The time had come when Dmitry was faced with a true adult life full of adventures. Parting ways with the caregivers at the orphanage brought a tinge of sadness, yet the anticipation of the future made his heart beat faster.
The young man’s main problem was the lack of housing. As an orphan, he was entitled to an apartment, but the process kept getting delayed. For a whole year he had to wait, listening to news that his fellow orphanage kids had already received housing, while he had not. It was painful.
He, too, was eager to set up his life as quickly as possible. Dmitry never lost hope, regularly visiting the guardianship authorities, hoping for better news. Then one day, upon arriving again regarding his issue, he received an offer: to move into a house located in a village.
By that time, Dmitry was ready to accept any option—he simply wanted to finally have his own place. The staff explained that there were no available apartments in the city yet, but there was an alternative. In the end, the young man agreed, and the guardianship authorities, having ticked the necessary box, forgot about him.
Thus, Dmitry found himself in a village. He was happy to have his own home now, although he had imagined it quite differently. In reality, he got an old house. All Dmitry knew was that the previous owners had recently passed away and no heirs were found.
The first period in the village was not easy. It seemed that the locals regarded him with suspicion, though their eyes said nothing outright. This irritated the young man, but he understood that time was needed to settle in and prove that he was a good person.
His first acquaintance was the neighbor, Viktor. Initially, Viktor was also wary of the new resident: orphans were feared due to their reputation as people with bad habits and erratic behavior.
Everything changed suddenly. One day, while returning from the store, Dmitry saw his neighbor struggling to repair a fence. For one man it was difficult; everything was falling out of his hands.
“Let me help—you’re working on it until nightfall,” Dmitry offered.
Viktor looked at the new neighbor with doubt, then nodded. While working, they started talking. Dmitry explained about getting the house and his plans.
“Dima, you’re a good guy. But in the village there are rumors about you. I didn’t even know whom to believe,” admitted Viktor.
“What kind of rumors?”
“They’re guessing who came to our place. They say you’re a waif. They’re afraid you might be a thief. Many people come here, and not all of them are kind.”
The young man felt unpleasant hearing such words, but the neighbor reassured him that everyone was greeted that way. Viktor also mentioned that the house used to be inhabited by a solitary man who didn’t interact with anyone and practically never left the house. “And then he fell ill and spent his last days in the hospital. But that’s not all. The locals believe the house is cursed—it’s just too gloomy.”
“I don’t know. I like it here. I don’t notice anything suspicious.”
“That’s good. You’re a good person. I’m sure the locals will get used to you. Don’t mind the sideways glances.”
After helping with the fence, Dmitry returned home. He couldn’t shake the thought that people considered him a potential thief, even though they knew nothing about him. He wanted to prove that he was an honest man.
Time passed. Dmitry gradually made the house his own: he repaired the porch, tidied up the bathhouse. He found work on a farm as a helper. Although the salary was small, he was happy.
Life was getting better. The locals began to treat him differently—they realized that before them was an honest person who planned to stay for good. He made acquaintances, and at work, he found a true friend who would take Dmitry to village dances or to a bonfire with the local youth. The young man saw that life in the village was bustling, and he liked it.
One day in the store he noticed a beautiful girl. When he asked a friend who she was, he only got a shrug in response. The friend’s mother, who worked in the store, explained that the girl, Liza, had come to visit her grandmother’s grave, someone she had last seen in her childhood. Now she was renting a room from an old lady at the beginning of the village. Strangely, none of the locals remembered either Liza or her grandmother.
The second meeting took place at the village disco. The girl was there again. The whole evening Dmitry couldn’t take his eyes off her, watching as other guys tried to approach her, unsuccessfully. When Dmitry was about to leave, the girl herself approached him.
“Where are you going? Leaving already?” asked Liza.
Dmitry blushed at the unexpected approach, looking at the beautiful girl with fair skin and white hair.
“Yeah. I decided to go home,” he answered hesitantly.
“Maybe we could dance a bit more?”
Of course, the young man agreed, still in shock that she had started talking to him first. They danced all night, and afterward he walked her to her rented room. Liza turned out to be an interesting conversationalist.
“Liza, are you here for a long time?”
“I planned only to visit my grandmother’s grave. But I like it here so much that, honestly, I’d love to stay forever,” the girl confessed.
“Amazing. I like it here too. The living nature and the wonderful people.”
“We have a lot in common,” she noted.
“Yes, I’ve noticed.”
“Then see you tomorrow? I wouldn’t mind a walk around the village,” the girl smiled, looking away.
“With great pleasure.”
Dmitry felt like he was flying home on wings. All his thoughts were of Liza.
Soon the young couple decided to try dating. Dmitry dreamed of seeing Liza every day, and after a couple of weeks, she herself proposed living together, explaining that she longed to wake up next to someone and never be apart. Living with a stranger, the old lady, was uncomfortable for her. Of course, Dmitry was all for it.
The young man was endlessly happy. Such a wonderful girl was living with him! Dmitry began to have grand plans for the future: marriage, a family he had never had before. Family—the very thing he had dreamed of during cold winter evenings in the orphanage.
Time flew by. Although Dmitry was in love with Liza, he began to notice some oddities in her behavior: she often walked around the yard in thought, peered into the well, and asked questions with obvious answers.
“Dima, why is there no water in the well?”
“Probably it dried up. When I moved in, it was already empty.”
“Strange. Such a deep well—and no water,” she said as she looked inside again.
“Why do you keep on about this well…?”
“Just curious, that’s all. Why has it dried up?”
“Well, sometimes that happens. Perhaps it needs cleaning—then the water might return.”
“Sure…”
One day, while Dmitry was drinking tea in the kitchen, he noticed through the window that Liza was once again examining the well. Her odd behavior worried him more and more. He decided to follow the girl, as watching her unusual actions had become unbearable. He was curious about what she was doing in his absence while he was at work.
One morning, on his usual way to the farm, the young man decided to return home through the back yard. What he saw left him even more perplexed. Liza was standing in the yard, intently examining the well, then she tried to pull out an attached bucket that, apparently, had long since become embedded in the ground. Dmitry noticed how nervously she fumbled, repeatedly trying to remove a chain. Failing to succeed, she, annoyed, returned to the house.
On his way to work, Dmitry pondered the reasons behind the girl’s fascination with the old well. The next day, when Liza went to the store, he also tried to pull out the bucket, but without success. Then he decided to descend down the chain. At the bottom he discovered a heavy bag containing something metallic. At first, Dmitry didn’t understand the contents of the bag due to its weight, but once he climbed back up and examined his find, he was stunned.
The bag turned out to be stuffed with gold jewelry. After some thought, the young man decided to hide his discovery and not mention it to Liza. He managed to do so before she returned.
“Liza, I cleaned the well as you wanted. Now there will be water,” he greeted her.
“Cleaned the well?” she asked uncertainly. “And there was nothing in it?”
“No, just dirt. What else could have been there?”
“Just a question, nothing more.”
After that conversation, Dmitry realized that Liza was not who she appeared to be. The next day, after showing the jewelry to a local police officer, he learned some shocking information.
“This can’t be! These are the very pieces of jewelry that went missing many years ago! I remember that heart-shaped pendant clearly—it’s unmistakable,” the officer examined the find.
“Interesting… How did they end up in my well?”
“I’m just as curious. Before you, a recidivist lived here. Although he had an alibi at the time of the robbery, it seems that it was still him,” the officer reasoned.
Dmitry explained Liza’s suspicious behavior near the well.
“We need to talk to her. I’ll come by this evening,” the officer decided.
Returning home, Dmitry chose not to warn Liza about the impending visit, fearing her reaction—after all, he hardly knew anything about her. Strangely, it only occurred to him at that moment.
That evening, the officer came to their home. Liza honestly admitted that she hadn’t come to the village by accident. It turned out that she was the daughter of the former owner of the house, whom she had met in the hospital before his death.
“Yes, I remember. Many years ago, that man had a woman who later arrived pregnant. I was small back then, but I remember the incident clearly,” recalled the officer.
Liza explained that her mother had abused alcohol, lived unhappily, and died young. As an adult, Liza decided to find her father.
“My father told me about the robbery of the jewelry stores and where he had hidden the gold. It wouldn’t have brought him any happiness anymore.”
Although officially Liza was not his daughter, her father did not reject her. She came to claim the treasures. Listening to the story, Dmitry even felt sorry for the girl. The jewelry had been turned over to the state, but when the appropriate share was paid out, he gave the money to Liza.
“Here, take it. They rightfully belong to you.”
“Thank you. I didn’t expect that from you,” she thanked him.
“I don’t want anything that isn’t mine.”
From that moment, Dmitry looked at Liza with new eyes.
“Dima, forgive me for deceiving you from the very beginning. You truly fell in love with me, didn’t you?”
“Let’s not talk about it,” he requested.
After receiving the money, Liza left for the city. They agreed to stay in touch and remain friends, though it wasn’t easy.
It took Dmitry some time to forget Liza. He understood that all her words had merely been a way to get to the well.
Two years passed before he could let her go. He met a good girl, Nina, who had secured a job on the farm as a milker. After several dates, hope for something better arose. Nina turned out to be a beautiful, smart, and kind girl, and soon Dmitry proposed to her—and she accepted.
