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[Alexandr Korol]

and everything is wonderful. And at that time, naturally, I had different groups of friends, and some of my friends were total troublemakers. They always used to say to me, “So, how’s it going? Still watching for your aliens out the window?” They joked like that, with rough humor, always teasing me. And back then I was very quiet, modest. I’d joke back, like, “Leave me alone.” And so I met up with these guys, and again they were laughing at me, and I said to them, “Well, we’ll see who’s laughing soon. You have no idea what just happened.” They asked, “What?” I said, “There’s a grandma named Tamara...” I think one of them was named Ilya. Anyway, I said, “There’s this old lady – a keeper of the keys – who’s supposed to give me the keys to paradise. And when she gives them to me, then we’ll all have a good laugh. And we’ll see who’s laughing, you or me.” And that’s when the guys realized, “Okay, Korol’s definitely lost it.” They joked to some of my relatives saying, “Alex is really starting to freak us out. He’s definitely gone off the rails,” but still... why react like that? I wasn’t doing anything crazy — I wasn’t climbing cathedral crosses naked at night or anything. I was always very well-mannered. But that’s the kind of reaction they had. And then what? About a month later I called my friend Vlad and said:

– Hey, Vlad, what are you up to? Let’s meet up.
– I can’t.
– Why not?
– Well, you know I’ve got health issues, diabetes. My mom found some healer woman. We have to go see her. We’re leaving early Thursday morning because it’s a long drive to the Pskov region.
– Where?
– To the Pskov region.
– Where exactly?
– To a village called Opochka.
– What’s the woman’s name?
– Tamara.
– That’s the keeper of the keys to paradise!
– Well, want to come with us?
– Of course I want to.