Haymaking

Yakutia. This happened when I was little, just finished second grade. After the school year, my parents sent me to the village where my mother was born. After two weeks of aimless idleness, I was sent with my second cousin and his friend to mow the hay. They threw me on a tractor and left us. We lived in a tent. Since I was little, I didn't really do much except fetch water, boil tea, and that was it.

It was daytime. My uncle was mowing the grass and asked for water. I went to get a bottle and, when I approached him, I heard footsteps. The meadow was flooded, and here and there were holes with water. He was mowing right next to one of those holes. The sounds were coming from there. I approached and saw ripples on the water, as if someone was walking. Someone invisible was walking on the water. And they weren't water striders. I asked my uncle what it was, and without looking at it, he said, "Don't look there, and don't pay any attention." I was very curious about it.

In the evening, after gathering up the scythes, we went to the tent, cooked dinner, ate, and went to bed. I lay down and quietly listened to the guys talking. They were sitting, leisurely drinking white vodka, and getting ready for bed. My eyes were just beginning to close when we heard a scythe. Someone was mowing the grass. In our clearing, and at night, no less. The guys were a bit tipsy and decided to go investigate. Maybe they were from the neighboring village.

We left the tent. Less than two minutes later, they ran into the tent, grabbed me by the arms, pulled me out, and ran. At first, I didn't understand what was happening, but when I looked back, I saw that the scythe was mowing the grass by itself.