Southern Bohemia myth in english

Milan Veselovsky was a relatively happy man in his 40’s living in South Bohemia in Czech Republic. They were five in his family, his beloved wife Marta and three children, two boys and a younger girl, who was just about to start her school when the following incident happened.

South Bohemia is a more abandoned part of the country, not many people live there. The main reasons are insufficient work and educational opportunities. The majority of the habitants moved to big cities in the middle of the country. It seems that time had stopped in there, since people are still living in big wooden country houses, breeding animals, farming, heating with black and brown coal and keeping all the Czech traditions. The whole area is well known for its ubiquitous lakes full of various types of freshwater fish and due to often rains, surrounded by astonishing green colour created by neighbouring fauna. However, the whole landscape is a little disturbed by mined out colliery with ugly buildings and rusted vehicles left inside.Milan was lucky to get a job in the only factory that was opened recently in nearby village. This weapons plant concentrated all the people from broad neighbourhood, so everybody knew each other at the work place. All the workers had to get up very early since the factory shuttle bus was stopping in each village only once during the morning. Naturally Milan did not like this duty especially in the winters, when the day was so short and he had to get up and come back home in the dark. The only thing he was looking forward was a couple of beers with his colleges and friends after work. He was telling them his life stories and everybody loved it since he was gifted in this way and was never boring.Milan loved to be believed and most importantly credible. It was absolutely unimaginable for him to stand in front of his friends and tell lies. All the people knew it and that was the reason why everybody loved to listen to his stories without any doubt of falsity. Milan used to walk back home through a field with an enclosed lake after their nights at the pub. He enjoyed it even if it was his everyday routine. He always found a way to entertain himself. In the summer the weather used to be dry so he was counting the falling stars, collecting apples that he found on the ground. On the contrary, in the winter he had an unusual passion to walk in somebody else’s footprints in the snow and trying to guess where the particular stranger had gone.On one very cold calm night, they just finished drinking in the pub and everybody was returning to their warm houses. Milan got out of the pub and while he was standing at the last step of the entrance, he looked at the dark blue sky enlightened by millions of little stars. No wind, no clouds just peace and quiet. He went down the street and then turned towards the field with the lake. With his head down, trying to find the right footprints in the snow, he was walking slowly and listening to the noise of cracking snow under his feet. Suddenly he found what he wanted and begun to follow somebody else’s path. After few minutes of his silent walk, he stopped with his eyes widely open. At this moment he was not able to move, speak or anything else. He could not believe what was just in front of him. The footprints ended at one point and did not continue in any other direction. Milan closed his eyes and looked at the footprints again but nothing had changed. He was very confused and did not know what to think. It did not take him long to decide he does not want to stay there any longer and wants to be home as soon as possible. So he started running and finally he reached the door of his wooden house but breathless, gasping and not able to speak. When he got in, his wife stared at him for a while and then started to ask him all the typically feminine questions. He ignored it. Marta was becoming crazy and started to shout at him. However he just got off his dirty clothes and ran up to his bedroom.Next morning Milan left the house earlier than usually because he did not want to be late for work in virtue of the heavy snow. He jumped on the bus full of enthusiasm and very much looking forward for his friend’s reactions after he tells them his strange night experience. Unfortunately, what was his surprise when nobody believed him? Even his best friend told him to calm down and stop lying. Suddenly Milan felt such an injustice and anger. Finally he came up with a perfect solution and became concerned about the fact that he can prove them it was not a lie. The footprints must be still there. After a short period of excitement, he was disappointed again when he realised that it was snowing this morning and his only evidence would be covered with tons of white snow.Days passed and Milan became more and more introverted. He stopped chatting with his friends at work and did not go to the pub anymore since he thought everybody was considering him a liar. One day his colleges found out he definitely resigned from his job. As a consequence he started to argue with his wife more often. A complete trauma for his sensitive personality was the fact she wanted to divorce him.One sunny morning a deer hunter came to Milan’s house. His wife was home alone. He told her he was very sorry but her husband had been found frozen surrounded by 3 bottles of vodka. She burst out crying even she was angry with him at the same time. Nobody really understood why did he do it but people were missing his stories. The spring was about to begin when all his friends and family gathered to attend his funeral. Not long after, when all the snow and ice already melted, a dead man was found in that lake near to Milan’s house. His death was dated exactly to that time, Milan was following the footprints and the place corresponded as well. All the people suddenly realised what had happened that night. A man was walking on the ice and because it was not yet strong enough, it cracked and when he felt in, it closed after him and kept the exact shape as before. That is why there were no other marks on the ground. Everything was so smooth.After being informed about the dead body, all Milan’s friends were feeling guilty. They all knew about his sensitivity and vulnerability but nobody cared when it was important to care.