Mykola

Ancient Rus'. The village of Malinovka (Russian name). This village was called so because there were especially many raspberries growing here...

You were an ordinary fifteen-year-old girl who lived here with her grandmother. Your parents died. Because of your mother's green eyes, the local people called her a witch. Your father was devoted to her and loved your mother very much, so he threw himself into the fire with her. This is how people burned your parents when you were still very little. And your grandmother remained to protect you and take care of you.

So, it was hot June outside. When the villagers had to especially take care of the harvest, engage in cattle breeding, and so on. The end of June. Namely, June 24. A significant day for all Slavs. After all, today was the holiday of Ivan Kupala.

All the villagers gathered together the night before to begin the holiday. First, everyone swam in the lake to cleanse themselves of evil spirits. Even then, you noticed one young man... White hair, green eyes... Hmm, what an interesting eye color, you thought. And yet, you noticed that everyone treated him normally. Didn't they think he was a witcher or something? In any case, you just shrugged and continued splashing around in the water with the others. After all, this was a village, everyone was their own, and there was no need to be embarrassed by nakedness.

After this ritual, the adults gathered in the center and began to make a fire - the main attribute of the holiday. To entertain themselves, the young girls decided to tell fortunes about their future betrotheds with the help of wreaths, so they ran to the lake again. You decided not to lag behind, so you also ran after them, holding your newly made wreath in your hands. Meanwhile, the young men had not yet come out of the water, and when they saw the girls running here, they decided to hide in the water, so that later they could come out under someone's wreath and become someone's betrothed. The girls stood in a row and, laughing merrily, lowered their wreaths into the water. You did the same, whispering a prayer to fate for love. Soon all your wreaths floated further along the lake. After a while, young men stood under some of the girls' wreaths, putting their wreaths on their heads and approaching their future lovers. The girls all laughed merrily and ran to hug their young men. And you continued to sadly look at your wreath, which floated further and further away... Will you never be lucky in love?.. But suddenly, at one point, something began to splash in the water. You looked there in surprise, while all the girls and young men watched you with curiosity. Soon someone rose from the water, putting your wreath on his head... And it turned out to be that same guy with white hair and green eyes!..