After the death of his wife, Ivan found himself alone with his daughter. They lived in a village, in a solid house surrounded by a large plot of land.
This story took place when his daughter was 9 years old. He began to notice that his daughter was often away from home, wandering
in the surrounding area. She could stay gone for long periods of time, which worried him.
The problem was that they had no close neighbors, and there were no other children to play with. Their house was located on the outskirts of the village.
He started to ask questions, but she just said she was playing in the garden. Her answer didn’t reassure him, so he decided to check for himself. The next time she left the house, he decided to follow her
discreetly so she doesn’t notice. Keeping a certain distance, he followed her. Unexpectedly, she led him to an old house, located at the very edge of their land.
This house had previously belonged to his parents. It had stood empty for the past 20 years. When he approached the house, the door opened mysteriously. Ivan entered behind her.
She was sitting with an elderly woman at a table with modest refreshments. The woman was frightened at first and tried to escape, but Ivan stopped her.
There they all started talking. It turned out that the children had kicked Maria, the elderly woman, out of her own home, leaving her homeless. She had wandered onto their land and moved into the old house.
found him there and took pity on her, so she visited him often and brought him food. Ivan allowed the woman to continue living there and even began to help her himself.
