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Chapter 1. Let’s Go!

The car door swung open and a girl jumped inside. She greeted him cheerfully, introduced herself as “Masha,” settled into the seat for comfort, and eagerly commanded: “Let’s go!!”

The driver — a man who looked to be in his fifties — gave a sullen nod and pressed the accelerator.

— Excuse me, how much will the ride cost? My phone died and I didn’t get a chance to check the fare.

The driver, without turning around, replied:

— In our company, the transportation fee is called a “navlon,” and it comes to one obol.

The girl agreed cheerfully:

— Navlon it is, then.

She began rummaging purposefully through her purse. As the search continued — apparently without success — the carefree amusement on her face slowly gave way to worry:

— Oh, what is this? My phone’s dead, and my wallet’s gone missing somewhere. How am I supposed to pay?

The taxi driver replied calmly, with almost an air of indifference:

— Don’t worry. Search more carefully and calmly. In our line of work, it can’t happen that someone has not even a single obol. Otherwise we simply would not have accepted the ride, and you’d have had to use another carrier.

Masha dove back into her search. A couple of minutes later, she reported proudly and triumphantly:

— I didn’t find the wallet, but there is one obol hiding at the bottom of my bag after all. As if it always knew it was destined for something special. The girl laughed with delight.

— Oh. But I’ll need to get back too. What then? I have no money. Can you drive me back afterward? I’ll pay you on the spot — Mama will bring an obol out.

— No, I can’t. Company policy is we only go one way, to one address. So no matter how much money you have, you’re only ever getting one ride.

— Fine. We’ll deal with challenges as they come.

— Problems.

— What?

— The correct phrase is “deal with problems as they come.”

— No, no, no. Let others deal with problems. I deal with challenges. What people call problems are mostly just their negative interpretation of events. Meanwhile, they complain about having problems without ever solving them. I prefer to see challenges, not problems. That way I don’t get stuck in the negative — I keep moving forward.