( N years later)
" Hello, is anybody here? "
"Halt! Who is speaking?"
"Only your wife, sir."
"Wilhelmina?…Is it – no, it cannot be… I must be dreaming again!"
"Ilosovic, do I have to pinch you, or to step onto your foot, to prove otherwise?"
"Sounds like her…You are here! Impossible…"
"Well, you'd better follow the example of the famous ex-student of mine. She used to imagine six impossible…."
"You.. are really back…with me…"
" A very keen observation! And a right one, too!"
"I'm sorry, it's just so hard to believe it…"
"Fortunately, I am by no means a fairy, so I won't drop dead even if you don't believe…But, Ilosovic…I did miss you so much!"
"And so did I… I started to lose all hope, you know… Tonight I had only a pinnacle of Hope left, and perhaps tomorrow I'd have none…but here you are!"
"I'm glad you didn't lose ALL hope, Ilosovic! Hope, like love, is something that must not end!"
"Wait! Do you hear a ticking? Tick-tock, tick-tock…"
" Well, in spite of my another ex-student's family dislike towards that sound, I suppose Time is going on again? Did it really stop while I was away?"
"It did – at least for me. I don't know about the others. While you were gone, I didn't live. I just existed in a Time-forsaken vacuum. Had nothing to do but to think about different things…Especially about those you were always telling me about…. I reckon I have finally understood right some of them…"
"So I am back – and so is the Time! If we only had some wine – or rather brandy- here, we could have had a small celebration! Oh, what a silly old chatterbox I am! You must have been starving here, my poor! Here, I did bring you something – just let me open the basket.."
"No, Wilhelmina, please don't!"
"What do you mean? Did they feed you like at a restaurant while I was away?
" No, nothing of the sort. But I recently realized that for all I have done in my life, I don't deserve even a piece of dry bread, let alone cakes. Moreover, it dawned upon me that I don't in fact deserve to live. If God wiped me from the face of Earth, it would be only fair…."
"My love, don't speak of God's justice. If He chose to be just with us, we'd be in Hell already. "
" As for me, I spent there quite a part of my life.."
"You have been only on the edge of it, darling. But that was more than enough. Thank Go it's all in the past. But…Ilosovic, you must eat at least something! What shall I tell Militsa if she learns that her father refused to taste her cuisine? And our daughters – in –law…"
"Wilhelmina, wait! Whose daughter are you talking about?"
"Why, yours, of course! And don't you dare to accuse me of any unlawful seductions" during our separation! So, Militsa , unlike her brothers, is single, as she chose to take the veil and…"
"Brothers?"
"Yes, of course I am not speaking of Quincy now, as he is of a different parentage, I meant my other, younger two sons who go under the surname of Stayne.
" Are you now hinting that I am the father of triplets? Of most impossible things…"
"Ilosovic, I guess we may as well close the subject of Impossible Things for now. Isn't it quite clear yet to Our Lord nothing is impossible? So, before you interrupted me I was about to say that our granddaughter Svetlana – Rostislav' s eldest daughter, has just learned to cook apple pies and asked me to…"
"Wilhelmina, where is my sword? I need my sword NOW!"
"Darling, what…"
"Give me the weapon , and I'll show that crowned white crow …."
"Ilosovic, don't! You did promise me to be good, didn't you?"
"Yes, I did, but that pale excuse for a queen never let me know that I was not only a father , but already a grandfather, for Heavens' sake! That is not to be bourn!"
"Calm down, husband! Mirana is single and childless, and she would never understand you properly, I'm afraid…Besides, it's really bad form to take revenge! And it makes a person bitter as a spoiled pastry!"
"Well, then I won't have anything to do with revenge. I…I am too happy now…Let us just take our leave without saying fairfarren…."
"All right, although it won't be good form either, but not that bad! So, please take this basket and let us go!"
"But where shall we go? I have no place I could call home…"
"Husband, your memory seems to get rusty from sitting for too long in the cell! "Home is where the heart is" – don't you remember the famous proverb? Besides, not only our triplets, but all your five grandchildren are waiting for you to come home! "
" Well, I…I. need some time to get used to what you told me…"
"I'm afraid we are terribly late, Ilosovic! Let us not waste any more time! Moreover, I promised the little ones that we would show them how to dance The Lobster Quadrille tonight! Get up, my lord, for great deeds are waiting for us!"
The end.
