Happiness is permitted, if you dare take it.

one

We saw the fool for the first time that day in Vologda. We were in Moscow before that and when we had our fill of all the places to see, visit and experience, we headed north. The railway station was near Babushkin Square where we had coffee, tired from the trip and even more from the abiding responsibility to constantly lug our stuff around when we would much rather just happen to forget them somewhere, were we not well aware that the selfsame things we hated would be needed all too soon. If not today, then tomorrow, when our shirts start to lose the fresh smell and the underwear and socks need changing, beards start to bother us and need shaving. Like many things, a suitcase too is a good servant, but an evil master.

We sat and waited for two hours for the café to open as it started work at 10. Exhausted, we mostly kept quiet. Our heads stood upright only to listlessly drop toward our chest the very next minute, gathering strength for the next stretch they were supposed to stand straight the way they were supposed to. When the café opened, we were the first through the door, first at a table, first to order.

There was nothing of interest in the café, nothing noteworthy. White walls, wooden bar, burgundy furniture that looked like seats ripped out of a bus and moved into the watering hole. The coffee was not good, but it was coffee which was the only criterion it needed to meet for us to drink it. N.N. twice as fast as me, as usual. He just loves to burn his tongue, you will forgive him, he is an incredibly hasty man.

So, we saw the fool for the first time that day in Vologda when we exited the café and took a back alley, not really knowing where we were going. We just wanted to take a stroll. We knew that we would later go toward the centre, inquire about accommodation, do everything travelers usually do, but we wanted, as we always did when we arrived in a new place, to let it guide us where it wanted for the first hour. And it is precisely because it led us to him that we are writing this because in many other places it led us nowhere worthy of mentioning. It is perfectly natural to choose something extraordinary when you feel the need to address people, right?

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