CATEGORY: ALMOST DIED
WHERE: Near river Dnepr, Kiev, Ukraine, USSR
WHEN: Night, Winter, 1965
AGE: 12 years old


I ran away from home. I did something at school and was busted. I was terrified of my father and didn’t want to face him. In the Soviet Union there were shortages of everything, including empty buildings, so I wandered the streets. In the evening I found myself walking by the river. It was always my favorite place to get away to. I passed by a bridge and a policeman eyed me with suspicion. I walked on. To nowhere. I was severely depressed. I stopped. I felt that I came to the end of my life. I made a 90 degree turn and walked into the woods. It was dark and very cold. The ground was covered with deep snow. I dropped my school bag and sat on it. I don’t remember what my thoughts were, but eventually I fell asleep.

A voice woke me up. It told me to get up and to walk out of the woods. I did what the voice to me to do.

PS: By the time I passed that policeman again, he had a description of a missing child. Me. My father didn’t beat me that time. My parents were too glad that I was alive.

I ran away from home a couple more times. With similar results.