Old lonely man

by Lidiia Georgieva (Russia)

I didn't expect to find Russia

The building was covered in green cloth. Is this legal? Of course! There is no law that prohibits climbing into abandoned buildings, - Alex assured me. I believed him, but still my heart sank: what if the police caught it? Petersburg is a city where every street breathes history. Alex live there since birth and knew all old mansions. Once during a walk I mentioned that I liked the city but ... pathos museums and palaces with tapestries and gold are no longer impressive. They look similar and artificial. My friend was thoughtful. I will show you something We ducked under the fabric covering the house and went into the arch. The gates were open, as if the ghosts living here were luring us inside. Here in the historical city center, a stone's throw from the most popular tourist sites, we found a completely different world, a different dimension ... The well-yard was quiet. Broken glass, pieces of statues, fragments of wood and graffiti. We go inside ... Something calm and ominous reigned in the air. Moonlight fell on a dark hall with arches and columns, tile and medicine smell … It was a children's hospital. But an unusual hospital. Very ancient ... I admired the high arched windows and exquisite balconies overlooking the center... Once upon a time in the 18th century, even before the revolution, aristocrats lived here. Once upon a time ladies in lush dresses went here, arranged balls, ate deliciously... Mansion...Hospital ... What is more important? The communists who came to power after the aristocracy were different. They opened here not a restaurant... a hospital - they used the building to treat children. Any children: regardless of what class the child is from, and how much money parents have. What an interesting concept: everything should serve people. And everyone deserves to live ... The light of the flashlights fell on the walls, the smell of fresh paint hit his nose. What a drawings! There are political cartoons and philosophical drawings. This one is a spider with a human head in a police shirt, catches someone with its paws ...Young people like this abandoned hospital. Here, they feel free. Some of them drink beer and beat glass. Others draw. “Dear patients, smoking is prohibited in the hospital. For smoking in the hospital you will be expelled from the hospital, ”read the sign on the door. The sheet is amazingly white, as if it came out of the printer yesterday. We climbed the stairs adorned with Atlantes. It should have been nice to be treated in such a hospital. Ghosts of children ran before my eyes, who, after the procedures, laughed and played games. Children do not care if this is a mansion or a hospital. They remain children everywhere. “Happy New Year”, - in one of the halls lay a poster drawn with felt-tip pens. And the calendar for 2014. Only 6 years ago the hospital worked! On the top floor is the smell of alcohol and reagents and scattered bottles. Further - broken glass, darkness, scattered furniture and documents - I already saw this picture. Many times. In films about the end of the world, global cooling and zombie apocalypse. As if people left this place suddenly, at one moment they got scared and ran away. The further we went, the sadder it became on the soul. Is he really NEED ANYONE? Leaving the mansion, I looked into a small dark office. Only one surgical table and silence. Alex read the inscription on the door: It says "Do not endure the body." It’s morgue. We mentally thank the house. He is better than museums. The green fabric on the building hide a house as a invisibility cloak. Bandages! That's what the fabric reminds me of ... This building was a sick, bandaged old man. But the main thing: the old man was lonely. He healed others, but was abandoned to die without treatment.