The History of House Six

by Dobychina, Svetlana

  Meanwhile, the great Sun did not waste time. To stop our friends’ escape from the meadow, it began to shine persistently upon their eyes with all its might, so that they realized they couldn’t see the road at all and had to stop. At that moment the old Dwarf threw his stick away, running to his grandson with cheers and his arms open.

  Seeing this change in his mood, the little Dwarf and his girlfriend were paralyzed with horror for the second time and fell into old Dwarf’s arms.

  The Sun stopped blinding their eyes, and the little Dwarf suddenly recognized his grandfather who had left for the great journey and the whole family couldn’t wait for his return.

  What a joy came to the small forest meadow! The dwarves had to try hard to make the Mouse come to her senses and understand what had happened to them from their screams and laughter.

  Then they drank herbal tea with raspberries and other delicious fruits. The little Dwarf suddenly realized how much he missed his grandfather.

  Soon, the great Sun sent its children Sunny Beams to lead them with tiny jars, bags and other small things for a long Way home.

  How happy was the old Dwarf’s family with his return! And he was happy too. With his eyes full of tears he realized: no matter how great your grievance was, and how your heart was blushing with pride, you would always have the Way home – where they were waiting for you to come back from the great Journey. The great wise Sun would always light your Way because from the very beginning it knew everything about each of us. The little Dwarf and his girlfriend Mouse still have many, many big and small true stories to tell us.

  To the Ocean

  One day the Mouse and her friend the Dwarf decided to go to the Ocean. They have only heard about it before and these were mostly mysterious and unusual things. Our friends were restless, so they started packing immediately.

  First, they focused on a finding a large suitcase to fit the necessary stuff: the first thing they put there was a big butterfly net. The Mouse was sure there should be a lot of beautiful butterflies near the Ocean. The Dwarf didn’t share her enthusiasm, but, since he was a little man, he decided not to criticize his girlfriend. Here come the swimsuits, Dwarf flippers, and underwater mask… They packed most things they needed, and there were so many of them that the suitcase wouldn’t close.

  Seeing this, our friends decided to take the White Bear, their friend, with them and ask him about the Ocean at the same time. The White Bear came and laughed for a long time because if they managed to close this suitcase somehow, even the Brown Bear wouldn’t be strong enough to carry it. Friends were bitter for some time but then cheerfully threw away the things they seemed to need on the way: dolls and toy cars, paints and pencils…

  While they were going through their stuff, the White Bear suddenly noticed that there was not a single warm thing in the suitcase and he, very much surprised, started to ask our friends how they were going to stay warm at the Arctic Ocean? Why did they go there at all? Maybe they decided to go to Antarctica to get acquainted with penguins? This was the first time the White Bear had heard about warm Ocean… the Dwarf and the Mouse stood puzzled. For some reason, they thought that the Ocean is something very large and incredibly warm. This was the first time they both have heard about ice and penguins…

  After staying for while with his upset friends, the White Bear went home.

  The Mouse was upset a little first, and then a little bit more, and for an entire hour the Dwarf watched Mouse tears flooding House Six: all pots and buckets were filled with salt water. They were very close to a real flood.

  After a small discussion with the House, the Dwarf decided to go to the forest. Friends came to the conclusion that if cold Ocean really exists, there must be a warm one too. And the only possibility to find out if this was true would be to ask the wise Owl.

  The Owl loved the cheerful Dwarf. Having heard his sad story, she hurried into the house to see the Mouse, which by this time was sitting waist-deep in a salt puddle of her tears and a big net for catching the most beautiful butterflies in the world was floating next to her…

  The Owl began its story about the Ocean from afar, from the moment life started on Earth. She was speaking slowly and very thoroughly, putting on airs, of course. Tired of her crying, the Mouse quietly fell asleep in her bed where Owl carried her despite the protesting sobs and changed her into pajamas. The Dwarf courageously struggled with the desire to sleep but at some point finally fell asleep.

  The Owl sighted just in case, but, since she was already accustomed to friends dozing off during her night-time visits, she carried the Dwarf to his bed and tiptoed home, leaving a large atlas on the table. The warm Ocean was marked in this bright colorful atlas.

  The Mouse jumped from the bed in the morning because the Dwarf was shouting loud: “Hooray! We have a map, and we have almost packed our suitcase! We are real treasure hunters! But how do we get there?”

  And then they both understood who may know exactly where the warm Ocean lies. It’s the Sun! How many tears they would have saved if they had thought about this the day before…

  The Sun listened to the friends interrupting each other with a smile. It sent two strong beams to the ground and carefully lifted them up, closer to the clouds. Then the Sun chose the most responsible Cloud and showed their plan and map, said goodbye to friends and told them to be careful and attentive. Only after friends set off for the journey, they suddenly remembered about their big suitcase with the net for catching the most beautiful butterflies, but House Six was almost behind the horizon, and the Cloud was not willing to go back.

  From the height of Cloud’s flight, the Mouse and the Dwarf examined the tops of trees, blue depth of the lake, prickly and cold mountains… the Cloud cheerfully talked with its foreign colleagues. It was intrigued too because there was no Ocean in her homeland, and so it tried to find out from all the large and small clouds what it was like…

  The journey was long. At night they wrapped themselves in a feather bed, and by day they were waiting for birds to raise up carrying various berries for our friends to snack.

  Finally, they arrived at the place. The Cloud asked flirtatiously to tickle her, and we all remember how to turn a cloud right way to make it rain. This rain formed a ladder and friends carefully went downstairs to an island of unusual sundae wafer color. The Cloud gradually poured itself into the big and warm Ocean in order to get to know it better.

  The Dwarf and his faithful girlfriend Mouse stood on the shore and held their breath watching big waves which, if you squint, resembled large silver-tinged silk veil shimmering with all shades of green and blue. Friends used to think that “sea green” was just a beautiful expression, but now they could see it with their own eyes.

  The Dwarf looked around busily.

  “The first thing we need is a house,” he said seriously. “We need to have rest.”

  “But how can you build a house on an unfamiliar island? And what if it is dangerous here?” – said the Mouse, worried.

  The Brave Mouse

  Friends looked around very carefully and decided to walk along the sandy shore. They had to solve an important problem: should their future house be built on the shore or in an unfamiliar dense green jungle? The Mouse suddenly remembered that she was a real Field Mouse, and stated categorically that their new house should be a hole which she could easily dig in the sand. The Dwarf did not argue. They went to choose a proper place and suddenly noticed a tremendous hole. It was so wide that they could enter into it together in a row. The Mouse was overjoyed because she wouldn’t have to dirty her coat and paws, so she went inside decisively. The Dwarf cautiously followed her. The hole went down at once, and soon the sunlight stopped getting inside. “Perhaps, it would be safer to sit on the beach and wait for the possible owner of the hole to come out?” – thought the Dwarf, but suddenly they heard a strange sound: “Сlack-clack …, Сlack-clack…”

  The Mouse paused not knowing what to do. She could see quite well under the ground, bu
t she couldn’t understand where the sound came from. She took one more step and suddenly her paws felt something like stone. But this stone moved and made sounds…

  – Run! – she screamed, and our friends rushed out, slipping on the wet sand. The sound gradually faded away. The Mouse and the Dwarf fell to the sand beside the hole and took a deep breath.

  An hour passed. When they finally restored their breath, the Dwarf brushed the sand off his jacket and the Mouse cleaned her coat with paws. No one came out of the hole and didn’t make any sound.

  Another hour passed. The Sun began burning Mouse’s head, so she went to the hole again. “If there is someone alive inside, he must be very cowardly, otherwise, we would have been already eaten” – she said.

  “You don’t have to go with me. I can handle it myself”, – she added in a whisper; the Dwarf realized she was still a little scared and took a stick with him.

  This was the second time they started descending the hole to find the living stone inside. The Mouse reached the bottom of the hole vigorously, wisely deciding not to step on him, but to sit down nearby. The Dwarf stood behind her holding a huge stick in case his girlfriend needed help. It’s been hours when, finally, the stone opened one eye, and then opened another one. Two green lights suddenly lit up space inside the hole.

  “The stone with eyes is something really incredible,” the Mouse thought and began to pull her tail forward gently. We all know that tail is a source of pride for any mouse: the longer it is, the happier is its mistress. Mouse’s tail touched the stone, and its eyes closed.

  The Mouse put her tail back with a vexation, and this is when the stone opened its eye again, then the other one. Its eyes were not like any eyes of familiar animals. Round beads were turning in all directions, and it seemed that they could see behind themselves. The Dwarf was already tired of watching his friend’s experiments, and, in fact, it was time to do something.

  The Mouse decisively began to move her tail over the stone, which, as you probably guessed, closed its eyes again. Suddenly, the strange sounds appeared again: “Clack, Clack, Clack…” The stone trembled, opened its eyes and enunciated: “Please stop! I’m very ticklish!”

  The Mouse was satisfied with the result of her actions and resolutely went on the attack:

  “Who are you?” She asked.

  “I am the Crab”, – answered the living stone.

  “The Crab?” Friends repeated in doubt. The reason was that they had seen real crabs only on pictures, and it was too dark in the hole.

  The Crab told The Mouse and The Dwarf that he had no friends because he was very cowardly. All the time he was sitting in his hole, clawing in fear. Mouse felt really sorry for the Crab: there was a beautiful sandy shore and tender Ocean around, but the Crab was afraid to come out of his hole. Life is very difficult without a friend. There are friends for every day and on a particular day. Without her friend, the Dwarf, she could hardly live, and their common friend Sun appeared rarely, but the Mouse and the Dwarf both knew that if something important happened, the Sun would be there for them. The Dwarf felt the same, so they both didn’t hesitate to offer the Crab their friendship.

  The Crab closed his eyes again, this time with embarrassment. He did not know what one should say in such cases and do afterwards…

  The Mouse took the situation into her hands and asked the Crab to help them build a house, three times bigger than his.

  The Crab was very pleased to help. This was a real deed and, as they say, any deed is better than most beautiful words. First of all, he showed a place on the Ocean shore where tides couldn’t reach. It didn’t matter for his hole, but for the Mouse and the Dwarf waking up early in the morning in a pool of salt water would be very bad indeed – they could even drown. When the place was chosen, the Dwarf went to look for something they could lay on the floor. On the way, he was thinking about the material he could make beds from.

  The Mouse with the Crab began to dig a large hole very fast. The Crab grabbed sand into his claws and carried it to the surface, while the Mouse dug the hole with her tiny paws.

  Once everything was almost done, friends found two big piles next to the new hole – one pile of sand, and the other one made of palm leaves. The Dwarf had dragged them and made a wicker table, trying to figure out how big a wicker bed should be.

  The Crab was looking shyly at his friends. Finally, he decided to ask: “Why would animals so small need a hole three times bigger than his?” The Mouse laughed loudly and told the Crab a children’s fairy tale called “Little house”…

  At that moment, the Crab suddenly realized that he was offered to live with his friends in a large cozy house, without any reason or conditions, simply because they were friends.

  Meanwhile, the most beautiful Sun in the world, dressed up in beautiful red clothes, sent tender evening beams to say goodbye for the night.

  Little animals picked up their wicker beds, went inside their house and fell asleep, tired of such a long day on an island by the Ocean.

  The Magic Boat

  Morning met them with gentle sunlight. Friends went out of the hole and looked at the endless ocean space with admiration. The Crab had chosen the right place for the hole. Quiet waves had almost approached their new house and rustled on the sand right at their feet.

  “It’s time to eat something,” – the Dwarf said thoughtfully. The Mouse started feeling very hungry at once. There were no birds with delicious fruit in sight. As a host, the Crab led his new friends closer to palm trees thickets. Over there, close to the sky, they saw coconuts hanging. The Dwarf was pretty confused since he had never climbed trees that tall, and the times when he had to scramble up on the Cloud to make it rain seemed so far away… The Sun wasn’t going to send her saving beams from the sky. Then the Crab went on with a thoughtful smile and disappeared in the thickets; suddenly he rolled out a large and round coconut.

  On the one hand, the task was simplified, but on the other, it became completely unclear how to crack the coconut… The Mouse ran away to examine the shore and returned absolutely happy.

  “We must speed it up and throw it off the shore at great speed. It will hit a stone and brake”, – she said in a breathless voice.

  They began to roll coconut in single file. Friends ran faster and faster and, suddenly, it rolled away from them and rushed to the shore bouncing on the run.

  Boom!

  Boom!

  Kaboom!

  The Crab quickly reached the place where it had fallen. The coconut cracked into two halves and opened its soft white flesh. The Mouse and the Dwarf have never tried coconut before. The Crab was biting off the supple flesh with his claws and passed slices to his friends gladly. Soon there were two empty large halves laying in front of them, so one could climb into them like into a house or a boat.

  Once friends were full, they went to get acquainted with the Ocean. Most responsible Cloud, which had spilled itself into the Ocean, has been calling them cheerfully, appearing in every approaching wave. The water was incredibly warm and tender. The Mouse and the Dwarf were joyfully frolicking until they saw a black fin approaching them.

  Shark!

  In a moment they were already ashore. The Mouse was trembling and the Dwarf could not catch his breath.

  The Shark swam nearer to the shore and gave the friends a severe look. The Crab did not express a hint of worry.

  “Hey, Baby Shark. These are my friends”, – he said proudly.

  “Hello”, – said the Shark, which actually was not so terrible. She lived in a warm water next to the sunny shore and waited for growing up and turning into a serious and important lady. Meanwhile, every day she swam to the Crab’s hole to watch his painstaking work when dabbling Ocean was pouring into his new hole. Sometimes she was jumping next to him in the waves, while he was focused on searching for something on a sandy ocean bottom.

  After swimming and playing with the Crab and the Shark, the Mouse and the Dwarf suddenly remembered that there was
House Six, waiting and missing them at the foot of the magic hill.

  “I wonder what our House is doing now.” – asked the Mouse, worried.

  Looking at his friend, the Dwarf realized that it was time for them to return home.

  Their friend Cloud was distracted by the Ocean so much that it stopped responding to their requests to take them home. The Sun had no place to lower its beams…

  In the evening, they gathered on the Ocean shore and arranged a council to decide what they should do next. Interested in evening gatherings, the Shark swam to the shore, listened to excited voices, and suddenly said:

  “Why don’t you sail over the ocean on a boat? I can show you the way.”

  The Crab looked at the Shark with gratitude. He was a little sad that the Mouse and the Dwarf were leaving the island. He had learned so much from them: not to be afraid of his own shadow, accept help and trust your friends. He suddenly realized that the Shark, whom he met every day and at sunset, was and still remained his true friend, invisible in the fuss of everyday life, and that after the departure of his new friends he would not be left alone.