the magic realism story

Winter. Late in the evening, Pasha is waiting for a bus, hiding his McDonald’s cap in his briefcase. There is no one around. The bus arrives, and the guy immediately jumps in and asks the driver to wake him up “at the end of the line.”

The driver fulfills the request, and a sleepy Pasha gets off at “his” stop. He sees an unfamiliar landscape, no bus, no signal on his phone. Eventually, he enters the only place that is still open. The coffee shop is empty. Pasha, looking at his phone, makes an order, and almost faints when the barista turns out to be a certain Chugayster Misha.

Misha informs the young man that on Christmas Eve, he can get to the world of spirits by a special route. You can return by the same bus that will appear on Christmas morning with the first ray of sunlight. If you miss it, you’ll be stuck for the whole year.

Pasha does not believe in this children’s fairy tale to the last, but he has few options – it’s a stupid night outside. So the boy stays in the coffee shop, where he meets strange customers who make him believe in the bartender’s legend.

In the middle of the night, the witch Solomiya visits the place. The guy recalls his first love, a young woman who looked like Solomiya and died in an accident… Pasha learns the girl’s story from the bartender and realizes that she is indeed his beloved.

He will not lose her again. He will not return home. Not when she asks him to stay.

At dawn, the two lovers decide to take a walk. The guy looks at Solomiya. Is she genuine? The girl smiles back, takes off her dukach and puts it in Pashyn’s palm just as they reach the bus stop.

They hear a bus behind them.

Pasha looks at his beloved again and cannot believe his eyes.

The bus passes by, and the young man jumps into the half-closed door at the last moment. Outside the window, he sees Solomiia smiling and a sign that reads, “The Bus stop on Miracle`s Street” Pasha looks until the last moment. Suddenly, his phone starts vibrating, and he receives a message from the provider: “Welcome to the network!”

Pasha exhales loudly, leans his head against the window and closes his eyes…