I took a few steps along the path and turned around - the dragon was no longer there, relaxed, stopping and lowering my shoulders. This squabble really strained me: I was glad, received a veiled insult, sorted things out in front of strangers, they threatened to flog me, as in childhood, but with the correction that the man who promised me this was not my father - this had never happened before.

Throwing the bag into the snowdrift, I sat on top of it, hugging my knees and resting my chin on them. I won’t sit like this for a long time, I’ll freeze, but I’m not counting on that. ...