A Story of a Bulgarian

It was a gloomy rainy noon. Kris woke up with a strong headache that reminded him about his experience at last night's party. He realized that he had run out of cigarettes, but was too lazy to go down to the store and that is why he asked one of his friends that was left to sleep in his apartment to give him one. After a small quarrel for the last cigarette in the box they decided to call Nikki, who was coming to their house, to go to the store and buy one box of Victory. Soon after that Kris resembled that he was on duty in the warehouse the next day. This fact made him upset because he had planned to go to a disco club that night. A timeto relax was needed and Nikki, who just arrived, switched the TV on. Together the three boys watched SKAT program and the show of Volen Siderov. The show captured their attention so much that they did not realize how quickly the box of cigarettes was emptied. The flavor in the room reminded of Kremicovci factory. After an hour and a half somebody called Kris and asked him to go to the gym together, but he refused because he had important stuff to do. The two boys that were in his apartment left soon and he began preparing for going out. The important thing that he had to do was to hang out in a café with one girl. Kris used to spend all his days in this careless and free way.

One day two old friends of his called Kris while he was drinking his third beer for the day. They used to be good friends in secondary school, but had not met for almost two years. Kris was happy to meet his old friends ,Gatso and Batso, because he was bored from his temporary ones and was impatient to leave his home. The problem was that he had to take his dog for a walk. He thought whether his friends should wait for him to execute his duties or not. Finally Kris decided that they were used to waiting for him and would not get angry. As always he did not think of calling them to tell that he will be late and the two boys had to wait for forty minutes in one small smoky café called “Fresh”. This café was near Kris’s school, so he had to travel again the route he has been traveling every day for the last eleven years.

After the long journey he finally reached the destination. There he finally met his friends. All of them were very excited to meet an old fellow.

-How is it going in school? - one of the friends asked.

-Almost nothing has changed since you both moved to different schools, except for the fact that the old dean is back and soon it will look like a concentration camp.

-How come? - the second boy asked.

-Because the old crazy man wants to improve the discipline in classes and at the school at all. We have to bring our personal school cards everyday to school.

Their conversation lasted for an hour and a half because the boys had a work to do. The three of them left the café and decided that they would call each other to meet again in the close future.

Kris continued his monotonous life as if nothing had happened. He was hanging out with the same old friends, talkingabout the same old things and visiting the same old places. In spite of his sedentary life, the boy had hope in his life- his father was high in the hierarchy of the judicial system and Kris was a member of the political party ATAKA.

One day as he was driving his car- BMW 320 with the radio set on “Veselina” station-the most popular chalga station in Bulgaria, Kris saw people from his old section. They were walking near the boulevard; they were laughing and talking loudly. He wanted to stop and say hi to them, but after that regretted it because these people were not as cool as him anymore. After a bit of driving Kris reached the home of the girl he met in the café. She came down and got in his car. Her name was Penka. She was a tall girl with blond hair and blue eyes. The main difference between these two young people was that she was an intelligent and a diligent young girl, while Kris was satisfied with what he had and did not have ambitions for much more in the close future.

The couple used to go to some restaurant or café and to talk about different subjects of life, but there was nothing more than a friendship between them even though he was in love with her. This was one of Kris’s main problems- he was afraid to show his feelings to other people.

Time passed and some of his friends went to study and live in foreign countries, but he did not leave the country. Kris did not want to change his habits and living environment and even continued living with his parents. The only thing that changed in his life was that he became a candidate for a member of the parliament as a member of his party ATAKA.

After five years there was a meeting of the people that studied together until seventh grade. There Kris met people whose faces he had even forgotten. His closest friends from childhood were there and they were happy to meet again and chat about their life.

- How are doing guys? – Do you have a job? - one of them asked.

- I’m fine; I just graduated in England and I will continue working there for several years. – Gaco replied.

- I’m okay too; I am going to study in a culinary academy in London for the next two years. - Baco answered.

The conversation was long and exciting because everyone was eager to understand about the life of his old friends and to remember his childhood by telling some jokes or stories from the past. The only person who was anxious in this situation was Kris. It was so not because of his bad childhood memories, but because of the fact that he did not graduate university and his only hope for the future is to become a member of the parliament and to steal Bulgarian people’s money.