Vasilich and His Latin American Friends

by Boris Bakhmetyev

On a late December evening, a sharp telephone ring cut through the silence in the office of the company’s top executive. Cactus Vasilich jerked in surprise. Normally, all calls were routed to the reception area, where they were answered by the executive’s secretary, Iskrina Romanovna.

From the distinctive sharpness of the ring, Vasilich realized the call was coming from abroad. A moment later, Iskrina Romanovna rushed into the office and spoke in an agitated tone:

“Cactus Vasilich! It’s a call from a friendly Latin American country. On the line is Pikolas Wilduro, a longtime friend of our top executive and the owner of a unique cactus plantation. He’s in a very difficult—one might even say bewildering—situation. His neighbors from aggressive, unfriendly countries are groundlessly accusing him of distilling tequila not from blue agave, but directly from cacti. And allegedly, this drink is poisoning all of America!”

Under unprecedented external pressure, Pikolas is asking to consider the possibility of his urgent evacuation from Latin America—preferably together with the most valuable cacti from his collection.

Upon learning that you, Cactus Vasilich, are now effectively in charge of the office during our executive’s untimely illness, Pikolas refused to speak with any of the deputies and asked to be connected directly to you.

Vasilich listened attentively to his Latin American friend, as a true champion of the downtrodden and wronged. Of course, he could not abandon either Pikolas or his distant botanical kin to the mercy of false accusations and the aggression threatening them. He promised to resolve the matter immediately.

Right then, through Iskrina Romanovna, Cactus Vasilich issued an order to prepare a separate room in the office for the guests from Latin America. Perhaps in the former office of Evgeny Vasilyevich, a modest employee who had fallen into a coma—whose spirit, though growing ever weaker, still occasionally manifested itself within Vasilich.

December 9, 2025