I started writing at thirteen. Who was I? A boy who didn't read books out of spite because my parents forced me to. A hopeless romantic (which I still am) with all my naivety and spontaneity. An eternally bullied seventh-grader, constantly suffering humiliation from school 'non-friends,' with no one to stand up for me. And constantly thinking about death. And about whether to kill my tormentors. Or myself. Finally, a loyal friend and follower of my cousin Pavel, with whom everything suddenly became shared: interests, hobbies, friends. Around the same time we became friends, Pavel's dad died. He climbed into a pit while drunk and fell headfirst, dying an hour later. He was forty. I felt so sorry for him. My brother and I thought then that alcohol wouldn't ruin our lives. Later, Pavel told me that I had practically replaced his father, became his best friend, and almost a brother. He loved to read, and I started to love it too. He began writing books himself. And I started too. We are both still writing to this day! We are still the same boys! My first work was 'Tyrants' — a futuristic story about space wars. But in essence, it was nonsense. Well, what's to be expected, if I basically started reading with books from the 'Hollywood Bestsellers' series, which my brother was so into. These were books written based on (or from which were filmed) all the American movies so popular at that time here and in the world. But I am so grateful to those books! They not only inspired me to create my own work, but they sparked my passion for reading, which later, over time, led me to more serious literature. Pavel, reading my first 'creation,' laughed until he had cramps at some mistakes, sometimes quite stupid ones. Or he just teased me. For me, it was all serious, and I sometimes got angry and offended by him. But sometimes I laughed along with him. At those same thirteen, we had a group: the two of us and Pavel's classmates — Vovchik, Natashka, and Mashka. Of course, we all had our 'almost first love' then. And we all liked each other. I liked Natasha, Natasha liked Vovchik and Pavel, Pavel liked Masha, Masha liked me and Vovchik, Vovchik liked Natasha. That's how we hung out for almost two years. Always exciting meetings, love letters, reading horoscopes. Admiring the stars together, night walks. Hours, days, weeks — all the time together. BE CAREFUL AND VIGILANT ON THE ROADS! A good acquaintance of mine from the faculty, Kolya, likes to say this phrase: 'When you feel really bad, just imagine that someone else is having an even worse time right now, and you will feel better.' Kind Kolya, right?! But, in essence, that is exactly the situation I see on Cape Town roads. They drive worse here than we do. And we think it can't get any worse. It can! Hooray! (just kidding... about the 'hooray'). So. If you end up in South Africa, look both ways. Remember that not only is there left-hand traffic here, like in England, but drivers think they are always right and behave LITERALLY as if pedestrians should yield to them everywhere and anywhere. Otherwise, you risk being run over. I was actually almost flattened into the asphalt once, and several other times they honked and cursed after me because, you see, I didn't want to wait for 'their highness' to pass. According to all traffic rules, they are wrong, but they won't let anyone pass! Lack of culture, damn it! That's it. Keep this in mind, and never forget it when you are in South Africa!!!