Аннотация: You must read this story, the brilliance of which has never been seen before. It has been enriched with humor so this story will not bore you and you will not struggle to read it. You can read it in one breath, and we recommend it. Read and enjoy!
Holder Volcano
Member of the Writers' Union of Uzbekistan
Blind driver
(Story)
Sheikh Ibrahim Attar was granted a working leave and he decided to rest on the seashore to restore his shattered nerves. Oh, how great it is to sit on a sandy beach while the sun quietly sinks below the horizon, turning the coastal waters and the sky into gold! Sheikh Ibrahim Attar loves to listen to the sound of the sea alone, silently watching the waves washing the diamonds of the stars on moonlit evenings. Having put his necessary things in a stalin-era wooden suitcase which was missing its handle, he left the house. He was walking merrily whistling through the field on a path, waist-deep in the grass with a suitcase in his hands towards the high road, where you can hitch a ride. It was a long way to the city. For this reason, Sheikh Ibrahim Attar was going on the road in the morning so as not to be late to the airport, from where he would fly to Hawaii by plane. He was elated.
It was as if the white-trunked poplars, ringing in the light spring wind, waved their branches to him, as if escorting him on a long journey. There were fields and meadows where the tall grass waved like a green wave in the cool morning wind. Larks trilled over the field, merrily singing the sunrise rising over the horizon.
Sheikh Ibrahim Attar did not even notice how quickly he found himself on the side of the highway. The road was full of cars rushing by, some, one way, others in the opposite direction. Just at that moment, a yellow bus stopped near him, raising clouds of dust and hissing: 'Shhh!' and -the doors opened. Sheikh Ibrahim Attar jumped into the bus, holding his wooden suitcase without a handle under his arm. The bus was packed with passengers, as they say, there is no place for an apple to fall. Young, healthy guys with golden teeth sat on the seats, and old men with old women and pregnant women with children rode standing up. In such a bus, a person will not fall even if they do not hold the handrail. There was no room to breathe in the crowded bus cabin. Sheikh Ibrahim Attar began to suffocate in the stuffiness due to the lack of fresh air. Nearby, an elderly man was sitting on a stool. This is nothing compared to the woman who was sitting on an overturned, crumpled and blackened bucket.
- Mr. Driver, please turn on the air conditioner! Sheikh Ibrahim Attar shouted. Hearing his words, the passengers laughed in chorus. Especially the driver. He was laughing, looking at the ceiling of the cab, forgetting about the steering wheel for a while and the bus almost went off the road. It turns out that the bus did not have an air conditioner at all.
- Then open the hatch and let the air enter the cabin! Sheikh Ibrahim Attar shouted again, loosening his tightly tightened tie.
- How are you supposed to open a rusted hatch if it's lever is broken! Someone shouted back. In order to avoid any trouble, Sheikh Ibrahim Attar had to put up with the situation. He then accidentally saw a sign on which was written:
- Dear passengers, please follow the rules and respect the work of the crew members of our public unit. Don't forget to pay the fare! Tickets are with the driver. We don't have a ticket vendor on board! Thank you for your attention. We wish you all a happy journey! Sincerely, bus driver Mr. Zazabuzamaza Wojactorbacaza .'
Sheikh Ibrahim Attar, to buy a ticket for travel, handed some money to the driver through a metal grille made of durable reinforcement.
- Please, give me a one-way ticket, Mr. Driver, what's your name... Zazabazakazamazabuza... I'm sorry, your name is very difficult to pronounce... Sheikh Ibrahim Attar said, apologizing to the driver.
When the driver turned to face him, he was very scared. Because his eyes were white, without pupils, like ghosts. Sheikh Ibrahim Attar was even more frightened when the driver, stretching out his bony hand, began to feel around, in search of money, which Sheikh Ibrahim Attar held out. Finally, he took the money and gave Sheikh Ibrahim Attar a one-way ticket.
- Don't be afraid, citizen passenger! Yes, I'm blind, but I'm perfectly oriented. Like bats, I drive this unit at high speed, traversing the road with echolocation, nimbly changing the frequency of ultrasound. Although my name is written on the plate as Zazabuzamaza Wojactorbacaza the leader of the Turbocose, but my parents called me Tokhtasin in my childhood. The words 'Tokhtasin' means 'Let it stop'. When my older brothers and sisters died at the age of one, my parents decided to give me the name 'Tokhtasin'. This way, the mortality in our family was suspended. But one day, the people decided to build a dam on the river, throwing tree trunks and branches, granite stones there. But the water continued to wash it all away and one day someone shouted: - People, is there a man named 'Tokhtasin' among you?! - yes! people said. - Then catch him quickly, and we will throw him into the dam and the water will stop! The man shouted again. Just at this time, a tall, thin-built man named who was also named Tokhtasin began to run away, but the people quickly caught up with poor Tokhtasin and caught him, throwing him into the dam, ignoring his cries that he had three minor children. After that, my father changed my name to Zazabuzamaza Wojactorbacaza, so that evil people will not catch me and throw me into a dam to stop the water. Having heard the story of Zazabuzamaza Wojactorbacaza, the passengers laughed loudly and amicably. The blind and cheerful driver, Mr. Zazabuzamaza Wojactorbacaza, continued to speak, looking in the direction of Sheikh Ibrahim Attar.
- For your information, I'm driving drunk at a high speed right now. Before leaving, I drank two bottles of vodka without snacks. By the way, one of the wheels of the bus is held on by one bolt. The rest of the bolts fell off 2 years ago. If you want to get a small hit of adrenaline, then I, racing on two wheels sideways, can show you dangerous tricks similar to the 'Death Loop' performed by fighter pilots in the sky. Look here... - said the blind driver, Mr. Zazabuzamaza Wojactorbacaza, scaring Sheikh Ibrahim Attar even more.
- No, no, don't show me tricks, Mr. Driver! I don't want to ride on a bus like this. Please stop the bus, for God's sake, I'm going to get off! - he said, frozen with horror.
- Oh, what a cowardly man you are! Don't be afraid! Mr. Zazabuzamaza Wojactorbacaza, , is an excellent driver and we, the passengers of this old bus, believe him to be God! You won't find such a high-class driver anywhere else! Let him drive your bus for the rest of his life. He is our lifelong driver! Only he can take us to a place where people live freely, richly and happily! And you don't trust him! Not good, young man, not good! - said one of the passengers, shaking his head disapprovingly.
Another passenger added: - Thanks to our brave, magnificent driver, we can ride this bus not only in our own country, but also on the territory of other, independent, neighboring countries, illegally crossing their borders, knocking down hundreds and thousands of people, women, the elderly and innocent children to death! If neighboring countries make claims about this, we easily and with impunity get out of the water dry, explaining to them that our driver, Mr. Zazabuzamaza Wojactorbacaza, is a congenital blind man.
- Then even more so! That is, I don't want to become an accomplice to a crime against humanity! I am afraid of the international tribunal, and I do not want to be sentenced to death by hanging according to the verdict of the Hague Tribunal, as a war criminal! I demand that you stop this damn bus immediately! - Sheikh Ibrahim Attar insisted.
- Well, well. As they say, you cant force someone to be nice. The customer is always right... Let this citizen, skeptical of what is happening and doubting my extraordinary talent from God, leave the bus. - With these words, Mr.Zazabuzamaza Wojactorbacaza pressed the brake pedal. But for some reason the bus didn't stop. Then the blind driver pressed the pedal again. Then again and again. But the brakes didn't work. Sheikh Ibrahim Attar at first thought that the blind driver Zazabuzamaza Wojactorbacaza was joking. But no, it turns out the brakes were actually broken.
- That's it! We're screwed, gentlemen, passengers! The brakes don't work! - Sheikh Ibrahim Attar said.
In a panic, the passengers began to pray in unison. Oh, Jesus Christ! Oh, Elohim! Oh, Allah!- they shouted in panic, asking God to save them from a crash. After all, a bus is not a bicycle which can be stopped by putting a stick in the gears.
- Don't panic, fellow passengers! Do not forget that I, the famous and irreplaceable blind driver, am driving!
With these words, the driver of the ill-fated bus, Mr. Zazabuzamaza Wojactorbacaza, , was driving, turning the steering wheel to the right, then to the left. People started crying out of fear. Around the corner, the bus almost hit a man. The speed is great.
- Why don't you honk the horn? - Sheikh Ibrahim Attar asked in a panic.
Zazabuzamaza Wojactorbacaza answered:
- How am I to honk if the horn is broken?! You are in a place to teach me, better stick your head out of the bus window and warn people by shouting:
- Get out of the way, the brakes don't work!
- Good. - said Sheikh Ibrahim Attar. Leaning out of the moving bus, he began to shout:
-Get out of the way, the brakes don't work! Get out of the way, the brakes don't work!
He was crying.
Zazabuzamaza Wojactorbacaza, , turned the steering wheel at random, back and forth, looking at Sheikh Ibrahim Attar with white eyes without pupils, like a ghost, and smiled:
- Why are you crying, citizen passenger? A man should meet his death with dignity, with a smile on his lips!
From these words, Sheikh Ibrahim Attar began to cry even harder, now less often shouting loudly to pedestrians:
- Get out of the way, the brakes don't work! Get out of the way, the brakes don't work!
- You poor passengers! How sorry I am for you! Oh, what a pity! - said Zazabuzamaza Wojactorbacaza Vazhaktorbakoza.
- Why?! - Sheikh Ibrahim Attar asked, stopping crying for a moment.
- Yes, because you are doomed! That is, you can't eject your seat! - Zazabuzamaza Wojactorbacaza explained , merrily tapping the steering wheel with his fingertips. Then he added,
- I don't care. I'll press this button, and a hatch will open from above. Then I will fly into the air together with the seat and finally landing safely with a parachute. The catapult is the nicest thing, at least for me. But the seats on which you are sitting do not perform such a function.
Hearing this, the seated passengers began to sob. So too did Sheikh Ibrahim Attar. But he did not forget to keep warning passing drivers:
- Get out of the way, the brakes don't work! Get out of the way, the brakes don't work!
Many passengers began to smile senselessly, having lost their minds from fear.
Zazabuzamaza Wojactorbacaza , driving the steering wheel continued:
- So, citizens passengers, while I haven't ejected yet, you can say anything you want in the end. I will give your wives your last words and wills in writing. This, I think, is the best option. Otherwise, your wives may not believe me. A woman is a super-mysterious being. Written wills, they can use in the courts as irrefutable evidence. After all, your wives should also get at least some monetary compensation from the State Insurance, right? Without a document, the State Insurance department will not hand over a penny...
Hearing these words, the passengers roared loudly. Sheikh Ibrahim Attar kept shouting:
- Get out of the way, the brakes don't work! Get out of the way, the brakes don't work!
Zazabuzamaza Wojactorbacaza The leader of the farm kept saying:
- And the men whom your wives will marry after your deaths? They also won't believe your wives that you all really died in a car accident. You need a letter of trust.
- Why would they do that? - pausing his crying for a moment, one of the passengers asked.
- What's the point of that? Don't let your wives die inside, remaining widows for life - said Zazabuzamaza Wojactorbacaza.
The bus at that time was traveling along an uneven road at breakneck speed.
- Well, okay, - Zazabuzamaza Wojactorbacaza - said, - If you don't want to write those letters, then, as they say, its up to you. Good bye, My friends, good bye! So to speak, have a good stay. Away I go.
With these words, Zazabuzamaza Wojactorbacaza, reached for the red ejection button, like an officer on duty sitting in a mine who is looking at the button of an atomic bomb, where an intercontinental ballistic missile is mounted. Then he pressed this button. But unfortunately for Zazabuzamaza Wojactorbacaza, the ejection button did not work. Then he pressed the button again. But, alas, the ejector jammed. To fix the problem, Zazabuzamaza Wojactorbacaza, beat his fist on the steering wheel and yanked on it. The steering wheel came flying off. Thus, the Bus went completely out of control. Sheikh Ibrahim Attar kept shouting, warning pedestrians:
- Get out of the way, the brakes don't work! Get out of the way, the brakes don't work! The steering wheel is torn off! There is no signal either!
At this moment, the wheel that was held on by a single bolt fell off the unmanned bus. The bus went off the road and flew with the passengers into a deep abyss.