"Ah... What a relief..." said Dmitry, who had just come from the train's toilet. Vadim, who was waiting for him in front of the toilet, was now straightening his gymnastyorka.
"Come on, Dima, let's go back!" Vadim urged.
They were now looking for the wagon compartment where they had been sitting. When Dmitry opened the door, there were Alexei and Vasily, dressed in their gymnastyorka too. They were now busy chatting, then turned to Dmitry and Vadim with cheerful looks. The compartment window was tightly covered with curtains, and the room was lit only by an oil lamp.
"Dima! Vadik! You guys took so long!" called Alexei.
"How many liters did you two peed?" Vasily quipped.
"Oh, ten liters. Hahaha..." Dmitry replied. Suddenly, he remembered.
"Why are you guys here?" Dmitry asked Alexei and Vasily. Vadim, who was just about to enter, was also surprised.
"Why? We've been in the same compartment for a while!" Alexei exclaimed. Vasily nodded.
"But..." Before Vadim could ask, Alexei stood up and pulled Dmitry to sit next to him. Vasily also pulled Vadim along.
"Come on! We haven't had a lively conversation in a while, ever since rehearsals at the Alexandrov Ensemble have gotten longer!" Alexei said.
"Well..." Dmitry said, sitting next to Alexei. Vadim was now busy playing his domra, which he had taken from the overhead compartment.
"Vasya, are you okay?" Vadim asked when he saw Vasily staring worriedly at the compartment door.
"Of course I'm okay! Do I look like I'm sick?" Vasily replied, smiling mischievously again.
"Since when has Vasya been okay?" Dmitry quipped.
"Since a long time ago..." Before Vasily could finish his sentence, Alexei covered Vasily's mouth. They both laughed at Alexei's behavior, who still liked to cover Vasily's mouth.
Then Vadim and Dmitry looked at each other, half-confused. Was this really their friend? They could only shrug.
"I really want to meet Alexander Vasilyevich... It's been a long time since we've seen him, hasn't it?" Alexei opened the conversation by asking Dmitry.
"Lyosha, he's been dead since 1946. It's Boris who now led the ensemble" Dmitry replied. His suspicions grew.
"Ah..." Alexei started to say something, but suddenly Vasily chimed in.
"Hey, do you have any good song to sing right now?"
"Yesterday, Boris Alexandrov received lyrics and a score from a colleague. It's called "O Doroga." Quite a good song, I think!" Vadim said.
"About what? Another war?" Alexei asked.
"No! About the beauty of the Soviet Union's natural surroundings. I have the score here..." Vadim explained.
"I wanna see!" Vasily requested. Vadim immediately took the sheet music from his domra case, and Vasily and Alexei read it together. After two minutes of reading, they smiled mysteriously.
"Let's sing! I'll get my trumpet!" Alexei exclaimed, immediately standing up and taking it from his trunk. Dmitry and Vadim were surprised by Alexei's invitation.
"Huh? Can you play right away with just sight reading?" they both asked, but Alexei ignored their question.
"Let's try! Let's bet, if Lyosha and I can play without a single mistake, you and Dima have to buy us five bottles of vodka!" Vasily replied with his usual mischievous smile.
"If we can't, it's your treat!" Vadim said, followed by a nod from Dmitry.
Finally, they prepared to play "O Doroga." The sheet music was placed near the curtain. When Dmitry was about to open the window curtain to make the compartment brighter, Alexei suddenly grabbed Dmitry's hand.
"Don't open it." Alexei forbade. His face turned pale as a small amount of light filtered through the window.
"Why? I just found out you're allergic to the sun?"
"No... It's okay... But please, don't open it..." Dmitry was forced to lower his hand. Then Vadim plucked the strings of his domra.
And Vasily sang smoothly in his bass voice, matching Dmitry's tenor voice. This was quite surprising, of course. Vasily, who usually had a hard time memorising lyrics, now knew the pitches and tempo as well. Alexei did the same, as if he knew when to blow his trumpet.
Midway through the song, Alexei enthusiastically blew his trumpet. The shrill sound of the trumpet added to the atmosphere. Now Dmitry and Vadim felt like they were really with their two friends. Perhaps it was true, they were so busy that they forgot about their own friends...
And the song "O Doroga" ended with the final strum of Vadim's domra. Afterward, the four of them applauded their friend.
"You're amazing, Vasya! Alexei! You've only read for two minutes and you can do it!" praised Dmitry.
"As usual, because I'm a genius learner!" boasted Vasily.
"Ah, you... Still boasting!" mocked Vadim.
"Let it be! Now treat us!" said Vasily.
"Enough, enough, Vasya... But it's true, Vadik! Dima! This is the most beautiful song I've ever played on my trumpet!" said Alexei, laughing with Vasily. This was the first time they'd ever laughed so heartily. Dmitry and Vadim felt like they were with their best friend.
Suddenly, the train stopped. A whistle sounded. Alexei and Vasily's faces paled at the sound.
"Weird. The train stopped..." asked Dmitry.
"But we can't possibly be in Moscow already. We've only been riding for an hour, right?" Vadim asked.
Alexei and Vasily looked at each other, then nodded. Then they each stood up and grabbed their backpacks, without another word. The backpacks were exactly like the ones they'd used when they left for war. After Alexei grabbed his trumpet, he and Vasily walked to the compartment door.
"Dima, Vadik... Thanks for accompanying us all this time! This is our last meeting!" Alexei said cheerfully, holding the compartment door. But his eyes looked like they were holding back tears.
"Where are you going?" Dmitry asked.
"It's time, Dima... I know it's so unfair... that you and Vadik haven't..." Vasily replied enviously.
"What do you mean?" Vadim asked, starting to worry about his friend.
"We will waiting for you. Don't worry, my other self has fully gone. So... There's no need to rush. We're patiently waiting for you both, because you'll definitely come. Do svidan'ya!" Alexei replied. Then the compartment door opened. A blinding white light emanated from behind the door. Alexei and Vasily stared at Dmitry and Vadim, who were starting to panic. Vasily's face, previously bright inside the compartment, was now pale white. Blood stains appeared on his chest and a slash wound appeared on his neck. Meanwhile, Alexei has one large bullet holes in his forehead.
"We're waiting for you! Someday we'll sing a fun song like that again! Do svidan'ya!" Vasily shouted, then walked out with Alexei. The compartment door immediately closed, and the train whistle sounded again.
"Vasya! Lyosha!" Vadim shrilled.
"Don't go!" Dmitry cried.
They both panicked and ran to the compartment door and forced it open. Just as Vadim was about to run out of their compartment, there was nothing but blue sky below, and Vadim immediately fell. Dmitry, unaware of the outside of the compartment, also fell. They both screamed.
"Dima! Dimochka, dear! Wake up!" Darya called, patting Dmitry's head.
"Eh? Ouch..." Dmitry whispered. When he opened his eyes, there were Darya and his twin children staring at him worriedly.
"Papa? Are you okay?" his son asked.
"W... what happened?" Dmitry asked. It turned out he was still in the wagon with his family and Vadim's family. He had fallen asleep near the window, which was now dark with night.
"You and Vadik have been sleep-talking the entire journey. At first, you were singing a song. The kids and I thought you were humming. But then, after all that, you suddenly started screaming..." Darya explained. Meanwhile, her daughter was now curled up beside Dmitry.
"It's okay, Papa's fine..." Dmitry smiled at his daughter, then gestured for his son to accompany her. After his daughter approached the twin, Dmitry sighed again.
"It was a dream..." Dmitry murmured.
"If I may ask, what was the dream?" Darya asked, lowering her voice.
"Later, the kids are here..." Dmitry whispered, gently stroking Darya's head.
"Okay..."
"Dasha, did you wake Dima up?" Tatiana asked, approaching them worriedly. Meanwhile nearby Tatiana, Vadim's face looked like he'd just woken up, and there was a trace of panic on his face.
"Yup..." Darya replied. Then Vadim approached Tatiana and whispered something. Tatiana nodded, then sat down in the compartment seat with Vadim's two sons, stretching out.
"Dimochka, the kids and I will take turns to sleeping. Please wake us when we arrived at Stalingrad," said Darya. Tatiana was already half asleep with her children, and Vadim was now covering them three with his blanket.
"Go to sleep, Dashenka. I promise I'll wake you and the kids," said Dmitry. Then Darya and their twin children stretched out on the compartment seats and began to doze off.
Dmitry and Vadim exited their compartment and leaned against the door of the compartment they had been in with their family. Then they checked to make sure no one was listening. Once they felt safe, they started talking.
"Did you meet Lyosha and Vasya earlier?" Vadim asked.
"Yeah, they asked you to sing too, right?" Dmitry replied.
"How come it's the same? Could there be a sign?"
"I don't know... It's unusual for us to see each other, then Lyosha and Vasya, and sing at the same time?"
"It's still a mystery... But maybe they have a message for us..."
"That they miss us...?" Dmitry continued.
"Could they know we miss them too?" Vadim asked.
"Perhaps. That's why they plan to meet us in our dreams..."
"I miss them..."
"Me too... When will we meet again?"
Both Vadim and Dmitry were speechless. They were both now moved by the strange dream, and they hugged each other tightly in the train corridor.
[1952]