TRAVEL TO SHOSHKA

I just came out of a dream but my dirty jeans and shoes were too persuasive in proving it was for real.

It was almost 10 pm when my friend, let’s call him Ivan, came and picked me up for a trip. We had no idea where to drive, so we just chose the first turn to the suburb of Syktyvkar, the Ust-Kulom direction. During the 40 minutes road we didn’t pass by any cars, the road turns, houses or people – so, for night time it felt pretty scary. From time to time reminding ocean waves, the road became very foggy so we couldn’t see anything.

Suddenly we saw the sign “Shoshka”. Of course, we both heard of it, and as anywhere else there was not much to do or to see, especially at night. But we went there anyway.

Shoshka greeted us with poor light, the smell of a real village, intense silence and absence of any people.  Once I noticed an old church which seemed to be under construction, I said: “Pull over!” So, we stopped there, but have found no door we headed to another building which stood out of a village picture, as it was a brand new school. And the light was on in each and every room which was weird, considering that it was already close to midnight. The door was open and I came in to ask locals about cafes or nightclubs. First one girl appeared, but then three other people came out, and I was afraid that I had no idea what these pals had on their minds. Typical villagers, dressed up in waterproof shoes and dark coats, looked me over curiously and smirking at my "city girl" outfit, over-politeness and especially the fact that I appeared to be there, told me that there was nothing to do.     

So, without further discussion, Ivan and I went back to the car. But I was too risky not to try out this old church. In the darkness of night I finally found the door on the second floor, but as the whole building was surrounded with constructing frame it was not very difficult to climb up. Dangerous – definitely, difficult – I don’t think so. I climbed up to the door and tried it. First, it seemed to be closed but then I pulled it again and opened it. I saw a little box and stairs but I couldn’t see where it goes. Everything was dark in there and I felt that somebody could come from the other side…