Byvshiy vratar' Yozef Blokh, bestsel'no slonyayas' po Vene, znakomitsya s kassirshey kinoteatra, ostayetsya u neye na noch', a utrom dushit yeye. Posle on bezhit v malen'kiy gorodok, gde, zataivshis', cherez politseyskiye svodki v gazetakh sledit za proiskhodyashchim, ponimaya, chto yego presledovateli vse blizhe i blizhe..."Strakh vratarya pered odinnadtsatimetrovym" (1970) – samaya izvestnaya povest' Khandke o vratare, propustivshem gol. Gol, kotoryy dal treshchinu v yego zhizni.