Concrete Jungle

Chapter 19

"Wha-what are you both doing here?"
Sasha stammered out when the shock wore off some and she shakily got up from her crouch. Ben and Rahel walked closer not speaking just because the place had such an effect on them as well. After a while, it was Ben who spoke up.
"I know this place is special to you, Sasha and we didn't want to intrude, honestly but I feel like after that dinner when you told us your plan, we were both bewitched. Neither of us could sleep that night." Rahel nodded and added:
"We texted each other almost simultaneously, it was very strange. I had never felt a pull like that to any location before. I know that you think Vasya is or was guiding you here but I feel he wanted all of us here."
"Plan-wise, we have been exactly a day or half a day behind you. We always wanted an opportunity to exit if at some point this strange feeling of being led here would disappear, but it hasn't. Not for a single moment. We were even taken to the same flower shop as you, though we didn't know it at the time. Our driver was also our translator and when we walked into the flower shop, the shop keeper mentioned that another foreigner was just in and we couldn't believe it. Out of all of the floral shops in this city, what were the chances of going to the same one?"

          Sasha was stunned, hearing their story about a literal follow up to her trip. The train and hotel being the same was understandable as they came from the same company but the floral shop? And even the cab company being the same? Those were very large coincidences that just didn't spring up unless they were meant to. But how did they find the address? Well that wasn't hard at all. They asked the cab driver to take them to the neighborhood where there used to be a hospital but it was razed in 1986 because of radiation. Only one community had that. They were after all a scientist and a photographer, so research wasn't hard.

       As they spoke of their almost otherworldly journey, they both got quiet as they laid their flowers beside Sasha's. She was quiet for a long while as they waited for her to make them leave and keep this sacred spot for herself. Looking out into the distance, she knew she couldn't do that, so she proceeded to describe what the hospital looked like when it was standing and about where Vasya's room was through the process of elimination and memory. Both Ben and Rahel were very grateful she didn't chase them off.

"Tomorrow is actually the 29th anniversary of his death. Would you both want to come back here with me, one last time?"
"We would be honored, Sasha, thank you." Ben replied and Rahel nodded. The wind blew out of nowhere just then and the three of them smiled. Everyone was exactly where they were supposed to be.

     As Ben and Rahel had asked for their cab driver to hang around, all three were able to get a ride back to the hotel. Sasha being emotionally drained from the afternoon decided to forgo dinner in favor of room service and they all decided to be ready to go by 11am the following morning. Ben and Rahel also decided that they would catch an early night's rest and the trio parted ways. As they nearly simultaneously ordered room service and after reviewing their respective notes, fell asleep without issue around 10pm.

    The next morning, just as they had agreed upon, the trio met in the lobby at 11am and after hailing a cab, they returned to the neighborhood for the 29th anniversary of Vasya's death. Sasha had worn all black out of respect and was pretty much silent in the cab that bore them. Once they had arrived they didn't waste anytime as the flowers were still there from the day before. Rahel asked Sasha's permission to take several photos of the place and Sasha agreed. As Rahel, was walking around snapping away, Sasha stood on the lead plate and stared off into the distance. Just then, Rahel aimed her camera at Sasha and took the shot that would become synonymous with Vasya's story. When she showed the photo to the other two, they were stunned into silence. The sheer power of that shot was unmistakable; 29 years before Sasha had learned of Vasya's rather gruesome death and 29 years later she had returned with reinforcements to commemorate it all. They had done it; accomplished an unimaginable feat. All of it was very raw but very real.

Now all Sasha had to do, was write it.