The city that was not

The events of the fantastic story unfold in the small Ukrainian town of Glukhovichi. At first glance, this is a typical old town (founded in 1154 and mentioned in the Ipatiev Chronicle , which is a special pride of the locals), but “once in a hundred years a wonderful Boy is born here. With his appearance, miracles bloom in lush color. Boy this one is endowed with subtle nature, a pure soul and an extremely strong imagination. And everything that gives rise to his imagination becomes reality. "

It was the boy that was Taisia ​​Ivanovna’s nephew, a medical assistant at the local ambulance station. From the very moment of his birth, the city is filled with wonders. In the same year, when he was born, an alien from the constellation of the Hounds of Dogs flew to Glukhovichi, who remained to live in the house of the deceased grandmother Todoski.

In the same year, Fenya Morgana appeared in the most ordinary family. “She showed herself an extraordinary child from the day she was born”: she had a pair of dragonfly-like golden wings behind her back. At three months, the girl spoke, and after a few more months, her ability to telepathy and telekinesis showed up, which immeasurably surprised others.

Time passed, the boy grew, and miracles filled the town. The residents of Glukhovichi were no longer surprised that the bus takes off only because the driver and passengers have a good mood or that a fairy learns in a regular school number 2. The only one who was annoyed by miracles was Valerian Semenovich, a physics teacher who could not bear magic, especially Fenya, but under pressure from the school’s director Maxim Rodionovich Lin (who was himself a sorcerer), he was forced to put up with it.

Meanwhile, an unusual company meets in the evenings at the Alien House on Second Orehovka (the street where most of the fishermen lived): Newcomer, Boy Filling the City with Miracles, Fenya Morgana, a real fairy, Master Golden Hands trying to create a perpetual motion machine, Gardener highly appreciating life all living beings, even pests, a Hunter telling various tales about his exploits. This whole company acts on the nerves of an Alien neighbor, an abandoned grandmother Fedosia, who does not believe the Alien, who claims that there is no God.

But there is another person who does not give rest to an alien with his company. This is a well-wisher, an employee of an insurance agency and the author of many anonymous letters, denunciations of his neighbors. He writes a slanderous anonymous letter to the Alien with the company, accusing them of crimes that they did not commit.

The whole company is summoned to the police and they demand explanatory notes from them. All this is a mere formality: the police understand perfectly well that the Note of the Well-Wisher is slander. Everything would be fine, but at the last moment the Well-Wisher appeared in the station, trying to enchant everyone who was there. Angry, the Boy turns the Well-Wisher into a rat, but then, with pity, returns him to the human image. It was then that the Well-Wisher told the Boy that the magical abilities were given to him only until he reached the age of sixteen, and then they would disappear and the miracles would stop.

Being upset, the Boy hijacks the ship of the Alien and flies where his eyes are looking. Taisia ​​Ivanovna begs Fenya to return her nephew, and she agrees. The boy is coming home. But the next day he turned 16 years old, and his whole life ended: The newcomer flew home, the Gardener began to use poisons to get rid of pests ... The author leaves open the question of what happened to Fenya. The boy decides to leave Glukhovich, he is leaving to study in Kiev. After him, many young people are leaving the city, and soon there are almost no young people left in Glukhovichi.

“August 1, 19 .. Dust began to fall on the town”. No one could explain where this dust came from and how to get rid of it. Andrei Grigorievich, a local psychologist, says that if the dust layer is more than 10 centimeters, then the residents will have to leave the city. In Gluhovichi everyone starts walking with rulers. Citizens send a delegation to various scientific institutes (NIIZACHEM, NIIKAK, NII-BOOM-BOOM, NIIIVSKLAD, NIIVLAD), but only NIIVLAD achieved success, the director of which agreed to send the substance “anti-dustin” to the city, but for some reason the anti-dust did not succeed was tested, so this drug not only did not clear the city, but on the contrary - turned a layer of dust lying in the city into a thick crust of all colors of the rainbow.

Residents began to leave their city and, after some time, only three people remained in Glukhovichi: Nikodim Osipovich Ivanov, the head of the city, who soon died of a stroke, Dr. Sulfomidizinova, who, having ascertained the death of Nikodim Osipovich, left the town, and the cemetery caretaker Mihalka, who remains one on one with their memories. It turns out that Michalka is much older than everyone thought: he lived in the times when monkeys just started to turn into people. Left alone, Michalka goes mad and soon dies. And the dust continues to fall on the city and, after a certain period of time, the Glukhovichs are completely covered with dust. The city disappeared from the face of the Earth, the mention of it disappeared even from the Ipatiev Chronicle.

But the Boy still remembers his city. He grew up, got married, had a son. And although he has normal family relations, great success at work, he has an apartment in Kiev, he is still unhappy. One night, he walks to the window and sees that a ship of the Alien is flying in the sky, and everyone who was so dear to the Boy is sitting on board. The ship lands in the yard of the Boy's house. Wanting to meet his former friends more quickly, the Boy takes a step towards the ship, a step through the open window ...