– Well, you give, Maria! She’s going to town, did you hear, girls? – Nicole laughed.
– And what do you care? – Maria was angry. – I’m going to go to the institute, I don’t want to work in the village all my life.
The girls laughed at her together, shouted insulting words, called her a “scholar” and said that she would not be able to enter anywhere.
Maria brushed them off and went home, hurt by the fact that no one believed in her. Even her mother, who was occasionally in adequate condition, laughed at her.
The village where the girl was born and lived was small. Recently, they began to sow less grain and people began to leave for the city.
Maria was from a large and dysfunctional family. Her mother worked as a milkmaid, with breaks for maternity leave. She gave birth to seven children and most of them were from her husband. The whole village was aware that she was running around with men, and when the information about the next trip to the left reached her husband, there was a scandal in the house.
They were so busy with themselves that they completely forgot about the children. The mother sometimes even forgot to feed them.
Once there was a terrible quarrel between her parents, Maria did not know why, but that day her father packed his things and disappeared from their lives. After that, staying at home became unbearable. Her mother brought men home, and Maria and her two older sisters took over all her responsibilities.
The children only bothered the mother, so looking at them, she often said:
– “I wish someone would take you away. No personal life – men run away, and all because of children. Who wants to drag them?
***
Maria tried to study as hard as she could to leave the village and never return. To do this, she had to enter the institute on the budget and get a place in the dormitory.
No one believed in her, except her sisters who had already left this swamp. And the mother did not even want to hear anything about her daughter’s plans.
– What are you talking about!? What institute, for God’s sake? – the mother was angry. – You will go to work with us or to the granary. You’ve been wasting time for two years already, you should have taken your certificate after the ninth grade! Your older sisters also decided to study – they left your mother to fend for themselves.
– I don’t want to work in the village, period!” said Maria and plunged into reading.
The girl did not listen to her mother’s lamentations anymore, she had to prepare for the exam. And she was very proud of her older sisters. One sister entered a culinary school two years ago, and the other, last year, went to a nearby town and studied to become an accountant.
Maria decided to go further – with a gold medal she could easily try to enter the university. And not in the neighboring town, but to go to the regional center, where she had never been, but where she so desperately wanted to go.
***
The big city fascinated me from the first moment. Evening lights, beautiful buildings and endless possibilities. Maria collected all the money she had saved and rented a room with two girls. Of course, there was not much space for three, but she did not have enough money for more.
She desperately crammed the material and even chose the right specialty, the one that seemed most interesting to her, but everything went wrong. With a gold medal and a good number of points, she did not pass the competition, which her roommates were not even surprised.
– I told you that money decides everything at this faculty! And you didn’t listen, – Anna said.
– Don’t cry! You still have a chance to get a foothold here, – Iris reassured her. – There is a state-funded department in the College of Civil Engineering, where I applied. They will take you, with a gold medal, as their own and give you a place in the dormitory.
Maria thanked her neighbor and decided to try. There was no turning back.
Having successfully passed the interview, Maria was enrolled. Of course, the specialty was not clear to her and absolutely not interesting, but the girl was still happy.
“I will finish college, and then I will go back to the university with the documents” – she thought.
Having settled in the dormitory, the girl began to study. Three years flew by unnoticed and now it was time to decide what to do next. The girl was already making plans, but something happened that she did not expect – her younger brother called.
– Maria, my mother is missing! She has been gone for two days, – he said in a trembling voice – I could not get through to my older sisters.
The girl’s heart trembled and she realized that something bad had happened to her mother.
– I will go to the bus station right away and I will be there by the first bus! Don’t worry! Wait for me!
Having collected her things, the girl rushed to the bus and this road, to the house where she had not been for so long, seemed to her endless.
***
Her brother jumped out of the house to meet her sister, he had recently turned fourteen and looked mature. And three younger sisters ran after him. They all surrounded Maria and were terribly frightened by the unknown.
After calming the children, Maria found out that her mother left the house the day before yesterday, after six in the evening, and went to another man. They waited for her all night, but the front door did not open – the mother did not return. Nobody knew who exactly the mother went to. The son thought that she fell asleep at the gentleman’s house and would return in the morning, but it did not happen.
In the evening, after Maria, Naomi came home, and the eldest sister Gwen, was pregnant, so she was not disturbed. The girls went around the village, but no one met their mother. They turned to the local police officer and did not believe that the mother would be found.
A week or two passed, but there was no news. We had to decide something.
– I will take custody of the children and stay here, – said Maria, – And you, Naomi, go home.
– What? You think I’m going to leave my sisters and brother on you?” Naomi exclaimed.
Maria hugged her sister tightly.
– Darling, I love you very much! – said Maria softly. And also, I know that a young man and a good job are waiting for you at home – do not miss your chance. No one is waiting for me: I have not entered the institute yet, I have already graduated from college. I will stay with the children and find a job here.
– I won’t leave you. But if you’ve decided so, I’ll help you with money!
– Okay, Naomi! We’ll get through this. Maybe my mother will come back… – my sister sighed.
But, the mother never returned … There were rumors that another suitor, to whom she went to another village, was involved in her disappearance. And perhaps she is no longer in this world.
Gwen gave birth to twins and was happily married. Naomi went to the city, found a job and got married. She regularly sent money to her sister, and also came with her husband and helped to settle down. Maria got a job as a teacher in a local school, she was incredibly lucky that the former teacher retired. She got great pleasure from working with children, and in the evenings she worked as a tutor for the locals. Most often for free.
Maria successfully took custody of the children, there were no problems with this, because the father abandoned his parental responsibilities. And three years later, she got married to a very good man, whom she met in the city while visiting Gwen.
They were in no hurry to go to the metropolis. The man built a wonderful two-storey house for his wife and adopted children. And when her brother and sisters grew up and went to study, Maria stayed in the village to teach children math and raise her daughters. She has never been so happy!
Her brother and sisters were infinitely grateful to her for not abandoning them to fate, for not letting them be taken to an orphanage, for loving and cherishing them so much.
– “I am the happiest mother and sister!” Maria exclaimed, “and I don’t need the lights of the big city, because I have you and my beloved students.” She hugged her husband and her daughters tightly.
It turns out that happiness is somewhere nearby, you just have to look around …
