, cameras for the school film studio. And a lot of other things. The governor signed the order to open the school. It will be a school for gifted children. Already got the kids! And yesterday the pipes burst, and it's so cold there!
— And why are you here?
Oh, there's a whole story there! The watchman who was supposed to guard the school started drinking. And Kat's son was taken to the hospital after all! There is no time to look for someone from outside, and it is not safe. There is so much equipment out there!
"But why are you anyway?"
“No, don’t think that if I refused, she would somehow get out, but you know how important her participation in that story with Jane was! If not for her call, you yourself know where ... Yes, and I'm free now. I just havevacation.
Maybe Kate needs some help? You know Victor has friends!
- Not. I don't think it's all that serious. And it just coincided with that damned storm warning! This is really serious. You know, a hopeless situation! And I just...
- Vacation. You already said it.
Yes, I'm on vacation. That's just Nelly ... There's really no bed, so, some kind of trestle bed.
“You’ll go crazy there in two days!” But maybe it's not all that scary...
Turn on one of the TVs or play on the computer, or ...
-Natalie!
- Okay, I'm kidding!
— No, sister, I won't be bored, there are a lot of books in the attic. Still from Kat's father, Peter remained. This is truly wealth. There are a lot of books on art and, especially, on music.
- It's up to you, of course. But I still don't like the idea of ;;using you as a watchman. Yes, and you, in my opinion, too, although you are brave ...

“That's not the point. I just don't like being apart from Nellie. But, you see, I didn’t tell you everything about the role of Kate in those terrible months, when Jane was already starting to go crazy ... Kate saved Nellie when Jane had another bout of cleanliness mania. Jane had almost pushed Nellie into the washing machine and was about to close the lid and press the button.
— I vaguely remember. There was something else. Something to do with a knife!
- You're right. It was. The child's hands did not fit in the washing machine. Jane pushed them in, and when she didn't succeed, she decided to cut them off.
- Whom? Arms?!
- Yes.
Why am I only getting the details now?
- Natalie, believe me, it’s hard for me to talk about it now. Even though it's been six months. Well, here we are. I won't kiss Nelly anymore, or she'll wake up! And... I went. Kat will be in the hospital all night tonight and will brief me over the phone. But what are the instructions...
- Bye then. And don't worry about Nellie.
SUGGESTED CIRCUMSTANCES
VIEW OF THE OBSERVER FROM THE SIDE, COLD BUT INTERESTED
EVENING OF THE SAME DAY
For an hour now, Dan has been rushing around the school, unable to find a place for himself, not understanding what is bothering him. Some smell...
But what can be the smell of a non-residential premises? Yes, even in disrepair! The equipment is in different classrooms. The dining room is in the basement.
Finally exhausted, the man runs into the watchman's room, falls on the couch, but immediately jumps up, unable to control the anxiety that has seized him.
When he rises clumsily, the edge of the ottoman rises and the ottoman falls. It turns out that this shaky structure rested on four pillars of bricks. Dan is on the floor.
The leg reminds of itself and responds with acute pain. Dan sits on the floor for several minutes, trying to catch his breath. His eyes are closed, sweat is running down his temple, and his mouth is limply parted.
Suddenly, a sound comes from Dan's parted mouth. This is the sound of a violin. The sound is clear and crisp, as if someone is hiding inside Dan and making music there. This means that the source of radio waves is very close.
Dan's head turns to exit the room. There are classrooms, and there are computers in them. Computers that someone turned on.
The pain that covers Dan's head is unbearable. Dan grabs a pillow and tries to cover himself with it from the pain, realizing that it is useless. Dan's nose and ears begin to bleed.



Dan rolls on the floor, trying to somehow stop the torture. Finally, the sounds of the violin break off abruptly, replaced by the voice of the announcer. The broadcast of the violin concerto has been interrupted.
In the city there was, - an invisible announcer broadcasts, - an emergency. Three patients escaped from a psychiatric hospital. Two women have already been found, the third is hiding somewhere. Her placement back in a psychiatric hospital is only a matter of a few hours, but for now ... Everyone who has seen or knows where the runaway woman is hiding is recommended to call the following phone number ...
The interrupted broadcast of the violin concerto resumes. Dan immediately jumps up forgetting about the pain, but the pain is not going to forget about Dan. She whispers: “Put the couch in place and lie down, lie down! There is nothing more important than pain! But Dan gets scared. Fear overpowers the pain.
The storm outside the windows is intensifying. The nose starts to bleed again. A light bulb, densely wrapped in dust and giving almost no light, suddenly begins to flicker.
In sync with the blinking, the sound of the violin fades in and out again. This all continues until Dan finds the strength to overcome the pain. A few more seconds and the victory is his.
Pursing his lips, he slowly walks towards the stick left here by no one knows who and for what purpose. Stick in hand, lips tightly compressed. No pain. Music, too, but the fear remained.
A lot of blood came out. But suddenly Dan feels better, although dried blood tightens the skin of his face.
Dan takes a few steps towards the door of the room to find water to wash up, but is stopped by the ringing of the phone.
As Dan hobbles to the phone, which is almost at the front door, the lights go out completely. The phone is also silent.
Dan stops in place, confused, not knowing what to do next. The light never comes on, butbut the phone gives its voice again.
Dan, cheerfully stretches his hand in the direction of the sound, but then his hand hangs in the air.
Fear binds the fingers, the elbow tenses, so do not straighten it.
Dan senses that it's not Kat on the other end, it's someone else. Someone who wants to report something terrible.
Perhaps even about Nellie. Dan's mouth drops open in fear. A little bit. But even this is enough for him to turn into a conductor of sound again.
The voice of the cartoon characters rushing from his mouth quickly brings Dan to consciousness.
One hand firmly holds on to the stick, the other he resolutely picks up the phone. Taking off the phone, he puts it with the membrane up on the table, and energetically, ignoring the pain in his leg, bounces a few meters.



As soon as he moves away, a woman's voice begins to sound in his head. Dan breathes a sigh of relief.
- Yes, I'm listening.
Dan, is that you? I didn't recognize your voice! This is Kat. I want to ask you, how did you open the front door?
— Usually. As always, barely opened.
- Yes? And I opened it easily. And it seemed strange to me. I even walked around the whole school. Just in case.
- And what, all the equipment was in place?
Equipment, yes. But the door to the basement turned out to be closed, although I never lock it with a key. And computers...
- What about computers?
- They turned out to be turned on, they screamed so much! My hands were shaking as I opened one door after another! They have been included! Guess they turned on! Although I, knowing that the wiring around is old, and the whole school is the same, I always turn off literally all the equipment before leaving. And not only with a button, but also from a socket.
Didn't you turn on the computers?
“Kat… You know… I…”
— Oh, I'm sorry! Don't worry, I haven't forgotten. I just thought, well, you never know. Well, a person wanted to go online!
- No, Kate! Of course, our childhood is long behind us, but nothing has changed in this respect. If I go even one and a half meters to the TV or computer, my brains will simply explode, the same goes for the radio, and any other source of radio waves. Of course, I can watch TV, moving very far away, but still I’m unlikely to understand what it’s about because of a terrible headache.
- I'm sorry, Dan. I wanted to talk about something else, but we again shifted to this topic. Ouch! Now they said on TV that three districts of the city were de-energized because of the storm! How are you?
My lights are out too. Right before your call.
Dan, don't panic! I will help you now. As soon as we stop talking, go to the staff room. She's nearby. In two steps. How do you navigate in the dark at all?
- Fine. Yes, it's not so dark anymore. The eyes are used to the darkness.
- Excellent. Do you remember where the teacher's room is?
“I can even see her door now!”
- That is great. When you enter, go left. There's a rest room. There will be a wardrobe right in front of you. Pull out the third drawer from the top. There is a lantern there. He's loaded. True, I don’t know how long this charge will last, but they will return to the watchman’s closet, reach the trestle bed, lie down and take cover, you will definitely have time. Wait! Oh, the lights are out here too! You're in a better position now than I am. You know where the lantern is, but I don't! True, this is still a hospital, and not some godforsaken school! I think we should turn on the emergency power, and...

— Kat, I forgot to ask you about the main thing! What a smell is in the premises of the school, such a strange smell, but familiar! I, as soon as I came in ... Kate, Kate, hello! Can you hear me? Kat!
From the membrane of the phone came only noises and crackles. Covering his ears and overcoming his headache, Dan tried to turn the tube over with a stick and put it back in its place.
But he didn't succeed. He made several more attempts, but all to no avail. With a wave of his hand at the tube emitting unpleasant sounds, Dan went towards the closet.
But as soon as his hand touched the closet door, a light flashed in the room. Shutting his eyes shut and dropping his stick in surprise, Dan covered his face with his hands.
And immediately pulled them back. Hands smelled. They smelled of this strange and unbearably familiar smell.
And then Dan remembered. It was the scent of his wife's perfume. The smell of your favorite perfume. The unfaithful wife was true to herself in only one thing. In spirits. She used only these spirits. The perfume was called "Maybe".
Standing with his eyes closed, Dan thought frantically. If your hands smell of perfume, then someone was at school and took on the same subjects that Dan also took on a little later.
And that someone… Dan pushed the unpleasant and creepy thought out of his mind. You never know who uses the spirits of "Maybe." Maybe even Kate...
It is a pity that he did not have time to get an answer to his question. Dan slowly removed his hands from his face and looked around. Everything was the same as before the lights went out.
Only ... Only the tube was in its place. She no longer lay helpless, membrane up, but proudly rested on her bed. Shocked, Dan did not notice how he reached the trestle bed. Putting the trestle bed in order, taking out and making the bed, he did not stop painfully thinking and remembering.
SUGGESTED CIRCUMSTANCES
INTERIOR - EMPTY ROOM OF THE SCHOOL
NIGHT
MEMORIES
Memories bThey were dreary and fear was creeping from them. They smacked of humiliation and hopelessness, but there was no getting away from them. The memories were bitter, but painfully sweet. Jane was special. When she entered the room, the air seemed to tremble around her.
Her sexuality... Oh, that's a different story that Dan could remember endlessly, if not... In Dan's memory, the last year turned not into life, but into a sexual nightmare.
From her kisses, the skin burned and turned black, from her nails, digging in in a fit of passion, wounds appeared, wounds that then festered and did not heal for a long time.



Her obscenities were fascinating and quickly extinguished the sprouts of what had always been most valuable to Dan. Extinguished forever. Jane looked like Thumbelina. Small stature, perfect figure. Great sense of humor. True, humor was most often black.
In general, the ideal of any man. Only the voice... If Jane got irritated, or, worse, started screaming, this voice was completely unbearable. I wanted to immediately agree on everything, and throw out the white flag.
What Dan has always done. Before meeting Jane, everyone thought that Dan would remain an eternal bachelor.
It was Jane, when they were studying at the conservatory, who boldly approached Dan at recess and offered to meet. It was Jane who became Dan's first woman, and this first experience was so sweet that it tied him to her for life. It was Jane, unable to stand it, herself invited Dan to go to the registry office. This is Jane...
However, we must give her credit, she rarely got irritated and screamed. She was never a good wife and a good mother, but one could live with her.
Until the moment when she met a guru, and abilities were not opened in her. Or maybe it was the other way around, until her abilities suddenly opened up in her, and she found her purpose in life. However, to be honest, these abilities opened up in her after she gave birth to Nelly.
Six months after the birth of the child, she was not herself, she was even treated by a psychiatrist. How the psychiatrist treated her, Dan did not know, but once, when Jane missed three sessions in a row, and Dan asked what happened, the answer was a tape recorder turned on with his eyes.
The look was furious, just as furious and unbearably loud was the music that suddenly escaped from the tape recorder.
If at that moment Dan had been even a meter closer to the tape recorder, he would have died on the spot, and this story would not have happened. But, fortunately, he escaped with only a fainting spell and an endless headache that tormented him then for a month.
Jane touchingly looked after him, and seemed to have completely forgotten what caused her husband's illness. There was no more talk in this family about a visit to a psychiatrist.
But the disease progressed. Unreasonable outbursts of jealousy gave way to long weeks of apathy. The main object of jealousy was Kat, a childhood friend. When Kat stopped coming, the fire moved to the neighbor on the floor. And so on. It got to the point that Jane was jealous of Dan, even for his mother and sister.
Dan was desperate. Once, after a particularly stormy scene, he approached his wife and, taking her by the hand, tried, once again, to explain himself, but immediately felt some unknown force pushing him to the floor.
Rubbing his back, the man tried to rise from the floor, but that was only the beginning. Shelves began to fall off the walls and, along with all the contents, fell on him. Everything that stood, hung, lay, began to fall on Dan, trying to bury the owner of the house under his weight.



Nellie hobbled up to the noise, by that time she had just learned to walk. Seeing what mommy did to daddy she said
- Dad is bad, dirty!
Cleanliness in this family was elevated to the rank of a shrine. For all her faults, Jane was fanatically devoted to the goddess of purity. If any, then the thing was not in place, the woman began to have a headache. Further, more: any disorder, any speck, caused the woman to become hysterical.
It is not surprising that a child who was told that the worst offense is a toy not put in its place, and a stain on the carpet is a crime for which they are sent to a juvenile prison, seeing dad under a layer of things and fragments, made only one conclusion. The conclusion is that dad is bad.
As soon as Jane heard her daughter's voice, she seemed to come to her senses. But, as subsequent events showed, it is not yet complete.
Our daughter has arrived! Nelly, where is your folder?
- Lies. Bad!
Should dad be punished?
- Necessary!
- And how do we punish dad?
- We spank.
“Dan, do you hear, it wasn’t my decision, but your daughter’s!”
Due to the mountain of things that lay on him, Dan could not breathe, but still, he tried to get up and call for justice. Remind Jane that she caused the debacle.
But the wife, who suddenly came in a good mood, seemed not even to hear what her husband said to her.
Everything must be fair. We punish Nelly if she draws on the wallpaper or pees on the carpet, then why should I be lenient towards you? Now I have to spend the whole day to clean up what you have done. Well, you choose your own punishment or...
Jane, but it's you...
What followed Dan's last words is indescribable.
Jetsair, whistling like a whip, began to beat Dan. The pain was such that Dan could only last two minutes. The last thing he heard was Jane's loud and triumphant laughter and Nellie's weeping.
When Dan came to, all the furniture was in place. Pale Jane fussed over him, saying
- Well, what are you doing? When will you stop falling out of the blue? If things continue like this, you will need to see a doctor! And Nelly scared!



The seizures began to recur regularly until Dan figured out that the occurrence of seizures depended on a certain phase of the moon. It was already something.
From that moment on, Dan learned to sneak out of the house under various pretexts until the crisis passed. However, when Nelly was three years old, outbursts of rage stopped completely.
To acquire a different character in six months. When Dan left home, he left Nellie with her mother without any bad thoughts. He was sure of Nelly's safety.
But when the baby was three and a half years old, the father began to notice something was wrong. The child began to cry at night. Bruising began to appear on the body of the baby. Looking closely, Dan realized that Nellie was now the object of Jane's annoyance.
The girl did not fit into the coherent system of "Ideal Apartment 2022", which Jane apparently painted in her imagination.
The case ended with the already well-known story with the washing machine.
After returning from the mental hospital, the case took a different turn. At the hospital, Jane met a woman who had been a convert for several years. She was converted in the Spiritual Light sect.
After Jane visited this spiritual retreat several times, she almost stopped noticing Dan and Nellie. But on the other hand, the guru, the spiritual father of the sect, who ...
SUGGESTED CIRCUMSTANCES
PERFUME JANE
END OF MEMORY
Hearing some strange sound, Dan emerged from the pool of memories, and opened his eyes. The door to the attic was open, and the steps creaked, though no one had climbed them.
Forgetting everything in the world, he rushed in fear to the exit of the school. But, as soon as he turned the key, a terrible pain immediately pierced his hand. In disbelief, Dan stared at his burned palm in shock. The palm was covered with bubbles. And as if in mockery of him, the key itself turned in the lock, and the front door opened hospitably.
Probably, the mysterious mocker or mocker thought that Dan would rush headlong out of the school premises, but he was on the alert. Cautiously, trying not to touch anything, he approached the door.
For several minutes he stood motionless. Everything was quiet. The silence was unnatural. Gathering air into his lungs, the man sharply, with both hands, pressed the handle of the front door. The door opened slightly.
And then, under the pressure of the wind, it slammed shut again. After a few more futile attempts, he gave up. The storm warning has entered a decisive phase.



Dan was locked up. Slowly, trying not to show his fear, he returned to the watchman's room and sat down on the trestle bed. The wind howled, the light flickered. For a moment it seemed to Dan that he was alone in the whole world, and would never see people again.
When the wait seemed completely unbearable, Dan went to the foot of the stairs. While he was thinking, the attic door slammed shut with a crash, but with the same crash the door leading to the basement suddenly opened.
Now Dan finally understood who owns the perfume that smelled of his palms. Understood and scared. I got scared once again tonight.
Haunted looking around, he decided to accept everything as it is. That is, to stand still and do nothing. One minute passed, two, three, but nothing happened!
Then Dan slowly moved in the direction of the basement. The basement door was still open. While Dan is thinking about whether or not to go down to the basement, I want to make a little digression into the history of the building.
The building was in disrepair and therefore went to Kat for next to nothing. The rent was worth nothing. If Kat had any documents confirming her right to the house, then in this case she would have taken possession legally and probably absolutely free of charge. But there were no documents. They were lost in the flames of revolutions and wars. In the fever of paperwork and subsequent repairs, Kat did not have time to fully explore all the premises of the family home.
In any case, the basement where our hero is now heading has been explored very little. The main basement room was planned as a dining room for children.
But the three corridors leading in different directions were not fully examined. In fact, they weren't examined at all. The way to them was blocked by mountains of old furniture.
In the basement, in the cooks' room, there was an old and huge TV set that Kate had left from the old days. Still serviceable, but outdated model. The TV did not have a back panel, but it was switched manually. When Dan, determinedly climbing the basement stairs, wanted to pass the dining room and go out to the branching of three corridors, from the depths of the dining room came the voice of his wife, his Jane.
True, there was something wrong with the voice. It sounded unnatural, distorted. But Dan didn't get it right away. Jane called him. And Dan, without hesitation, turned back.
The lights in the dining room were out, and only something flickered in the cooks' room. Dan walked faster. He was saved by a small highchair.
These are in the rooms for first graders. The chair was overturned. At full speed, Dan tripped over a chair and fell.
In the next minute, blood gushed from Dan's ears, nose, and also from Dan's eyes. The sound coming from the TV pierced through and through. Through the bloody veil, Dan saw that the old TV was working. Works when not connected to the network. The wire with the plug lay on the floor.
The sound coming from the TV was turned on at full power. And on the screen was Jane. The TV was broadcasting Jane's descent into the basement. She came down the stairs, laughing and singing. She sang and called Dan. Her voice rose higher and higher. And on the highest note, Dan passed out.