Kada sam bio u Dekalendu, morao sam da idem bos, jer sam dosao sa rolerima na naogama, a nisam znao da tamo ne postoji betonska staza pogodna za voznju. Ispocetka mi je bilo tesko, no navikao sam se da idem bos. No, i ostala deca su s{la bosa. 
    Tako bosonogi, posli smo na obalu Dunava, nedaleko  od sela,gde je postojao jedan stari dud na cijem  deblu je bila  mala koliba. Ne znam cijih je ruku delo i ko je tamo postavio,ali odatle su obicno kretale sve decije  pustolovine i tu  su se zavrsavale. Stari dud cuva mnoge tajne i kada bi samo znao da prica... a mozda je i bolje sto ne zna. 
    Sa tog mesta je bio nabolji vidik. U krosnjama starog duda smo se osecali mocno, jer smo nadgledali okolinu, a u isto vreme bili skriveni od  pogleda. Nije vazno sto niko nije ovuda prolazio. Mi smo bili skriveni za svaki slucaj.  
    Uz obalu Dunava, u blizini naseg skrovista, rasle su vrbe i topole na cijim krosnjama su ptice gradile svoja gnezda. Pnekada je bilo toliko mnogo ptica, da su gotovo citava jata stanovala na jednom drvetu. Mi smo iz obesti ili iz zabave, skidali pticja gnezda, pogotovo ako su u njima zivele vrane i takmicili se u tome ko ce se popeti na vise drvo i skinuti veci broj. 
    Medjutim, posto su se deca ovim "poslom" bavila svakoga dana, vec je bilo ponestalo gnezda u nasoj okolini. Recno ostrvo zvano ada, je po ovom nasem pitanju bila netaknuto, jer se do njega tesko moglo doci, odnosno preplivati. Ada je za nas bila velika tajna, velika zelja i veliki izazov. O adi su se prepricavale mnoge tajanstvene price o njenim nevidljivim stanovnicima, sumskim ljudima. U ove price su deca verovala, a odrasli su ih sa razlogom izmisljali sto neverovatnijim i strasnijim, zbog toga da se neko od dece ne bi usudio da prepliva Dunav, jer je okolina ade bila  puna virova, vrtloga  i brzaka, pa je bilo opasno plivati u tom  delu. No, ko zna mozda su ti nevidljivi stanovnici ade i postojali. Niko ne moze da tvrdi suprotno, jer ih nije video. A kako bi ih video ako su bili nevidljivi? 
    Pored obale je stajao alaski (ribarski) camac, koji ovoga puta, nije bio privezan, vec samo prislonjen i jednim delom pramca izvucen na obalu.  
    Kada smo ugledali camac, svima je "pala na pamet" ista misao. 
Ada! Ada je bila nas cilj. Ne mogu da kazem da nas nije bio strah, ali zelja za avanturom je bila jaca.  
 Kao pod komandom usli smo i poredjali se na dve klupe koje stoje naslonjene na bocne strane camca. Medjutim, camac nije mogao sam da krene, a mi smo se svi gurali da zauzmemo najbolje mesto. Camac je bio prepun decurlije i  dvojica od nas  su  ga pogurali, pa  kada je  celom svojom duzinom camac  bio na vodi i njih dvojica su uskocili. Najstariji medju nama imao je dvanaest godina i on je uzeo veslo i poceo da vesla, ali se camac uglavnom kretao u krug. Nismo ni znali da je  toliko tesko biti "kapetan broda". Izgledalo je mnogo lakse kada  se gleda sa obale  ili kada te neko drugi vozi. Medjutim, ovo nas je zabavljalo. Svi smo se smejali, salili i lepo provodili. No, ipak smo poodmakli od obale toliko, da je dubina Dunava bila prilicno velika, ali se niko nije plasio, jer  nismo ni shvatali sta se sa nama desava. 
    Ova nasa plovidba, po svoj prilici nije trajala duze od deset minuta, nismo se odmakli daleko od obale, ali mi smo imali utisak da plovimo Dunavom cak do Crnog Mora, jer mi nismo ni znali da postoje okeani, a nismo znali ni sta je to Crno More i svako ga je zamisljao na svoj nacin. Da budemo iskreni, ja sam znao sta je more, ali me niko o tome nista nije pitao. Camac je za nas bio kao veliki, beli trgovacki brod koji je povremeno prolazio Dunavom pored sela, na cijem jarbolu se vijorila ruska zastava i kojeg deca nisu propustala bez pozdrava, a on je takodje odpozdravljao jakom brodskom sirenom. 
    Zaista nismo ni primetili da se iznenada digla strasna oluja. Nebo se smracilo, sivi oblaci su se spustili na povrsinu vode. Vetar je poceo da duva orkanskom jacinom i da kovitla vodu, vazduh, prasinu i sve  sto bi mu se naslo na putu. Camac je poceo da se ljulja. Zapravo, camac nije ni dodirivao povrsinu vode, on je, moglo bi se reci lebdeo  iznad vode i talasi, koji su postajali sve veci i veci odbacivali su ga cas na jednu, cas na drugu stranu. Nastala je vriska, cika i plac. Medjutim, niko nas nije cuo. Cvrsto smo se drzali za stranice camca. Jedan snazan udar, bacio je camac u pravcu pescanog spruda  gde smo se samo na momenat nasukali i usled ubrzanja poispadali iz camca jedan preko drugog. Tada je strah dostigao vrhunac. Mislili smo da se nalazimo na dnu reke i da je sa nama gotovo. Ali, nakon par gutljaja guste, prljave, hladne dunavske vode, shvatili smo da smo samo bili prekriveni dzinovskim talasom. Nasli smo se na pescanom sprudu, sa  kojeg smo i krenuli na plovidbu. Bili smo premoreni, mokri i preplaseni. 
    Najstariji medju nama nas je brzo pokupio izvukao iz vode i poveo dalje od obale. Kad smo se sabrali, videli smo prvo da nema camca. Njega je voda odnela dalje od obale i kroz oluju se nije moglo ni videti na koju stranu. 
    Tada smo shvatili da smo na sigurnom, da nam zivoti nisu ugrozeni i skupljeni jedan uz drugog, zakljucili smo da nam, nedostaje jedan decak. 
    Nastao je tajac. Taj decak se zvao Joca i uvek je pravio probleme i zapocinjao kavgu, ali kad bi primetio da je ugrozen, on bi pobegao. Zato su ga, kao kukavicu svi izbegavali. Upravo i toga dana, on je sa nama posao nepozvan. Bacao je kamencice na nas dok smo se penjali po drvecu, a mi smo njega gadjali pticjim jajima. 
    I pored svega, kad smo primetili da ga nema, uplasili smo se. Zaboravili smo da se sa njim nismo slagali i ozbiljno smo se zabrinuli. Mislili smo da je ostao u camcu ili da ga je odvukao neki talas ili vir. Medjutim, ni pored najbolje volje da se setimo, do koga je u camcu sedeo, nismo uspeli.  
    Na kraju smo zakljucili da je on, posto je bio placljivac i kukavica, za nama zaostao i najverovatnije nije ni usao u camac. No ipak smo, kada se oluja malo stisala, pretrazili svu okolinu. Posto ga nismo nasli, trkom smo krenuli prema selu. Trcali smo iz sve snage bez reci, u pravcu Jocine kuce. U njegovu kucu se iz pravca Dunava moglo doci sa zadnje strane i mi smo  tako utrcali u njegovo dvoriste, koje je posle kise i oluje i bujice, bilo prekriveno blatom. Joca je bio bos i gazio blato po dvoristu. Stali smo. On je pogledao u nas. Nije nista shvatao, a mi mu nista nismo govorili. Bilo nam je lakse. Nasa avantura se ipak srecno zavrsila. Jedino sto sam ja morao da bacim svoj vokmen, jer se nakvasio dok sam se spasavao iz prevrnutog camca. No, nije mi zao, jer je avantura bila nezaboravna. I tako su baterije bile istrosene, a ja nisam imao gde da kupim druge, jer niko nije znao sta su to baterije. 
    Nismo uspeli da odemo na adu, ali i da smo otisli,  pitanje je da li bi smo videli "sumske ljude", ako su nevidljivi kao sto tvrde upuceni, pa bi smo se mozda razocarali. Ovako je bolje. Neka oni i dalje zive na adi i skidaju gnezda sa svojeg drveca, a mi cemo se vratiti u  skroviste na starom dudu.  

Olivera Jelkic 

NASTAVAK SLEDECEG MESECA... 

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    When I was in Grandpaland I had to go barefoot, for I had come on roller blades and I didn't know there were no concrete roads good enough for roller-skating. It was difficult at the beginning but I got used to it. Other children were barefoot, too. 
    We went to the Danube bank near the village where an old Mulberry tree grew. There was a little tree house on it. I didn't know who had made it and placed it there but all of the children's adventures started and ended there. The old mulberry tree kept many secrets. If only it could talk...maybe it's better it couldn’t. 
    That was the place with the best view. We felt very strong at the treetop because we could observe the surrounding area and stay hidden at the same time. It wasn’t necessary because nobody passed by, but we were hidden just in case. 
    Along the Danube bank, just near the hiding place, grew willows and poplars on whose tree tops birds built their nests. Sometimes there were so many birds that the entire flocks occupied a single tree. We pulled down their nests as a flick or just for fun; especially if the crows lived in them, and competed to see who would climb the highest tree and pull down more nests. 
    However, since we had done this "job" daily, soon there weren't many nests left around. River island was untouched by us because it was too hard to reach, actually to swim over to it. The island presented a great secret and a huge challenge to us. Many mysterious tales were told about its invisible dwellers, the forest people. Children believed in these stories and adults had a good reason for making them even more amazing and terrifying. They wanted to prevent children from swimming over the Danube because there were many whirlpools, maelstroms and rapids around the island, so it was very dangerous to swim there. Then again, who knows, maybe those inhabitants of the island did exist. No one could claim the opposite, because no one had ever seen them. But how could they be seen if they were invisible? 
    There was an untied fishing boat near the river, this time only leaned on the bank with its bow partly out of the water. 
    When we spotted the boat the same thought crossed our minds.  
    The island! The island was our goal. I couldn’t say we weren't afraid but the desire for an adventure prevailed. 
    As under command, we went in and sat on two side benches. However, the boat couldn't move by herself. We were all pushing each other for the best seats. The boat was crowded with children and two of the boys pushed it and jumped into it when it was fully afloat. The oldest of us was twelve and he took the oar and started to row, but the boat mostly went in circles. We didn't know that being a "ship captain" could be that hard. It seemed much easier, looked from the shore, or if someone else did the rowing. However, it amused us very much. We were all laughing, joking and having a great time and yet managing to get far from the shore where the Danube was very deep, but no one was scared because we didn't realize what was happening to us. 
    This cruise of ours couldn't have lasted more than ten minutes since we didn't get too far, but it seemed to us that we were sailing down the Danube all the way to the Black Sea. We didn't know that there were oceans, well, we didn't know what the Black Sea was either, and so every one imagined it in its own way. To be honest, I knew what the sea was, bud nobody had asked me about it. To us the boat was like the big, white merchant ship occasionally passing our village, on which mast waved a Russian flag. Children never missed the chance to salute it and she saluted us back with its loud siren. 
We didn't even notice the big sudden storm that was approaching. The sky darkened, heavy clouds lowered down to the surface of the water. The wind started to blow at hurricane speed, swirling the water, air, dust, and everything what was on its way. The boat started to rock. Actually the boat didn't even touch the water's surface, it hovered above it and the waves that became bigger and bigger were throwing it here and there. We started screaming, shouting, and crying, but there was nobody to hear us. We grabbed a firm hold of the boat's sides. One strong blow threw the boat to the sandbar where we were aground just for a moment. Because of the speed we fell down from the boat one on top of the other. Then the fear reached its peak. We thought that we ended up on the bottom of the river and that we were finished for good. After a few sips of dense, dirty, cold Danube water, we realized we had been covered by a huge wave. We were on the same sandbar from which we started our cruise. We were soaking wet, exhausted, and terrified. 
    The oldest boy pooled us out of the water and led us away from the shore. When we got a hold of ourselves we noticed that the boat was gone. The water carried it further away from the bank, we couldn't see where because of the storm. 
    Then we realized we were safe, that our lives were no longer in danger. We huddled together and realized that one boy was missing. 
    There was silence. The boy's name was Ivan and he was a real troublemaker, he was always causing problems and starting fights but if he sensed danger he would simply run away. Everyone avoided him because he was a coward. And on that day, too, he had come uninvited. He threw pebbles at us when we climbed the trees and we responded by throwing eggs at him. 
In spite of all that, we were terrified when we realized he was missing. We put aside all of our differences and got seriously worried. We thought that he remained in the boat or got pulled away by a wave or a whirlpool. However, no one could remember where he was sitting in the boat. 
    At the end we came to the conclusion that he, being a coward and a chicken, probably didn't even get into the boat. Nevertheless, we searched the surroundings when the storm let up. Since we didn't find him, we ran to the village, towards Ivan's house, as fast as we could. We barged into his backyard, which was covered with mud after the rain, storm, and flood. Ivan was walking barefoot through it. We stopped and he looked at us. We told him nothing and he didn't realize anything. It was a great relief that our adventure had ended happily after all. I had to throw away my Walkman, since it got wet while I was trying to rescue myself out of the boat, but I wasn't sorry because it had been an unforgettable adventure. The batteries were low anyway and I couldn't buy new ones because no one knew what a battery was. 
    We didn't get to the island but even if we had succeeded the question would still remain could "forest people" be seen if they were really invisible like some people said. Maybe it would just leave us disappointed, so it was better this way. Let them live on the island, pooling the nests down from the trees and we'll go back to our hiding place on the old mulberry tree. 

Olivera Jelkic 
Translation: Marina Milutinovic 

TO BE CONTINUED NEXT MONTH....
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