The devil. Russia

A miner from Donbass, V.E. Ananik, says that twice in his life he experienced a strong feeling of meeting an unknown being. Events were developing in Leninsk-Kuznetsky, Kemerovo region. In the winter of 1942-1943, he was lying with scarlet fever in a one-story hospital. One night, in the dead of night, he was looking out of the window, in front of which an unknown suddenly appeared — "it" was like a man, shaggy, with round glowing eyes, causing numbing horror.

"We looked through the window into each other's eyes at a distance of less than a meter. He didn't blink once during that time. Now only I understand that he was walking past the windows, looking into them. Of course, I spent the night with the nannies cleaning the floors."

In such situations, when a child is sick, especially with scarlet fever, which implies a high temperature, the usual calm - it seemed that there is no temperature. But life itself rehabilitated this case. As a young man, exactly ten years after the event, Ananik again had a chance to meet this incomprehensible:

"I return late in the evening (second shift) from classes from the city to the state farm. I was already walking along the outskirts, by the way, in the area of the same hospital. The weather was calm, it was snowing heavily. To get on the road for sure, I turned into the nearest narrow alley (from Stepnaya to Tomskaya). I had to make a detour earlier, as I visited my uncle.

After walking about fifty meters down the alley, I saw a figure coming towards me. There was a desire to run back, but he did not run, but continued to move forward, probably out of desperation, but there was no way to get away. A stocky, immediately familiar figure was approaching. His left hand was behind his back. Because of the falling snow, which covered everything around me and him, I could not see the wool. Getting closer to me, he grabbed my breasts with his right hand, and we stared at each other. His eyes, small, round, glowing, were the same ones I saw as a child. The same horror came over me. I was the first to sort of come to my senses.

He lifted his school bag and said, "I'm coming from school." After a short pause, muttering something unintelligible, not at all like words, he abruptly pushed me aside and went his way. I moved too, telling myself not to look back and not to run.

In those years that I am describing, just outside the city, exactly where and from where I went more than once, impenetrable thickets grew along the Inya River, in Siberian — sogry. Even in the summer, the boys did not look there. Beautiful quiet places where you can find shelter for anyone to remain unnoticed. I wonder what he was looking for in this suburb in winter?"