Irina Mikhailovna Pivovarova
Stories by Lucy Sinitsyna (collection)
© Pivovarova I.M., inheritance, 2017
© Venerable K.O., ill., 2017
© AST Publishing House LLC, 2017
Stories by Lucy Sinitsina
What is my head thinking?
If you think that I study well, you are mistaken. I study no matter. For some reason, everyone thinks that I am capable, but lazy. I don't know if I'm capable or not. But only I know for sure that I am not lazy. I spend three hours working on problems.
For example, now I’m sitting and trying with all my might to solve a problem. But she doesn’t dare. I tell my mom:
- Mom, I can’t do the problem.
“Don’t be lazy,” says mom. – Think carefully, and everything will work out. Just think carefully!
She leaves on business. And I take my head with both hands and tell her:
- Think, head. Think carefully... “Two pedestrians went from point A to point B...” Head, why don’t you think? Well, head, well, think, please! Well what is it worth to you!
A cloud floats outside the window. It is as light as feathers. There it stopped. No, it floats on.
Head, what are you thinking about?! Aren `t you ashamed!!! “Two pedestrians went from point A to point B...” Lyuska probably left too. She's already walking. If she had approached me first, I would, of course, forgive her. But will she really fit, such a mischief?!
“From point A to point B...” No, it won’t do. On the contrary, when I go out into the yard, she will take Lena’s arm and whisper to her. Then she will say: “Len, come to me, I have something.” They will leave, and then sit on the windowsill and laugh and nibble on seeds.
“Two pedestrians left point A to point B...” And what will I do?.. And then I’ll call Kolya, Petka and Pavlik to play lapta. What will she do?.. Yeah, she’ll put on the record “Three Fat Men.” Yes, so loud that Kolya, Petka and Pavlik will hear and run to ask her to let them listen. They've listened to it a hundred times, but it's not enough for them! And then Lyuska will close the window, and they will all listen to the record there.
“From point A to point... to point...” And then I’ll take it and fire something right at her window. Glass - ding! - and will fly apart. Let him know.
So. I'm already tired of thinking. Think, don’t think – the task will not work. Just an awfully difficult task! I'll take a walk a little and start thinking again.
I closed the book and looked out the window. Lyuska was walking alone in the yard. She jumped into hopscotch. I went out into the yard and sat down on a bench. Lyuska didn’t even look at me.
- Earring! Vitka! – Lyuska immediately screamed. - Let's go play lapta!
The Karmanov brothers looked out the window.
“We have a throat,” both brothers said hoarsely. - They won’t let us in.
- Lena! - Lyuska screamed. - Linen! Come out!
Instead of Lena, her grandmother looked out and shook her finger at Lyuska.
- Pavlik! - Lyuska screamed.
No one appeared at the window.
- Fuck it! – Lyuska pressed herself.
- Girl, why are you yelling?! – someone’s head poked out of the window. – A sick person is not allowed to rest! There is no peace for you! - And his head stuck back into the window.
Lyuska looked at me furtively and blushed like a lobster. She tugged at her pigtail. Then she took the thread off her sleeve. Then she looked at the tree and said:
- Lucy, let's play hopscotch.
“Come on,” I said.
We jumped into hopscotch and I went home to solve my problem.
As soon as I sat down at the table, my mother came:
- Well, how’s the problem?
- Does not work.
“But you’ve been sitting over her for two hours already!” This is just terrible! They give the children some puzzles!.. Well, come on, show your problem! Maybe I can do it? After all, I graduated from college... So... “Two pedestrians went from point A to point B...” Wait, wait, this problem is somehow familiar to me!.. Listen, you and your dad solved it last time! I remember perfectly!
- How? – I was surprised. – Really?.. Oh, really, this is the forty-fifth task, and we were given the forty-sixth.
At this point my mother became terribly angry.
- It's outrageous! - Mom said. - This is unheard of! This mess! Where is your head? What is she thinking about?!
“Greetings from the far north!”
“Let’s highlight prefixes and suffixes in words,” said Vera Evstigneevna. – We will highlight prefixes with wavy lines, and suffixes with straight lines...
I sat and looked at the board. Nearby, Lyuska, looking smart, was writing something in a notebook.
I was bored. Prefixes - suffixes, suffixes - prefixes... A cat meowed outside the window. I wonder why she's meowing? Did they step on her tail, or what?.. Prefixes - suffixes, suffixes - prefixes... Boring!
“Take pencils and underline,” said Vera Evstigneevna.
I took a pencil, looked at Lyuska and, instead of underlining, wrote on the blotter:
Hello, dear Lyudmila Ivanovna!
Lyuska carefully highlighted suffixes and prefixes in her notebook. She has nothing to do! I started writing further.
Your former school friend Lyudmila Semyonovna writes to you from afar. Greetings from the distant North!
Lyuska glanced sideways at my blotter and again began highlighting the attachments.
...How are your children Seryozha and Kostya doing? Your Seryozha is very handsome. And your Kostya is very smart and wonderful. I just fell in love with him at first sight! He's so talented, it's terrifying! He writes books for children because he is a writer. And your son Seryozha is a janitor. Because although he is handsome, he is stupid. He studied poorly and was kicked out of the institute.
Lyuska cast a worried glance at my blotter. Apparently she was worried about what I was writing there?
...And your husband Sindibober Filimondrovich is very angry. He is all gray, and walks with a long beard, and beats you with a stick, and I don’t feel sorry for you at all!
Then I burst out laughing, and Lyuska looked sideways at me with displeasure again.
...And you yourself are already an old lady. You're fat as a barrel and thin as a skeleton, and you're missing one tooth in front.
Then I started choking with laughter. Lyuska looked at me with hatred.
...But everything is still the same with us. We live far from you, and we don’t miss you, and we don’t notice any prefixes or suffixes. This is all rubbish and nonsense, and we don’t ever want to teach this!
“Sooooo...” I suddenly heard behind me and went cold. Next to me, out of nowhere, the figure of Vera Evstigneevna grew up!
I quickly covered the blotter with my hands.
- So-o-o-o. The whole class is studying, and Sinitsyna, as always, is passionate about other things. Give me what you write here! Faster Faster!
I had already managed to crumple up the blotter, but Vera Evstigneevna’s hand imperiously extended... Vera Evstigneevna took the blotter out of my sweaty palm and unfolded it.
– I wonder what we do in class?
The teacher smoothed out the blotter and, slightly throwing her head back, began to read:
- “Hello, dear, dear Lyudmila Ivanovna!..”
The class became wary.
“By the way, a comma is placed before the address,” Vera Evstigneevna said in an icy voice. - “...Your former school friend Lyudmila Semyonovna is writing to you from afar...”
The class chuckled quietly.
- “Greetings from the distant North!” – Vera Evstigneevna said with a calm face.
The class laughed. I didn't know where to fall. And Vera Evstigneevna read loudly and clearly:
- “How are your children Seryozha and Kostya? Your Seryozha is very handsome. And your Kostya..."
Something unimaginable was happening to the class.
– “...and he was expelled from the institute. And your husband Si... Cindy..." How? There is something unclear here...
“Cindybobber,” I said quietly. Something terrible was happening to my ears. They made my whole head feel hot and unpleasant.
- How-a-a-ha?!
The class froze for a second.
“Cindybobber,” I repeated. - Sindibober Filimondrovich...
And then the class seemed to explode. Everyone laughed out loud. How crazy!
Valka Dlinnokhvostova, who was sitting to my left, all red as a lobster, squealed thinly and shrilly. Ivanov, his eyes bulging and his mouth open, rolled around on his desk. And fat Burakov fell right off his desk laughing like a sack.
Only Vera Evstigneevna did not laugh.
- Get up, Burakov! – she ordered. - I do not see anything funny! And in general, stop the noise in the classroom!
Burakov immediately jumped up. The laughter stopped, as if on command. In complete silence, the teacher finished reading my blotter.
“Well,” said the teacher. – Now everything is clear to me. I always suspected, Sinitsyna, that for you the prefixes and suffixes are “dirty and nonsense.” And not just prefixes and suffixes!
The class became wary again. Sima Korostyleva listened with her mouth open to every word of Vera Evstigneevna and looked from me to her and back.
WHAT IS MY HEAD THINKING?
Stories by Lucy Sinitsyna,
third grade students
Drawings by E. Popkova Foreword by L. Yakhnin
STORIES
ABOUT MY FRIEND AND A LITTLE ABOUT ME
Our yard was large. There were a lot of different children walking in our yard - both boys and girls. But most of all I loved Lyuska. She was my friend. She and I lived in neighboring apartments, and at school we sat at the same desk.
My friend Lyuska had straight yellow hair. And she had eyes!.. You probably won’t believe what kind of eyes she had. One eye is green, like grass. And the other one is completely yellow, with brown spots!
And my eyes were kind of gray. Well, just gray, that's all. Completely uninteresting eyes! And my hair was stupid - curly and short. And huge freckles on my nose. And in general, everything with Lyuska was better than with me. Only I was taller.
I was terribly proud of it. I really liked it when people called us “Big Lyuska” and “Little Lyuska” in the yard.
And suddenly Lyuska grew up. And it became unclear which of us is big and which is small.
And then she grew another half head.
Well, that was too much! I was offended by her, and we stopped walking together in the yard. At school, I didn’t look in her direction, and she didn’t look in mine, and everyone was very surprised and said: “A black cat ran between the Lyuskas,” and pestered us about why we had quarreled.
After school, I no longer went out into the yard. There was nothing for me to do there.
I wandered around the house and found no place for myself. To make things less boring, I secretly watched from behind the curtain as Lyuska played rounders with Pavlik, Petka and the Karmanov brothers.
At lunch and dinner I now asked for more. I choked and ate everything... Every day I pressed the back of my head against the wall and marked my height on it with a red pencil. But strange thing! It turned out that not only was I not growing, but, on the contrary, I had even decreased by almost two millimeters!
And then summer came, and I went to a pioneer camp.
In the camp, I kept remembering Lyuska and missing her.
And I wrote her a letter.
Hello, Lucy!
How are you? I'm doing well. We have a lot of fun at camp. The Vorya river flows next to us. The water there is blue-blue! And there are shells on the shore. I found a very beautiful shell for you. It is round and with stripes. You'll probably find it useful. Lucy, if you want, let's be friends again. Let them now call you big and me small. I still agree. Please write me the answer.
Pioneer greetings!
Lyusya Sinitsyna
I waited a whole week for an answer. I kept thinking: what if she doesn’t write to me! What if she never wants to be friends with me again!.. And when a letter finally arrived from Lyuska, I was so happy that my hands even shook a little.
The letter said this:
Hello, Lucy!
Thank you, I'm doing well. Yesterday my mother bought me wonderful slippers with white piping. I also have a new big ball, you'll really get pumped! Come quickly, otherwise Pavlik and Petka are such fools, it’s no fun to be with them! Be careful not to lose the shell.
With pioneer salute!
Lyusya Kositsyna
That day I carried Lyuska’s blue envelope with me until the evening. I told everyone what a wonderful friend I have in Moscow, Lyuska.
And when I returned from the camp, Lyuska and my parents met me at the station. She and I rushed to hug... And then it turned out that I had outgrown Lyuska by a whole head.
"SECRETICS"
Do you know how to make secrets?
If you don't know how, I'll teach you.
Take a clean piece of glass and dig a hole in the ground. Place a candy wrapper in the hole, and on the candy wrapper - everything that is beautiful.
You can put a stone
fragment of a plate,
bird feather,
ball (can be glass, can be metal).
You can use an acorn or an acorn cap.
You can use a multi-colored shred.
You can have a flower, a leaf, or even just grass.
Maybe real candy.
You can have elderberry, dried beetle.
You can even use an eraser if it’s pretty.
Yes, you can also add a button if it’s shiny.
Here you go. Did you put it in?
Now cover it all with glass and cover it with earth. And then slowly clear away the soil with your finger and look into the hole... You know how beautiful it will be! I made a “secret”, remembered the place and
These are stories about the “difficult” school life. Stories for reading in grades 1, 2, 3 and 4. Stories for elementary school.
Funny stories by Irina Pivovarova
If you think that I study well, then you are mistaken. I study no matter. For some reason, everyone thinks that I am capable, but lazy. I don't know if I'm capable or not. But only I know for sure that I am not lazy. I spend three hours working on problems. For example, now I’m sitting and trying with all my might to solve a problem. But she doesn’t dare. I tell my mom:
- Mom, I can’t do the problem.
“Don’t be lazy,” says mom. - Think carefully, and everything will work out. Just think carefully!
She leaves on business. And I take my head with both hands and tell her:
- Think, head. Think carefully... “Two pedestrians went from point A to point B...” Head, why don’t you think? Well, head, well, think, please! Well what is it worth to you!
A cloud floats outside the window. It is as light as feathers. There it stopped. No, it floats on.
“Head, what are you thinking about?! Aren `t you ashamed!!! Two pedestrians went from point A to point B...” Lyuska probably left too. She's already walking. If she had approached me first, I would, of course, forgive her. But will she really fit, such a mischief?!
“...From point A to point B...” No, she won’t do. On the contrary, when I go out into the yard, she will take Lena’s arm and whisper to her. Then she will say: “Len, come to me, I have something.” They will leave, and then sit on the windowsill and laugh and nibble on seeds.
“...Two pedestrians left point A to point B...” And what will I do?.. And then I’ll call Kolya, Petka and Pavlik to play lapta. What will she do?.. Yeah, she’ll put on the record “Three Fat Men.” Yes, so loud that Kolya, Petka and Pavlik will hear and run to ask her to let them listen. They've listened to it a hundred times, but it's not enough for them! And then Lyuska will close the window, and they will all listen to the record there.
“...From point A to point... to point...” And then I’ll take it and fire something right at her window. Glass - ding! - and will fly apart. Let him know!
So. I'm already tired of thinking. Think, don’t think, the task will not work. Just an awfully difficult task! I'll take a walk a little and start thinking again.
I closed the book and looked out the window. Lyuska was walking alone in the yard. She jumped into hopscotch. I went out into the yard and sat down on a bench. Lyuska didn’t even look at me.
- Earring! Vitka! - Lyuska immediately shouted. “Let’s go play lapta!”
The Karmanov brothers looked out the window.
“We have a throat,” both brothers said hoarsely. - They won’t let us in.
- Lena! - Lyuska screamed. - Linen! Come out!
Instead of Lena, her grandmother looked out and threatened
Lyuska with a finger.
- Pavlik! - Lyuska screamed.
No one appeared at the window.
- Fuck it! - Lyuska pressed herself.
- Girl, why are you yelling?! — someone’s head poked out of the window. - A sick person is not allowed to rest! There is no peace for you! - And his head stuck back into the window.
Lyuska looked at me furtively and blushed like a lobster. She tugged at her pigtail. Then she took the thread off her sleeve. Then she looked at the tree and said:
- Lucy, let's play hopscotch.
“Come on,” I said.
We jumped into hopscotch and I went home to solve my problem. As soon as I sat down at the table, my mother came.
- Well, how's the problem?
- Does not work.
“But you’ve been sitting over her for two hours already!” This is just terrible! They give the children some puzzles!.. Well, come on, show us your problem! Maybe I can do it? After all, I graduated from college... So... “Two pedestrians went from point A to point B...” Wait, wait, this task is somehow familiar to me!.. Listen, you did it last time I decided with my dad! I remember perfectly!
- How? - I was surprised. - Really?.. Oh, really, this is the forty-fifth task, and we were given the forty-sixth.
At this point my mother became terribly angry.
- It's outrageous! - said mom. “This is unheard of!” This mess! Where is your head?! What is she thinking about?!
I didn't want to study lessons yesterday. It was so sunny outside! Such a warm yellow sun! Such branches were swaying outside the window!.. I wanted to stretch out my hand and touch every sticky green leaf. Oh, how your hands will smell! And your fingers will stick together - you won’t be able to separate them from each other... No, I didn’t want to learn my homework.
I went outside. The sky above me was fast. Clouds were hurrying along it somewhere, and sparrows were chirping terribly loudly in the trees, and a big fluffy cat was warming itself on a bench, and it was so good that it was spring!
I walked in the yard until the evening, and in the evening mom and dad went to the theater, and I, without having done my homework, went to bed.
The morning was dark, so dark that I didn’t want to get up at all. It's always like this. If it's sunny, I jump up immediately. I get dressed quickly. And the coffee is delicious, and mom doesn’t grumble, and dad jokes. And when the morning is like today, I can barely get dressed, my mother urges me on and gets angry. And when I have breakfast, dad makes comments to me that I’m sitting crookedly at the table.
On the way to school, I remembered that I had not done a single lesson, and this made me feel even worse. Without looking at Lyuska, I sat down at my desk and took out my textbooks.
Vera Evstigneevna entered. The lesson has begun. They'll call me now.
- Sinitsyna, to the board!
I shuddered. Why should I go to the board?
“I didn’t learn it,” I said.
Vera Evstigneevna was surprised and gave me a bad grade.
Why do I have such a bad life in the world?! I'd rather take it and die. Then Vera Evstigneevna will regret that she gave me a bad mark. And mom and dad will cry and tell everyone:
“Oh, why did we go to the theater ourselves, and leave her all alone!”
Suddenly they pushed me in the back. I turned around. A note was thrust into my hands. I unfolded the long narrow paper ribbon and read:
Don't despair!!!
A deuce is nothing!!!
You will correct the deuce!
I will help you! Let's be friends with you! Only this is a secret! Not a word to anyone!!!
Yalo-kvo-kyl.”
It was as if something warm was poured into me immediately. I was so happy that I even laughed. Lyuska looked at me, then at the note and proudly turned away.
Did someone really write this to me? Or maybe this note is not for me? Maybe she is Lyuska? But on the reverse side there was: LYUSE SINITSYNA.
What a wonderful note! I have never received such wonderful notes in my life! Well, of course, a deuce is nothing! What are you talking about?! I'll just fix the two!
I re-read it twenty times:
“Let’s be friends with you...”
Well, of course! Of course, let's be friends! Let's be friends with you!! Please! I am very happy! I really love it when people want to be friends with me!..
But who writes this? Some kind of YALO-KVO-KYL. Confused word. I wonder what it means? And why does this YALO-KVO-KYL want to be friends with me?.. Maybe I’m beautiful after all?
I looked at the desk. There was nothing beautiful.
He probably wanted to be friends with me because I’m good. So, am I bad, or what? Of course it's good! After all, no one wants to be friends with a bad person!
To celebrate, I nudged Lyuska with my elbow.
- Lucy, but one person wants to be friends with me!
- Who? - Lyuska asked immediately.
- I don’t know who. The writing here is somehow unclear.
- Show me, I'll figure it out.
- Honestly, won’t you tell anyone?
- Honestly!
Lyuska read the note and pursed her lips:
- Some fool wrote it! I couldn't say my real name.
- Or maybe he’s shy?
I looked around the whole class. Who could have written the note? Well, who?.. It would be nice, Kolya Lykov! He is the smartest in our class. Everyone wants to be his friend. But I have so many C’s! No, he probably won't.
Or maybe Yurka Seliverstov wrote this?.. No, he and I are already friends. He would send me a note out of the blue!
During recess I went out into the corridor. I stood by the window and began to wait. It would be nice if this YALO-KVO-KYL made friends with me right now!
Pavlik Ivanov came out of the class and immediately walked towards me.
So, that means Pavlik wrote this? Only this was not enough!
Pavlik ran up to me and said:
- Sinitsyna, give me ten kopecks.
I gave him ten kopecks so that he would get rid of it as soon as possible. Pavlik immediately ran to the buffet, and I stayed by the window. But no one else came.
Suddenly Burakov began walking past me. It seemed to me that he was looking at me strangely. He stopped nearby and began to look out the window. So, that means Burakov wrote the note?! Then I'd better leave right away. I can't stand this Burakov!
“The weather is terrible,” said Burakov.
I didn't have time to leave.
“Yes, the weather is bad,” I said.
“The weather couldn’t be worse,” said Burakov.
“Terrible weather,” I said.
Then Burakov took an apple out of his pocket and bit off half with a crunch.
“Burakov, let me take a bite,” I couldn’t resist.
“But it’s bitter,” said Burakov and walked down the corridor.
No, he didn't write the note. And thank God! You won’t find another greedy person like him in the whole world!
I looked after him contemptuously and went to class. I walked in and was stunned. On the board it was written in huge letters:
SECRET!!! YALO-KVO-KYL + SINITSYNA = LOVE!!! NOT A WORD TO ANYONE!
Lyuska was whispering with the girls in the corner. When I walked in, they all stared at me and started giggling.
I grabbed a rag and rushed to wipe the board.
Then Pavlik Ivanov jumped up to me and whispered in my ear:
- I wrote you a note.
- You're lying, not you!
Then Pavlik laughed like a fool and yelled at the whole class:
- Oh, hilarious! Why be friends with you?! All covered in freckles, like a cuttlefish! Stupid tit!
And then, before I had time to look back, Yurka Seliverstov jumped up to him and hit this idiot right in the head with a wet rag. Pavlik howled:
- Ah well! I'll tell everyone! I’ll tell everyone, everyone, everyone about her, how she receives notes! And I’ll tell everyone about you! It was you who sent her the note! - And he ran out of the class with a stupid cry: - Yalo-kvo-kyl! Yalo-quo-kyl!
The lessons are over. Nobody ever approached me. Everyone quickly collected their textbooks, and the classroom was empty. Kolya Lykov and I were left alone. Kolya still couldn’t tie his shoelace.
The door creaked. Yurka Seliverstov stuck his head into the classroom, looked at me, then at Kolya and, without saying anything, left.
But what if? What if Kolya wrote this after all? Is it really Kolya?! What happiness if Kolya! My throat immediately went dry.
“Kol, please tell me,” I barely squeezed out, “it’s not you, by chance...”
I didn’t finish because I suddenly saw Kolya’s ears and neck turn red.
- Oh you! - Kolya said without looking at me. - I thought you... And you...
- Kolya! - I screamed. - Well, I...
“You’re a chatterbox, that’s what,” said Kolya. -Your tongue is like a broom. And I don't want to be friends with you anymore. What else was missing!
Kolya finally managed to pull the lace, stood up and left the classroom. And I sat down in my place.
I'm not going anywhere. It's raining so badly outside the window. And my fate is so bad, so bad that it can’t get any worse! I'll sit here until nightfall. And I will sit at night. Alone in a dark classroom, alone in the whole dark school. That's what I need.
Aunt Nyura came in with a bucket.
“Go home, honey,” said Aunt Nyura. — At home, my mother was tired of waiting.
“No one was waiting for me at home, Aunt Nyura,” I said and trudged out of class.
My bad fate! Lyuska is no longer my friend. Vera Evstigneevna gave me a bad grade. Kolya Lykov... I didn’t even want to remember about Kolya Lykov.
I slowly put on my coat in the locker room and, barely dragging my feet, went out into the street...
It was wonderful, the best spring rain in the world!!!
Funny, wet passers-by were running down the street with their collars raised!!!
And on the porch, right in the rain, stood Kolya Lykov.
“Let's go,” he said.
Children's writer Irina Mikhailovna Pivovarova was born in 1939 in Moscow in the family of a doctor. Her father wanted her to become a doctor. However, Ira loved poetry since childhood, drew beautifully, and after graduating from school she entered the Moscow Textile Institute at the Faculty of Applied Arts.
After college, Pivovarova worked for several years at Mosfilm as a set designer, where she met her future husband, Viktor Pivovarov. Together they did a lot for children's literature. Irina published her first short stories in a large circulation, and poems for children first appeared in the magazine “Funny Pictures”, and all the illustrations for them were created by Viktor Pivovarov. The works of I. Pivovarova were very popular among children in the 70-80s. The most famous are collections of stories and stories: “Troika with a minus, or Incident at 5 A”, “Stories of Lucy Sinitsina, a third grade student”, “Stories of Pavlik Pomidorov, Lucy Sinitsina’s brother”, “Once upon a time Katya with Manechka”; collections of poems: “Once upon a time there was a dog”, “Wreath of bells”, “I want to fly”, “Forest conversations”, “A bird was lost in the sky”, “Only for children”. Based on the poems of Irina Pivovarova, the cartoons “Giraffe and Glasses” and “One White Horse” were made.
All of Pivovarova’s works are distinguished by a sense of the beauty of the world, as well as an extraordinary sense of humor. "Stories by Lucy Sinitsyna" - funny, kind, amazing stories that happened to two friends, third grade students. Irina Pivovarova captivatingly describes the characters and actions of her characters, while there is absolutely no didactic tone in her works.
Unfortunately, Irina Pivovarova passed away early and did not finish many of her ideas. She passed away in 1986.
For primary school age.
On our website you can download the book “Stories by Lucy Sinitsina” Irina Mikhailovna Pivovarova for free and without registration in fb2, rtf, epub, pdf, txt format, read the book online or buy the book in the online store.
ABOUT MY FRIEND AND A LITTLE ABOUT ME
Our yard was large. There were a lot of different children walking in our yard - both boys and girls. But most of all I loved Lyuska. She was my friend. She and I lived in neighboring apartments, and at school we sat at the same desk.
My friend Lyuska had straight yellow hair. And she had eyes!.. You probably won’t believe what kind of eyes she had. One eye is green, like grass. And the other one is completely yellow, with brown spots!
And my eyes were kind of gray. Well, just gray, that's all. Completely uninteresting eyes! And my hair was stupid - curly and short. And huge freckles on my nose. And in general, everything with Lyuska was better than with me. Only I was taller.
I was terribly proud of it. I really liked it when people called us “Big Lyuska” and “Little Lyuska” in the yard.
And suddenly Lyuska grew up. And it became unclear which of us is big and which is small.
And then she grew another half head.
Well, that was too much! I was offended by her, and we stopped walking together in the yard. At school, I didn’t look in her direction, and she didn’t look in mine, and everyone was very surprised and said: “A black cat ran between the Lyuskas,” and pestered us about why we had quarreled.
After school, I no longer went out into the yard. There was nothing for me to do there.
I wandered around the house and found no place for myself. To make things less boring, I secretly watched from behind the curtain as Lyuska played rounders with Pavlik, Petka and the Karmanov brothers.
At lunch and dinner I now asked for more. I choked and ate everything... Every day I pressed the back of my head against the wall and marked my height on it with a red pencil. But strange thing! It turned out that not only was I not growing, but, on the contrary, I had even decreased by almost two millimeters!
And then summer came, and I went to a pioneer camp.
In the camp, I kept remembering Lyuska and missing her.
And I wrote her a letter.
Hello, Lucy!
How are you? I'm doing well. We have a lot of fun at camp. The Vorya river flows next to us. The water there is blue-blue! And there are shells on the shore. I found a very beautiful shell for you. It is round and with stripes. You'll probably find it useful. Lucy, if you want, let's be friends again. Let them now call you big and me small. I still agree. Please write me the answer.
Pioneer greetings!
Lyusya Sinitsyn
I waited a whole week for an answer. I kept thinking: what if she doesn’t write to me! What if she never wants to be friends with me again!.. And when a letter finally arrived from Lyuska, I was so happy that my hands even shook a little.
The letter said this:
Hello, Lucy!
Thank you, I'm doing well. Yesterday my mother bought me wonderful slippers with white piping. I also have a new big ball, you'll really get pumped! Come quickly, otherwise Pavlik and Petka are such fools, it’s no fun to be with them! Be careful not to lose the shell.
With pioneer salute!
Lyusya Kositsyn
That day I carried Lyuska’s blue envelope with me until the evening. I told everyone what a wonderful friend I have in Moscow, Lyuska.
And when I returned from the camp, Lyuska and my parents met me at the station. She and I rushed to hug... And then it turned out that I had outgrown Lyuska by a whole head.
"SECRETICS"
Do you know how to make secrets?
If you don't know how, I'll teach you.
Take a clean piece of glass and dig a hole in the ground. Place a candy wrapper in the hole, and on the candy wrapper - everything that is beautiful.
You can put a stone
fragment of a plate,
bead,
bird feather,
ball (can be glass, can be metal).
You can use an acorn or an acorn cap.
You can use a multi-colored shred.
You can have a flower, a leaf, or even just grass.
Maybe real candy.
You can have elderberry, dried beetle.
You can even use an eraser if it’s pretty.
Yes, you can also add a button if it’s shiny.
Here you go. Did you put it in?
Now cover it all with glass and cover it with earth. And then slowly clear away the soil with your finger and look into the hole... You know how beautiful it will be! I made a secret, remembered the place and left.
The next day my “secret” was gone. Someone dug it up. Some kind of hooligan.
I made a “secret” in another place. And they dug it up again!
Then I decided to track down who was involved in this matter... And of course, this person turned out to be Pavlik Ivanov, who else?!
Then I made a “secret” again and put a note in it: “Pavlik Ivanov, you are a fool and a hooligan.”
An hour later the note was gone. Pavlik did not look me in the eye.
- Well, did you read it? - I asked Pavlik.
“I haven’t read anything,” said Pavlik. - You yourself are a fool.
COMPOSITION
One day we were told to write an essay in class on the topic “I help my mother.”
I took a pen and began to write:
"I always help my mom. I sweep the floor and wash the dishes. Sometimes I wash handkerchiefs.”
I didn't know what to write anymore. I looked at Lyuska. She scribbled in her notebook.
Then I remembered that I washed my stockings once, and wrote:
“I also wash stockings and socks.”
I didn’t really know what to write anymore. But you can’t submit such a short essay!
Then I wrote:
“I also wash T-shirts, shirts and underpants.”
I looked around. Everyone wrote and wrote. I wonder what they write about? You might think that they help their mother from morning to night!
And the lesson did not end. And I had to continue:
“I also wash dresses, mine and my mother’s, napkins and bedspreads.”
And the lesson did not end and did not end. And I wrote:
“I also like to wash curtains and tablecloths.”
And then the bell finally rang!
...They gave me a high five. The teacher read my essay out loud. She said that she liked my essay the most. And that she will read it at the parent meeting.
I really asked my mother not to go to the parent meeting. I said that my throat hurts. But mom told dad to give me hot milk with honey and went to school.
The next morning at breakfast the following conversation took place.
Mother. And you know, Syoma, it turns out that our daughter writes essays wonderfully!
Dad. This doesn't surprise me. She was always good at composing.
Mother. No, really! I am not kidding! Vera Evstigneevna praises her. She was very pleased that our daughter loves to wash curtains and tablecloths.
Dad. Wha-oh?!
Mother. Really, Syoma, this is wonderful? - Addressing me: - Why have you never admitted this to me before?
“I was shy,” I said. - I thought you wouldn’t let me.
- Well, what are you talking about! - Mom said. - Don't be shy, please! Wash our curtains today. It's good that I don't have to drag them to the laundry!
I rolled my eyes. The curtains were huge. Ten times I could wrap myself in them! But it was too late to retreat.
I washed the curtains piece by piece. While I was soaping one piece, the other was completely blurry. I'm just exhausted with these pieces! Then I rinsed the bathroom curtains bit by bit. When I finished squeezing one piece, water from neighboring pieces was poured into it again.
Then I climbed onto a stool and began hanging the curtains on the rope.
Well, that was the worst! While I was pulling one piece of curtain onto the rope, another fell to the floor. And in the end, the whole curtain fell to the floor, and I fell onto it from the stool.
I became completely wet - at least squeeze it out!
The curtain had to be dragged into the bathroom again. But the kitchen floor sparkled like new.
Water poured out of the curtains all day.
I put all the pots and pans we had under the curtains. Then she put the kettle, three bottles and all the cups and saucers on the floor. But water still flooded the kitchen.
Oddly enough, my mother was pleased.
- You washed the curtains wonderfully! - Mom said, walking around the kitchen in galoshes. - I didn’t know you were so capable! Tomorrow you will wash the tablecloth...
STRANGE BOY
Pavlik and Petka are always arguing. It's just funny to look at them!
Yesterday Pavlik asked Petka:
- Have you watched “Prisoner of the Caucasus”?
“I looked,” Petka answers, but he himself was already wary.
“Is it true,” Pavlik says then, “Nikulin is the best film actor in the world?”
- Nothing like this! - says Petka. - Not Nikulin, but Morgunov!
- What more! - Pavlik began to get angry. - Your Morgunov is as thick as a barrel!
- So what?! - Petka shouted. - But your Nikulin is as skinny as a skeleton!
- Is this Nikulin’s skeleton?! - Pavlik yelled. - I’ll show you now what Nikulin’s skeleton is like!
And he was already attacking Petka with his fists, but then a strange event happened.
A long, blond boy jumped out of the sixth entrance and headed towards us. He came up, looked at us and suddenly, out of the blue, said:
- Hello.
We were, of course, surprised. Just think, a polite one has been found!
Pavlik and Petka even stopped arguing.
“There are all sorts of people walking around here,” said Pavlik. - Let's go, Pete, let's play little squealer.
And they left. And this boy says:
- Now I will live in your yard. Here in this house.
Just think, let him live, we don’t mind!
-Are you going to play hide and seek? - I ask him.
- Will.
-Who will drive? C'mon, not me!
And Lyuska immediately:
- C'mon, not me!
And we immediately told him:
- You should drive.
- That's good. I love to drive.
And he already covers his eyes with his hands.
I shout:
- No, that’s not interesting! Why are you suddenly going to drive? Every fool loves to drive! Let's better take it into account.
And we began to reckon:
The cuckoo walked past the net,
And behind her are small children,
Everyone shouted: “Kukuk-mak,
Choose which fist!”
And again it fell to him to drive. He says:
- You see, I still have to drive.
“Well, no,” I say. - I won't play like that. Just showed up - and immediately drive him!
- Well, you drive.
And Lyuska immediately:
- Nothing like this! I've wanted to drive for a long time!
And then we started arguing in the whole yard about who should drive. And he stands and smiles.
- You know what? Let you both drive, and I will hide alone.
That's what we did.
Pavlik and Petka returned.
-What are you doing? - they were surprised.
- We drive.
- Both at once?! You can’t even be forced to drive alone. What's wrong with you?
“Well,” we say, “that new guy came up with it all.”
Pavlik and Petka got angry:
- Ah well! Is he the one establishing his own rules in someone else’s yard?! Now we will show him where crayfish spend the winter.
They looked for him and looked for him, but the new guy was so hidden that no one could find him.
“Get out,” Lyuska and I shout, “it’s so uninteresting!” We can't find you!
He jumped out from somewhere. Pavlik and Petka - hands in their pockets - approach him.
- Hey, you! Where were you hiding? Perhaps you were sitting at home?
“Nothing like that,” the new guy smiles. - On the roof. - And he points to the roof of the barn. And the barn is high, about two meters from the ground.
- How did you... get off?
- I jumped off. There's a footprint left in the sand.
- Well, if you're lying, we'll give you hell!
Let's go have a look. They are returning. Pavlik suddenly gloomily asks the new guy:
- Do you collect stamps?
“No,” says the new guy, “I collect butterflies,” and smiles.
And for some reason I also immediately wanted to collect butterflies. And learn to jump from the barn.
- What is your name? - I asked this boy.
“Kolya Lykov,” he said.
ROOFER
The roofer was repairing the roof. He walked along the very edge and was not afraid of anything. Lyuska and I, with our heads raised, looked at the roofer.
And then he saw us. He waved to us, put his hand to his mouth and shouted:
- Hey! Why are your mouths open? Come help!
We rushed to the entrance. They immediately flew up the stairs and found themselves in the attic. The attic door was open. Behind her, dust danced in the bright rays of the sun. We walked along the beams and climbed out onto the roof.
Wow, it was so hot here! The iron glittered under the sun so much that it hurt the eyes. The roofer was not on site. He apparently went to the other side of the roof.
“We need to get to the roofer,” I said. - Are we climbing?
“We’re climbing,” said Lyuska.
And we climbed up.
We held on to a large pipe, and there was no fear in climbing. The main thing is not to look back, that’s all.
But the pipe was left behind. Then there was only white smooth iron. We got down on all fours and crawled. We clung to the protrusions of the iron with our hands and knees.
So we crawled, probably, as much as three meters.
“Let’s rest,” said Lyuska and sat down directly on the hot iron. - Let's sit for a while, and then...
Lyuska didn’t finish. She looked down in front of her with huge eyes, and her lips continued to move silently. I think she said “mom” and something else.
I turned around.
There were houses down there.
Some kind of river sparkled behind the houses. What kind of river? Where did it come from?.. Cars, like fast boogers, ran along the embankment. Gray smoke poured out of the chimneys. From the balcony of a neighboring house, a thin man in a T-shirt was shaking out a pink tablecloth.
And above all this hung the sky.
The sky was big. It's scary big. Huge. And it seemed to me that Lyuska and I had become very small! Very small and pathetic on this roof, under this big sky!
And I became scared. My legs became stiff, my head began to spin, and I realized that I would never move from this place for anything in the world.
Sitting next to her was a completely white Lyuska.
...And the sun was getting hotter and hotter. The iron beneath us became hot like an iron. But there was still no roofer. Where did he go, that damned roofer?
There was a hammer lying to my left. I reached for the hammer, lifted it and hit the iron as hard as I could.
The roof rang like a bell.
And then we saw the roofer.
He ran towards us from above, as if he had jumped onto the roof straight from the blue sky. He was young and red-haired.
- Well, get up! - he shouted.
He yanked us by the collar and dragged us down.
His hands were like shovels - large and wide. Oh, it was great going down with him! I even jumped twice along the way. Hooray! We were in the attic again!
But before Lyuska and I had time to catch our breath, this red-haired roofer grabbed our shoulders and began to shake us like crazy.
- We've gone crazy! - he yelled. - It’s become fashionable to hang around on the rooftops! Bloomed! There is no one to flog you!
We roared.
- Don't shake us, please! - Lyuska said, smearing tears down her face. - We will complain to the police about you!
- Why are you fighting? - I said. - You called us, and now you’re fighting!
He stopped yelling, released our shoulders and twirled his finger near our forehead.
- What are you doing? Togo? - he said. -Where did I call you?!
His eyes were yellow. He smelled of tobacco and iron.
-Who called us to help? - we shouted in one voice.
- To help? - he asked again, as if he had not heard. - What?! Help!
And suddenly he started laughing.
The entire attic.
Our eardrums almost burst - he laughed so hard! He slapped his knees. Tears were streaming down his face. He swayed, he bent over, he fell down laughing... Some kind of crazy person! Well, what did he find funny here?! You can’t understand these adults - they either swear or laugh.
And he laughed and laughed. We, looking at him, also began to giggle quietly. He was still good. He laughed so hard!
Laughing, he took out a crumpled checkered handkerchief and handed it to us.
- What fools! - he said. - And where are these found? You have to understand the jokes! What help are you, you little fry? When you grow up, come. With such helpers you will not be lost - the matter is clear! Well, see you later!
And he waved his hand to us and went back. And he laughed all the way. And he left.
And we stood and looked after him. I don’t know what Lyuska was thinking, but this is what I thought:
“Okay, now we’ll grow up. Five or ten years will pass... And this red-haired roofer will fix our roof a long time ago. And where will we find him then? So where? After all, there are so many roofs in Moscow, so many!..”
HOW I WAS TAUGHT MUSIC
One day my mother came home from a group of guests, excited. She told my dad and me that her friend’s daughter had been playing the piano all evening. She played great! She played polkas, songs with and without words, and even Oginsky’s polonaise.
“And Oginsky’s polonaise,” said my mother, “is my favorite thing!” And now I dream that our Lyuska will also play Oginsky’s polonaise!
I felt cold inside. I never dreamed of playing Oginsky’s polonaise!
I dreamed about a lot.
I dreamed of never having to do homework in my life.
I dreamed of learning to sing all the songs in the world.
I dreamed of eating ice cream all day long.
I dreamed of being the best at drawing and becoming an artist.
I dreamed of being beautiful.
I dreamed that we would have a piano like Lyuska. But I didn’t dream of playing it at all.
Well, also on the guitar or the balalaika - back and forth, but not on the piano.
But I knew that you couldn’t argue with my mother.
Mom brought some old woman to us. It turned out to be a music teacher. She told me to sing something. I sang “Oh, you canopy, my canopy.” The old lady said that I have exceptional hearing.
Thus began my torment.
As soon as I go out into the yard, as soon as we start playing lapta or “shtrand”, as they call me: “Lucy!” Home!" And I trudge to Maria Karlovna with a folder of music.
Maria Karlovna taught me to play “How a little white snow fell on thin ice.”
At home I studied with a neighbor. The neighbor was kind. She had a piano.
When I first sat down at the piano to learn “Like on thin ice...”, my neighbor sat on a chair and listened to me practice for a whole hour. She said that she loves music very much.
The next time she was no longer sitting on the chair next to her, but was going in and out of the room. Well, then, when I arrived, she immediately took her bag and went to the market or to the store.
And then they bought me a piano.
One day guests came to us. We were drinking tea. And suddenly mom said:
- And now Lyusenka will play us something on the piano.
I choked on my tea.
“I haven’t learned yet,” I said.
“Don’t be cunning, Lyuska,” said mom. - You've been studying for three months already.
And all the guests began to ask - play and play.
What was to be done?
I got out from behind the table and sat down at the piano. I unfolded the notes and began to play “Like a little white snow fell on thin ice” according to the notes.
I played this thing for a very long time. I kept forgetting where the notes F and D were, and looked everywhere for them, and pointed my finger at all the other notes.
When I finished playing, Uncle Misha said:
- Well done! Straight Beethoven! - and clapped his hands.
I was happy and said:
- And I also know how to play “There’s a beetle on the road, a beetle.”
“Okay, go have some tea,” mom said quickly. She was all red and angry.
But dad, on the contrary, was amused.
- Here you see? - he told his mother. - I told you! And you are Oginsky's polonaise...
They didn’t take me to Maria Karlovna again.
SELIVERSTOV IS NOT A GUY, BUT GOLD!
Seliverstov was not liked in the class. He was disgusting.
His ears were red and stuck out in different directions. He was skinny. And angry. So evil, terrible!
He almost killed me once!
That day I was the nurse on duty in the classroom. I went up to Seliverstov and said:
- Seliverstov, your ears are dirty! I'll give you a two for cleanliness.
Well, what did I say?! So you should look at him!
He turned completely white with anger. He clenched his fists, gritted his teeth... And deliberately, with all his might, he stepped on my foot!
My leg hurt for two days. I even limped.
No one had been friends with Seliverstov before, and after this incident the whole class stopped talking to him. And then you know what he did? When the boys started playing football in the yard, he took and pierced the football with a pocketknife.
That's what this Seliverstov was like!
No one even wanted to sit at the same desk with him! Burakov sat and then sat down.
But Sima Korostyleva didn’t want to pair up with him when we went to the theater. And he pushed her so hard that she fell straight into a puddle!
In general, it is now clear to you what kind of person he was. And you, of course, will not be surprised that when he fell ill, no one remembered him.
A week later, Vera Evstigneevna asks:
- Guys, which of you visited Seliverstov?
Everyone is silent.
- How, has no one visited a sick comrade this whole week?! You surprise me, guys! I ask you to visit Yura today!
After lessons we began to draw lots for who should go. And, of course, it happened to me!
A woman with an iron opened the door for me.
- Who are you seeing, girl?
- To Seliverstov.
- A-ah, to Yurochka? That's good! - the woman was happy. - Otherwise he’s all alone.
Seliverstov was lying on the sofa. He was covered with a knitted scarf. Above him, a napkin with embroidered roses was pinned to the sofa. When I entered, he closed his eyes and turned on the other side, towards the wall.
“Yurochka,” said the woman, “they came to see you.”
Seliverstov was silent.
Then the woman tiptoed up to Seliverstov and looked into his face.
“He’s sleeping,” she said in a whisper. - He is still very weak!
And she leaned over and for no apparent reason kissed this Seliverstov of hers.
And then she took a stack of laundry, turned on the iron and began ironing.
“Wait a little,” she told me. - He'll wake up soon. He'll be happy! Otherwise it’s all one and the same. What is it, I don’t think anyone from school will come in?
Seliverstov stirred under his scarf.
“Yeah! - I thought. - Now I’ll tell you everything! All!"
My heart began to beat with excitement. I even got up from my chair.
- Do you know why no one comes to him?
Seliverstov froze.
Seliverstov's mother stopped stroking.
- Why?
She was looking straight at me. Her eyes were red and inflamed. And there are quite a lot of wrinkles on my face. She was probably no longer a young woman... And she looked at me like that... And I suddenly felt sorry for her. And I muttered something incomprehensible:
- Don’t worry!.. Don’t think that no one loves your Yura! On the contrary, they really love him! Everyone respects him so much!..
I broke out in a sweat. My face was burning. But I couldn’t stop anymore.
- They just give us so many lessons - we don’t have any time! And your Yura has nothing to do with it! He's even very good! Everyone wants to be friends with him! He's so kind! He's just wonderful!
Seliverstova’s mother smiled broadly and took up the iron again.
“Yes, you’re right, girl,” she said. - Yurka is not my boyfriend, but gold!
She was very pleased. She stroked and smiled.
“I’m like without hands without Yura,” she said. - He doesn’t let me wash the floor, he washes it himself. And he goes to the store. And he runs after his sisters in kindergarten. He's good! Really good!
And she turned around and looked tenderly at her Seliverstov, whose ears were burning.
And then she hurried to the kindergarten to pick up the children and left. And Seliverstov and I were left alone.
I took a breath. I felt somehow calmer without her.
- Well, that's it, stop being a fool! - I said. - Sit down at the table. I'll explain the lessons to you.
“Go away where you came from,” came from under the scarf.
I didn't expect anything else.
I opened the textbook and rattled off the lesson.
I deliberately chattered as hard as I could in order to finish quickly.
- All. Explained! Any questions?
Seliverstov was silent.
I clicked the lock of the briefcase and headed towards the doors. Seliverstov was silent. Didn't even say thank you. I had already grabbed the door handle, but then he suddenly fidgeted under his scarf again.
- Hey, you... Sinitsyna...
- What do you want?
- You are...
- What do you want, speak quickly!
-...Do you want some seeds? - Seliverstov suddenly blurted out.
- What? What seeds?!
- What-what... Fried!
And before I had time to say a word, he jumped out from under the scarf and ran barefoot to the closet.
He took a pot-bellied calico bag from the closet and began to untie the rope. He was in a hurry. His hands were shaking.
“Take it,” he said.
He didn't look at me. His ears burned with crimson fire.
The seeds in the bag were large, one to one. I have never seen such seeds in my life!
- Why are you standing there? Let's take it! We have a lot of. They sent it to us from the village.
And he tilted the bag and poured it into my pocket straight from the bag! Seeds rained down past.
Seliverstov gasped, threw himself on the floor and began to collect them.
“Mother will come and swear,” he muttered. - She didn’t tell me to get up...
We crawled on the floor and collected seeds. We were in such a hurry that we hit our heads twice. And just when we raised the last seed, the key rang in the lock...
All the way home I felt the bump on my head, gnawed on the seeds and laughed:
“What an eccentric this Seliverstov is! And he's not that skinny! And everyone's ears stick out. Just think, ears!
I went to Seliverstov for a whole week.
We wrote exercises and solved problems. Sometimes I ran to the store for bread, sometimes to kindergarten.
- You have a good friend, Yura! Why didn’t you tell me anything about her before? You could have introduced us a long time ago!
Seliverstov recovered.
Now he began to come to me to do his homework. I introduced him to my mother. Seliverstov's mother liked it.
And I’ll tell you what: he’s really not that bad, Seliverstov!
Firstly, he is now a good student, and Vera Evstigneevna praises him.
Secondly, he doesn't fight anyone anymore.
Thirdly, he taught our boys how to make a kite with a tail.
And fourthly, he is always waiting for me in the locker room, not like Lyuska!
And I tell everyone this:
- You see, you thought Seliverstov was bad. And Seliverstov is good! Seliverstov is not a guy, but gold!
BAD DREAMS
Today I couldn't sleep for a long time. And when I finally fell asleep, I dreamed of a horse with blue eyes. Her name was Sima Korostyleva.
Sima walked around my room and wagged her tail. Then Sima neighed loudly, and I understood what it meant:
“Why haven’t you returned my fifty kopecks yet?”
And suddenly she turned into Pavlik Ivanov and screamed:
“Shameless! Shameless! Yesterday I copied my entire test! Confess everything, confess!”
I thought that now I would sink into the ground from shame. And then it failed.
I woke up in a cold sweat.
Yes, it's all true. And I didn’t give the money to Sima, and I copied the test from Ivanov. And for some reason they gave me a “five”, and he gave him a “three”.
Well, the test - okay, what can you do now? I wrote it off and wrote it off. But here's fifty kopecks!..
I shook fifty kopecks out of my piggy bank and went to school.
Along the road they sold large burgundy grenades.
- How much are grenades? - I asked hesitantly.
- How much will you charge? - the aunt asked decisively.
“One,” I said, and my mouth went dry.
- Fifty kopecks.
...When Lyuska and I were eating pomegranate, I complained to her about bad dreams.
“And you sleep with the window open,” said Lyuska.
HOW KOLYA LYKOV BECAME A LEADER
We had to choose a leader. Who can be chosen for the team? Well, of course, the best person on the team! And who is our best? Well, of course, Kolya Lykov!
Kolya is an excellent student. Kolya is kind, he will be the last to share. Kolya is the best at physical education. He is determined and brave. And he's serious.
- Who is in favor of Kolya Lykov becoming a team leader?
Everyone raised their hands.
“Get up, Kolya,” I said. - We congratulate you! Now you will be our leader.
Kolya stood up.
“I can’t be a leader,” said Kolya.
- Like this? Why can not you? - everyone was surprised.
Kolya was silent and looked at his desk. There was silence in the class. Our entire unit looked at Kolya.
“Kol, don’t be shy,” said Lyuska. - You better tell me honestly. Well, maybe you're sick and it's difficult for you...
“I’m not sick,” said Kolya. - I offended my grandmother yesterday... She didn’t let me go to the skating rink. And I got angry with her... I'm generally angry. I'm so angry - just terrible! I told her that she shouldn’t have moved to us from Saratov. It's better to go back!
- And she? - asked Sima Korostyleva.
- And she said that she would leave tomorrow. And I know her - if she said it, then she will do it.
- So what are you waiting for? - I screamed. - Run home quickly and ask your grandmother for forgiveness before it’s too late!
Kolya shook his head sadly.
“No, she will never forgive me,” said Kolya. - She told me so herself.
What could we do? We finished our meeting and the whole unit went home to Kolya Lykov to ask his grandmother for forgiveness.
We went up the stairs and rang the doorbell. It was quiet outside the door.
“She left,” said Kolya. - Now I will leave too.
He sniffled, took the key out of his pocket and entered the empty apartment.
Things were bad. We knew Kolya. Kolya was just like his grandmother - if he said it, he would do it.
We rushed into the yard. We decided to catch up with Kolya’s grandmother at all costs. We left Sima Korostylev on guard near Kolya’s doors.
Two old women were sitting on stools in the yard.
- Tell me, please, do you know Grandma Lykova? - we rushed to them.
“Well, we know,” said the old women.
- Do you know which station she went to?
- The station?! What are you doing, dears! There she comes!
We turned around. Kolya’s grandmother entered the yard. In her hands was a string bag with a loaf of bread.
We rushed to her, surrounded her and began to shout with each other:
- Grandma, forgive Kolya. Please forgive me, Kolya!
- What's happened? - Kolya’s grandmother screamed in fear. - What's the matter? What do you need? What else Kolya?
“Well, Kolya, your grandson,” we began to explain. - He offended you, so forgive him!
Kolya’s grandmother suddenly became terribly angry.
- Oh, that's it! - she said menacingly. - What do you want? Did he send you? So-so. All clear.
- Grandma, he didn’t send it! - we shouted. - You can’t even imagine how worried he is! He was even planning to leave home!
- How does it feel to leave! Where to go? - Colin’s grandmother was scared. - What else did you come up with! “She raised her head and shouted out the window in a thin voice: “Kolya!” Kolya!
Kolya did not appear at the window. Kolya’s grandmother gasped and clutched her heart:
- My God! Left!
Did Sima really look at it? What will happen now?
I waved my hand, and we shouted with all our might:
- Kolya! Kolya!
And then Kolya appeared in the window. He had a backpack in his hands... Kolya saw us and dropped the backpack. He didn't pick it up. He pressed his face to the glass and began to look at us. What a sight he had!
Hair sticks out in different directions. The eyes are red and swollen. The nose is also red and thick, like a potato. And a smile from ear to ear. Very stupid look!
His grandmother even laughed. She stopped holding her heart and laughed, laughed... And wiped away her tears with a handkerchief.
And Kolya laughed at the window.
And we laughed too.
And the old women on the stools laughed.
And some man looked at us, then at Kolya and also began to laugh.
So we stood and laughed for a long, long time. Probably a whole hour.
And the next day Kolya Lykov became our leader.
WHAT IS MY HEAD THINKING?
If you think that I study well, you are mistaken. I study no matter. For some reason, everyone thinks that I am capable, but lazy. I don't know if I'm capable or not. But only I know for sure that I am not lazy. I spend three hours working on problems.
For example, now I’m sitting and trying with all my might to solve a problem. But she doesn’t dare. I tell my mom:
- Mom, I can’t do the problem.
“Don’t be lazy,” says mom. - Think carefully, and everything will work out. Just think carefully!
She leaves on business. And I take my head with both hands and tell her:
- Think, head. Think carefully... “Two pedestrians went from point A to point B...” Head, why don’t you think? Well, head, well, think, please! Well what is it worth to you!
A cloud floats outside the window. It is as light as feathers. There it stopped. No, it floats on.
Head, what are you thinking about?! Aren `t you ashamed!!! “Two pedestrians went from point A to point B...” Lyuska probably left too. She's already walking. If she had approached me first, I would, of course, forgive her. But will she really fit, such a mischief?!
“...From point A to point B...” No, she won’t do. On the contrary, when I go out into the yard, she will take Lena’s arm and whisper to her. Then she will say: “Len, come to me, I have something.” They will leave, and then sit on the windowsill and laugh and nibble on seeds.
“...Two pedestrians left point A to point B...” And what will I do?.. And then I’ll call Kolya, Petka and Pavlik to play lapta. What will she do? Yeah, she'll play the Three Fat Men record. Yes, so loud that Kolya, Petka and Pavlik will hear and run to ask her to let them listen. They've listened to it a hundred times, but it's not enough for them! And then Lyuska will close the window, and they will all listen to the record there.
“...From point A to point... to point...” And then I’ll take it and fire something right at her window. Glass - ding! - and will fly apart. Let him know.
So. I'm already tired of thinking. Think, don’t think, the task will not work. Just an awfully difficult task! I'll take a walk a little and start thinking again.
I closed the book and looked out the window. Lyuska was walking alone in the yard. She jumped into hopscotch. I went out into the yard and sat down on a bench. Lyuska didn’t even look at me.
- Earring! Vitka! - Lyuska immediately screamed. - Let's go play lapta!
The Karmanov brothers looked out the window.
“We have a throat,” both brothers said hoarsely. - They won't let us in.
- Lena! - Lyuska screamed. - Linen! Come out!
Instead of Lena, her grandmother looked out and shook her finger at Lyuska.
- Pavlik! - Lyuska screamed.
No one appeared at the window.
- Fuck it! - Lyuska pressed herself.
- Girl, why are you yelling?! - Someone's head poked out of the window. - A sick person is not allowed to rest! There is no peace for you! - And his head stuck back into the window.
Lyuska looked at me furtively and blushed like a lobster. She tugged at her pigtail. Then she took the thread off her sleeve. Then she looked at the tree and said:
- Lucy, let's play hopscotch.
“Come on,” I said.
We jumped into hopscotch and I went home to solve my problem.
As soon as I sat down at the table, my mother came:
- Well, how's the problem?
- Does not work.
- But you’ve been sitting over her for two hours already! This is just terrible! They give the children some puzzles!.. Well, show me your problem! Maybe I can do it? After all, I graduated from college. So. “Two pedestrians went from point A to point B...” Wait, wait, this problem is somehow familiar to me! Listen, you and your dad decided it last time! I remember perfectly!
- How? - I was surprised. - Really? Oh, really, this is the forty-fifth problem, and we were given the forty-sixth.
At this point my mother became terribly angry.
- It's outrageous! - Mom said. - This is unheard of! This mess! Where is your head?! What is she thinking about?!
“WE LAUGHED - HEE-HEE”
I've been waiting for this morning for a long time.
Nice morning, come quickly! Please, whatever it costs you, come quickly! Let this day and this night end soon! Tomorrow I’ll get up early, have a quick breakfast, and then call Kolya and we’ll go to the skating rink. We agreed so.
I couldn't sleep at night. I lay in bed and imagined how Kolya and I, holding hands, were running around the skating rink, how the music was playing, and the sky above us was blue and blue, and the ice was glistening, and rare fluffy snowflakes were falling...
Lord, I wish this night would pass quickly!
It was dark in the windows. I closed my eyes, and suddenly the deafening ringing of the alarm clock pierced both my ears, my eyes, my whole body, as if a thousand ringing, piercing awls were simultaneously stuck into me. I jumped up on the bed and rubbed my eyes...
It was morning. The blinding sun was shining. The sky was blue, just what I dreamed of yesterday!
Rare snowflakes swirled and flew into the room. The wind quietly fluttered the curtains, and in the sky, across its entire width, a thin white stripe floated.
It kept getting longer and longer... Its end blurred and became like a long cirrus cloud. Everything around was blue and quiet. I had to hurry: make the bed, have breakfast, call Kolya, but I couldn’t budge. This blue morning has enchanted me.
I stood barefoot on the floor, looked at the thin airplane strip and whispered:
- What a blue sky... Blue, blue sky... What a blue sky... And white snow is falling...
I whispered and whispered, and suddenly it turned out as if I was whispering poetry:
What a blue sky
And the snow falls...
What is this? It looks an awful lot like the beginning of a poem! Do I really know how to write poetry?
What a blue sky
And the snow falls
Let's go with Kolya Lykov
Today we're going to the skating rink.
Hooray! I write poetry! Real! First time in life!
I grabbed my slippers, put on my robe inside out, rushed to the table and began quickly scribbling on paper:
What a blue sky
And the snow falls
Let's go with Kolya Lykov
Today we're going to the skating rink.
And the music thundered
And we both rushed,
And they held hands...
And it was good!
Tzy-yn! - The telephone in the hallway suddenly rang. I rushed into the corridor. Surely Kolya called.
- Hello!
- Is this Zina? - an angry male bass sounded.
- Which Zina? - I was confused.
- Zina, I say! Who's on the phone?
- L-Lucy...
- Lucy, give me Zina!
- There are no such people here...
- So how can it not? Is this TWO THREE ONE TWO TWO ZERO EIGHT?
- N-no...
- Why are you fooling me, young lady?!
The phone rang with angry beeps.
I returned to the room. My mood was slightly spoiled, but I picked up a pencil and everything became fine again!
I started composing further.
And the ice sparkled beneath us,
We laughed - hee hee...
Ding! - The phone rang again.
I jumped as if stung. I’ll tell Kolya that I can’t go to the skating rink right now, I’m busy with a very important matter. Let him wait.
- Hello, Kolya, is that you?
- I! - the male bass was delighted. - Finally got through! Zina, give me Sidor Ivanovich!
- I’m not Zina, and there are no Sidorov Ivanovichs here.
- Ugh, damn it! - the bass said irritably. - I ended up in kindergarten again!
- Lyusenka, who is this calling? - Mom’s sleepy voice was heard from the room.
- It's not us. Some Sidor Ivanovich...
- Even on Sunday they won’t let you sleep peacefully!
- Go back to sleep, don’t get up. I'll have breakfast myself.
“Okay, daughter,” said mom.
I was happy. I wanted to be alone now, completely alone, so that no one would bother me to write poetry!
Mom is sleeping, dad is on a business trip. I’ll put the kettle on and continue composing.
A hoarse stream flowed noisily from the tap, and I was holding a red kettle under it...
And the ice sparkled beneath us,
We laughed - hee hee,
And we ran across the ice,
Agile and light.
Hooray! Amazing! “We laughed - hee hee!” That’s what I’ll call this poem!
I slammed the kettle onto the hot stove. He hissed because he was all wet.
What a blue sky!
And the snow falls!!
Let's go with Kolya Lykov!!!
“I’ll fall asleep with you,” my mother said, buttoning up her quilted robe at the door. - Why did you shout to the whole apartment?
Tzy-yn! - The phone crackled again.
I grabbed the phone.
- There are no Sidorov Ivanovichs here!!! Semyon Petrovich, Lydia Sergeevna and Lyudmila Semyonovna live here!
- Why are you yelling, have you gone crazy or something? - I heard Lyuska’s surprised voice. - The weather is good today, will you go to the skating rink?
- No way! I AM VERY BUSY! I'M DOING A TERRIBLY IMPORTANT WORK!
- Which? - Lyuska asked immediately.
- I can’t say yet. Secret.
“Well, okay,” said Lyuska. - And don’t imagine, please! I'll go without you!
Let him go!!
Let everyone go!!!
Let them skate, but I have no time to waste time on such trifles! They will skate there at the skating rink, and the morning will pass as if it never happened. And I’ll write poetry, and everything will remain. Forever. Blue morning! White snow! Music at the skating rink!
And the music thundered
And we both rushed,
And they held hands
And it was good!
Listen, why are you blushing? - Mom said. - You don't have a fever, by any chance?
- No, mommy, no! I write poetry!
- Poetry?! - Mom was surprised. - What were you making up? Come on, read it!
- Here, listen.
I stood in the middle of the kitchen and with expression read my own wonderful, completely real poems to my mother:
What a blue sky
And the snow falls
Let's go with Kolya Lykov
Today we're going to the skating rink.
And the music thundered
And we both rushed,
And they held hands
And it was good!
And the ice sparkled beneath us,
We laughed - hee hee,
And we ran across the ice,
Agile and light!
Amazing! - Mom exclaimed. - Did she really compose it herself?
- Herself! Honestly! Don't you believe it?..
- Yes, I believe, I believe... A brilliant essay, straight from Pushkin!.. Listen, by the way, I think I just saw Kolya through the window. Could he and Lyusya Kositsyna go to the skating rink, they seemed to have skates with them?
Cocoa rose in my throat. I choked and coughed.
- What happened to you? - Mom was surprised. - Let me pat you on the back.
- Don't slap me. I'm already full, I don't want more.
And I pushed away the unfinished glass.
In my room, I grabbed a pencil, crossed out a sheet of poetry from top to bottom with a thick line, and tore a new sheet out of the notebook.
This is what I wrote on it:
What a gray sky
And the snow doesn't fall at all,
And we didn’t go with any stupid Lykov
Not to any skating rink!
And the sun didn't shine
And the music didn't play
And we didn't hold hands
What else was missing!
I was angry, the pencil was breaking in my hands... And then the phone rang in the hallway again.
Well, why do they keep distracting me all the time? The whole morning they call and call, they don’t allow a person to write poetry in peace!
- Hello!!!
From somewhere far away I heard Colin's voice:
- Sinitsyna, will you go see “Sword and Dagger”, Kositsyna and I got a ticket for you?
- What other “Sword and Dagger”? You went to the skating rink!
- Where did you get the idea? Kositsyna said that you are busy and won’t go to the skating rink, then we decided to take movie tickets for twelve forty.
- So you went to the cinema?!
- I've told...
- And they took a ticket for me?
- Yeah. Will you go?
- Of course I’ll go! - I screamed. - Certainly! Still would!
- Then come quickly. It starts in fifteen minutes.
- Yes, I will instantly! Be sure to wait for me! Kolya, do you hear me, wait for me, I’ll just rewrite the poem and rush over. You see, I wrote poems, real ones... Now I’ll come and read them to you, okay?.. Hello Lyuska!
Like a panther, I rushed to the table, tore out another sheet of paper from the notebook and, worried, began to rewrite the entire poem again:
What a blue sky
And the snow falls.
Let's go with Lyuska, with Kolya
Today we're going to the skating rink.
And the music thundered
And the three of us rushed,
And they held hands
And it was good!
And the ice sparkled beneath us,
We laughed - hee hee,
And we ran across the ice,
Agile and light!
I made a point, hastily folded the piece of paper in four, put it in my pocket and rushed to the cinema.
I was running down the street.
The sky above me was blue!
A light sparkling snow was falling!
Sun was shining!
Happy music was coming from the skating rink, from the loudspeakers!
And I ran, rolled on the ice, bounced along the road and laughed loudly:
- Hee-hee! Hee hee! Hee hee hee!
CONGRATULATIONS TO OUR MOMS
A man came into our yard. In a leather jacket. In a leather cap. In black leather pants.
In his hands he held a leather suitcase.
He came up to Lyuska and me and said:
- Girls, soon it will be the Eighth of March. I hope you remember what day it is?
Lyuska said:
- Of course we remember! And what? Did you think we forgot?
And I said:
- Did you come to our yard to remind us? Why, uncle, do you remind us? What is your job?
This leather guy laughed and said:
- I have a different job. I work as a radio correspondent. And if you girls want to congratulate your mothers on the Eighth of March, then I will record your congratulations on tape, and your mothers will hear it on the radio.
Lyuska and I were extremely happy!
“Come on,” said Lyuska. - Write it down. I love performing on the radio. C'mon, I'm first!
I screamed:
- Figurines! You are always first! C'mon, I'm first!
“Don’t quarrel,” said the correspondent. - She will be the first. - And pointed to Lyuska.
I felt very offended, because she, with her multi-colored eyes, is always the first.
I even wanted to leave, but I changed my mind. Firstly, I don’t get to speak on the radio very often, and secondly, I’d still rather than Lyuska congratulate my mother. Let her not imagine that she has different colored eyes!
We sat down on a bench.
The correspondent opened his suitcase and found a tape recorder in it.
“Now I’ll press the button,” said the correspondent, “and you will tell us about your mother.” About who she works and how you love her, and then congratulate her on the Eighth of March. Understood?
Lucy nodded.
The correspondent pressed the button, circles began to spin in the suitcase, and Lyuska spoke loudly:
- My mom is very good. I love my mommy very much. My mom works as an engineer at a textile factory. She is very smart and beautiful. She hangs on the Honor Board because everyone respects her. I congratulate my dear mother Valentina Ferapontovna Kositsyna on the occasion of the Eighth of March! I wish my mom health and happiness. And I wish her to receive a bonus for the first quarter. I also wish happiness to all mothers in the world! And so that their children study only “good” and “excellent”!
“Stop,” the reporter said and pressed the button.
The circles stopped.
- Very good, girl! - said the correspondent. - What is your name?
“Lusya Kositsyna,” said Lyuska proudly.
“Sooo... Lyusya Kositsyna...” the correspondent wrote in his notebook.
“Well, now come on,” he turned to me. - Speak just like your friend. Loud and clear.
Why should I talk like my friend? Yes, I’ll say it a thousand times better!
The tape recorder began to spin in circles, and I suddenly said in a hoarse whisper:
- My mom is very good. I love my mom very much...
“Stop,” said the correspondent. - Don't worry. Speak loudly and clearly.
The circles began to spin again.
- My mom is very good! - I screamed. - I love my mommy very much!
“Stop,” said the correspondent. - Why are you screaming like that? Keep your voice down... Let's start!
“My mommy is very good,” I said. - I love my mommy very much!
“Stop,” said the correspondent. - It happened before. Congratulate your mother in your own words.
My nose stung. The circles of the tape recorder suddenly began to blur before my eyes...
- Let's start! - the correspondent commanded.
“I love my mommy very much,” I said. - My mom is very good...
- Have fun! - said the correspondent. - Do your teeth hurt?
To keep from crying, I pinched my ear and exclaimed:
- I love my mommy very much! My mom is very good!
- Why did you stop? - said the correspondent. - Further...
I pinched my side through my coat pocket and said:
- She works as a candidate of chemical sciences at the Institute of Meat and Dairy Industry...
The correspondent nodded: everything is correct.
“PhD in Chemical Sciences,” I repeated. - And he goes to work every day. That is, my mom doesn’t go, she goes to work by bus, and Uranus and I stay at home. Uranus is my dog, and I love him very much too. But I still love my mom more. She is so good, she feeds me vinaigrette and semolina porridge in the morning... But I don’t really like semolina porridge. I can't stand her!
I saw the correspondent’s eyes go round.
- Yes, yes, I hate semolina porridge! I say: “Mom, is it okay if I don’t have it?” And she: “No way! Eat and that’s it!” I say: “Well, I can’t see this disgusting thing!” And she: “Until you eat, you won’t leave the table!” I don’t understand why you need to torture a person like that?! They never torture Lyuska like that!
Tears started dripping from my eyes. I took out my handkerchief, blew my nose and suddenly remembered that I was speaking on the radio! I complain to the whole world about my mother!
And all this damned mess! I lost all thought!
- Oh, what does the porridge have to do with it! - I screamed. - Why is she attached to me? Mommy, don’t think that I don’t love you! I still love you! True true! Honestly! Yes, if you want, I will eat this disgusting porridge from morning to night! Just don't be angry, okay? Otherwise, when you are angry, your face is angry. I'll eat porridge all my life, just don't be angry. I love it so much when you are kind! Then you have such a beautiful face and a wonderful laugh! Dad and I always laugh when you laugh. And please, never get sick, okay? Otherwise, dad and I are literally dying when you have a headache, so we feel sorry for you! And also...
“Enough,” said the correspondent. - Thank you, girl.
The lightning flashed and the correspondent closed his suitcase.
“To be honest, I have never written down such a congratulation in my life,” said the correspondent.
“You forgot to write down my last name,” I said.
- Just tell me. I will remember your last name anyway. Well, what's your last name?
“Sinitsyna Lucy,” I said.
- How I understand you, Lucy Sinitsyna! - said the correspondent. - When I was a child, I also couldn’t stand semolina... Well, okay. Bye, girls. Thank you very much.
He threw the strap from the suitcase over his shoulder and left.
On March 8th, I woke up first and immediately ran to turn on the radio. At six o'clock in the morning they broadcast "Latest News", but Lyuska and I were not broadcast.
And at seven they didn’t transfer us.
And at eight.
And they didn’t hand us over at nine, and at eleven, and at two...
And it was thirty-two minutes past four, and suddenly they started transmitting us!
At first they talked about some school, where on the Eighth of March the students of the sixth “B” released an album with photographs of all mothers and drew all sorts of flowers around the photographs. There are roses around one mother, poppies around another, forget-me-nots around the third, and all sorts of other flowers around the other mothers...
And then different children started congratulating their mothers on the radio, and I thought:
“Here, now!..”
And suddenly the voice of our familiar correspondent said:
- And now schoolgirl Lyusya Kositsyna will congratulate her mother.
I screamed:
- Mother! Mother! Come here! For Lyuska, I will congratulate you!
And mom came running from the kitchen, and we listened with her as Lyuska said:
“My mom is very good. I love my mommy very much. My mom works as an engineer at a textile factory. She is very smart and beautiful. She hangs on the Honor Board because everyone respects her. I congratulate my dear mother Valentina Ferapontovna Kositsyna on the occasion of the Eighth of March! I wish my mommy health and happiness, and I wish her to receive her first quarter bonus. I also wish happiness to all mothers in the world! And so that their children study “good” and “excellent”!”
“Well done, Lyusenka,” said my mother. - Very good performance!
But I said:
- Quiet! Quiet! Now!.. Now!..
And suddenly the announcer said:
“Dear friends, our program is over. Send letters to the address: “Moscow, Radio, broadcasting office for junior schoolchildren...”
Now you understand why Lyuska and I quarreled again!
SPRING RAIN
I didn't want to study lessons yesterday. It was so sunny outside! Such a warm yellow sun! Such branches were swaying outside the window! I wanted to reach out and touch every sticky green leaf. Oh, how your hands will smell! And your fingers will stick together - you won’t be able to separate them from each other... No, I didn’t want to learn my lessons.
I went outside. The sky above me was fast. Clouds were hurrying along it somewhere, and sparrows were chirping terribly loudly in the trees, and a big fluffy cat was warming itself on a bench, and it was so good that it was spring!
I walked in the yard until the evening, and in the evening mom and dad went to the theater, and I, without having done my homework, went to bed.
The morning was dark, so dark that I didn’t want to get up at all. It's always like this. If it's sunny, I jump up immediately. I get dressed quickly. And the coffee is delicious, and mom doesn’t grumble, and dad jokes. And when the morning is like today, I can barely get dressed, my mother urges me on and gets angry. And when I have breakfast, dad makes comments to me that I’m sitting crookedly at the table.
On the way to school, I remembered that I had not done a single lesson, and this made me feel even worse. Without looking at Lyuska, I sat down at my desk and took out my textbooks.
Vera Evstigneevna entered. The lesson has begun. They'll call me now.
- Sinitsyna, to the blackboard!
I shuddered. Why should I go to the board?
“I didn’t learn it,” I said.
Vera Evstigneevna was surprised and gave me a bad grade.
Why do I have such a bad life in the world?! I'd rather take it and die. Then Vera Evstigneevna will regret that she gave me a bad mark. And mom and dad will cry and tell everyone:
“Oh, why did we go to the theater ourselves, and leave her all alone!”
Suddenly they pushed me in the back. I turned around. A note was thrust into my hands. I unfolded the long narrow paper ribbon and read:
Lucy!
Don't despair!!!
A deuce is nothing!!!
You will correct the deuce!
I will help you! Let's be friends with you! Only this is a secret! Not a word to anyone!!!
Yalo-quo-kyl.
It was as if something warm was poured into me immediately. I was so happy that I even laughed. Lyuska looked at me, then at the note and proudly turned away.
Did someone really write this to me? Or maybe this note is not for me? Maybe she is Lyuska? But on the reverse side there was: LYUSE SINITSYNA.
What a wonderful note! I have never received such wonderful notes in my life! Well, of course, a deuce is nothing! What are you talking about! I can easily fix the two!
I re-read it twenty times:
“Let’s be friends with you...”
Well, of course! Of course, let's be friends! Let's be friends with you!! Please! I am very happy! I really love it when people want to be friends with me!
But who writes this? Some kind of YALO-KVO-KYL. Confused word. I wonder what it means? And why does this YALO-KVO-KYL want to be friends with me?.. Maybe I’m beautiful after all?
I looked at the desk. There was nothing beautiful.
He probably wanted to be friends with me because I’m good. So, am I bad, or what? Of course it's good! After all, no one wants to be friends with a bad person!
To celebrate, I nudged Lyuska with my elbow:
- Lucy, but one person wants to be friends with me!
- Who? - Lyuska asked immediately.
- I don't know. The writing here is somehow unclear.
- Show me, I'll figure it out.
- Honestly, won't you tell anyone?
- Honestly!
Lyuska read the note and pursed her lips:
- Some fool wrote it! I couldn't say my real name.
- Or maybe he’s shy?
I looked around the whole class. Who could have written the note? Well, who?.. It would be nice if Kolya Lykov! He is the smartest in our class. Everyone wants to be his friend. But I have so many C’s! No, he probably won't.
Or maybe Yurka Seliverstov wrote this?.. No, he and I are already friends. He would send me a note out of the blue!
During recess I went out into the corridor. I stood by the window and began to wait. It would be nice if this YALO-KVO-KYL made friends with me right now!
Pavlik Ivanov came out of the class and immediately walked towards me.
So, that means Pavlik wrote this? Only this was not enough!
Pavlik ran up to me and said:
- Sinitsyna, give me ten kopecks.
I gave him ten kopecks so that he would get rid of it as soon as possible. Pavlik immediately ran to the buffet, and I stayed by the window. But no one else came.
Suddenly Burakov began walking past me. It seemed to me that he was looking at me strangely. He stopped nearby and began to look out the window. So, that means Burakov wrote the note?! Then I'd better leave right away. I can't stand this Burakov!
“The weather is terrible,” said Burakov.
I didn't have time to leave.
“Yes, the weather is bad,” I said.
“The weather couldn’t be worse,” said Burakov.
“Terrible weather,” I said.
Then Burakov took an apple out of his pocket and bit off half with a crunch.
“Burakov, let me take a bite,” I couldn’t resist.
“But it’s bitter,” said Burakov and walked down the corridor.
No, he didn't write the note. And thank God! You won’t find another greedy person like him in the whole world!
I looked after him contemptuously and went to class. I walked in and was stunned. On the board it was written in huge letters:
SECRET!!! YALO-KVO-KYL+SINITSYNA=LOVE!!! NOT A WORD TO ANYONE!
Lyuska was whispering with the girls in the corner. When I walked in, they all stared at me and started giggling.
I grabbed a rag and rushed to wipe the board. Then Pavlik Ivanov jumped up to me and whispered in my ear:
- I wrote you a note.
- You're lying, not you!
Then Pavlik laughed like a fool and yelled at the whole class:
- Oh, hilarious! Why be friends with you?! All covered in freckles, like a cuttlefish! Stupid tit!
And then, before I had time to look back, Yurka Seliverstov jumped up to him and hit this idiot right in the head with a wet rag. Pavlik howled:
- Ah well! I'll tell everyone! I’ll tell everyone, everyone, everyone about her, how she receives notes! And I’ll tell everyone about you! It was you who sent her the note! - And he ran out of the class with a stupid cry: - Yalo-kvo-kyl! Yalo-quo-kyl!
The lessons are over. Nobody ever approached me. Everyone quickly collected their textbooks, and the classroom was empty. Kolya Lykov and I were left alone. Kolya still couldn’t tie his shoelace.
The door creaked. Yurka Seliverstov stuck his head into the classroom, looked at me, then at Kolya and, without saying anything, left.
But what if? What if Kolya wrote this after all? Is it really Kolya? What happiness if Kolya! My throat immediately went dry.
“Kol, please tell me,” I barely squeezed out, “it’s not you, by chance...
I didn’t finish because I suddenly saw Kolya’s ears and neck turn red.
- Oh you! - Kolya said without looking at me. - I thought you... And you...
- Kolya! - I screamed. - Well, I...
“You’re a chatterbox, that’s what,” said Kolya. -Your tongue is like a broom. And I don't want to be friends with you anymore. What else was missing!
Kolya finally managed to pull the lace, stood up and left the classroom. And I sat down in my place.
I'm not going anywhere. It's raining so badly outside the window. And my fate is so bad, so bad that it can’t get any worse! I'll sit here until nightfall. And I will sit at night. Alone in a dark classroom, alone in the whole dark school. That's what I need.
Aunt Nyura came in with a bucket.
“Go home, honey,” said Aunt Nyura. - At home, my mother was tired of waiting.
“No one was waiting for me at home, Aunt Nyura,” I said and trudged out of class.
My bad fate! Lyuska is no longer my friend. Vera Evstigneevna gave me a bad grade. Kolya Lykov... I didn’t even want to remember about Kolya Lykov.
I slowly put on my coat in the locker room and, barely dragging my feet, went out into the street...
It was wonderful, the best spring rain in the world!
Funny, wet passers-by were running down the street with their collars raised!
And on the porch, right in the rain, stood Kolya Lykov.
“Let's go,” he said.
And off we went.
WE WENT TO THE THEATER
We went to the theater.
We walked in pairs, and there were puddles, puddles, puddles everywhere because it had just rained.
And we jumped over puddles.
My new blue tights and my new red shoes were covered in black splashes.
And Lyuska’s tights and shoes too!
And Sima Korostyleva ran and jumped into the very middle of the puddle, and the entire hem of her new green dress turned black! Sima began to wring it out, and the dress became like a washcloth, all wrinkled and wet at the bottom. And Valka decided to help her and began to smooth out the dress with her hands, and this caused some gray stripes to form on Sima’s dress, and Sima was very upset.
But we told her:
- Do not pay attention! - and moved on.
And Sima stopped paying attention and began jumping over puddles again.
And our entire unit jumped - Pavlik, Valka, and Burakov. But, of course, Kolya Lykov jumped the best. His trousers were wet to the knees, his shoes were completely wet, but he did not lose heart.
And it was funny to be depressed over such trifles!
The whole street was wet and glistening from the sun.
Steam rose from the puddles.
Sparrows chattered on the branches.
Beautiful houses, all like new, just painted yellow, light green and pink, looked at us through clean spring windows. They joyfully showed us their black carved balconies, their white stucco decorations, their columns between the windows, their multi-colored tiles under the roofs, their cheerful dancing women in long robes sculpted above the entrances and serious sad men with small horns in their curly hair.
All the houses were so beautiful!
So old!
So different from each other!
And this was the Center. Center of Moscow. Garden Street. And we went to the puppet theater. We walked from the metro itself! On foot! And jumped over puddles!
How I love Moscow! I'm even scared how much I love her! I even want to cry, how much I love her! My stomach clench when I look at these ancient houses, and how people are running and running somewhere, and how cars are rushing, and how the sun sparkles in the windows of tall houses, and cars screech, and sparrows scream in the trees.
And now all the puddles are behind us - eight large, ten medium and twenty-two small - and we are at the theater.
And then we were in the theater and watched the performance. An interesting performance. We watched for two hours, we were even tired. And on the way back, everyone was in a hurry to go home and didn’t want to walk, no matter how much I asked, so we got on the bus and rode in the bus all the way to the metro.
INTERESTING CONCERT
Yesterday Lyuska came running to me, all out of breath, all radiant and important, all dressed up and proud...
- Mom and I were at the concert! - she screamed right from the doorway. - Oh, how interesting the concert was - terrible! Now I will tell you everything in order. Listen...
First we came and began to undress. The line in the locker room is terrible! Everyone is dressed up, smells of perfume, and some are in long floor-length dresses.
We stood and stood in line, and then we came up, and the wardrobe guy said to us:
- Citizens, I can offer you binoculars. By the way, it’s a great convenience - you don’t have to stand in line on the way back.
Mom says:
- Well, of course, let's do it! I can't stand queues!
And we took binoculars. Oh, Lyuska, what beautiful binoculars - horror! All white and pearly! I immediately started looking at it in line, but for some reason I couldn’t see anything.
And then we began to climb the stairs.
The staircase is so wide, marble, and in the middle there is a carpet.
I would never allow anyone to walk on such a carpet in boots! I would only walk on it barefoot. Such a wonderful carpet - horror!
Well, we walked, and in front of us the aunt and uncle walked and looked at him all the time and laughed. And the guy is quite old and not funny at all, and why is she laughing
