Maxim Votchitsev receives a letter from an unfamiliar girl at his just opened mailing address. She claims that they have known each other for a long time, and is offended by the long silence. "A stupid joke or a funny fool?" - Maxim is perplexed. And the scanned newspaper article sent that he, Maxim Votchitsev, is an astronaut and was awarded by the Sovereign Emperor for a flight to Mars, completely throws him off balance. His wife Katya comes to help Maxim understand the strange story, and at the same time understand himself.

(The story was published by Amadeus Publishing LLC, series “On the Other Side”, No. 9 (23), 2006 )

(Author's edition)