Anna, Like Thunder

For my mother, Irene, and my grandparents,

Anatolii and Marusya, with gratitude

for the stories that got me started

When I told her that her spouse would free the captives only on condition of an exchange for herself, Mrs. Bulygin gave us an answer that struck us like a clap of thunder, an answer we could not believe for several minutes, taking it all for a dream. In horror, distress, and anger, we heard her say firmly that she was satisfied with her condition, did not want to join us, and that she advised us to surrender ourselves to this people.

—TIMOFEI TARAKANOV^{1}