Finally, the long-awaited winter break has arrived. And in two days comes the main event of winter — New Year's. How long we've all been waiting for it.
The city has transformed beautifully for the holiday, with decorated Christmas trees in almost every courtyard. Countless garlands shine with colorful lights. There's no denying it — New Year's is the most exciting holiday for all of us. After all, even adults believe that on this magical New Year's night, all our most cherished dreams can come true.
In our courtyard there's a small hill where many children always play: some on sleds, some on ice slides. Others build snowmen, have snowball fights — in short, it's vacation time!
On weekends or in my free time after finishing homework, I really love playing computer games. The virtual world captivates me so much that everything around becomes completely uninteresting. My parents are upset and make me read books, but what books could there be — it's the 21st century!
New Year's Eve was approaching. Mom decorated the Christmas tree and prepared treats for the holiday table. And I, as always, was absorbed in another computer game. There was a knock on the door.
Dad called his son to open the door, but the boy was so engrossed in the game that he didn't even respond right away.
Andrey reluctantly tore himself away from the computer and went to the hallway. The boy was very surprised because standing in the doorway was a real Grandfather Frost with a full bag of gifts. Usually, Dad would dress up as Grandfather Frost himself and give the presents.
Grandfather Frost was tall and his beard looked quite real. His beautiful coat was covered in a pattern of real snowflakes that didn't even melt, and a little squirrel sat on his shoulder.
After greeting Grandfather Frost, Andrey looked with interest at his large bag.
Grandfather Frost proclaimed in a booming voice that on the eve of the New Year, he wanted to give him an unusual gift — three magical acorns that would grant any wish. One acorn needed to be thrown on the floor, a wish spoken aloud, and then clap hands three times!
While Andrey felt the acorns he'd been given and examined them, Grandfather Frost quietly disappeared.
After inspecting the gift, the boy convinced himself that these were just ordinary forest acorns with nothing mysterious or unusual about them. Except maybe you could feed them to squirrels.
Losing interest in the gift, Andrey hurried back to his favorite activity. But shortly after, he took one acorn from his pocket and placed it on the table next to him. At that moment, Mom strictly asked him to stop playing — guests would be arriving soon and she needed help setting the table.
But the boy didn't want to stop playing at all. Nothing interested him except reaching the final level and defeating the main boss.
Taking the acorn, Andrey threw it on the floor and wished for the most important thing in his life at that moment — to play the game endlessly and have no one bother him!
All that was left was to clap his hands three times.
One! Two! Three!
Suddenly all the lights around disappeared, and he found himself inside the monitor, becoming one of the game's characters.
The boy's happiness knew no bounds. He became part of the game, and now no one would stop him from reaching the end. The game completely consumed him. He passed the first level, the second, the third. Even if something went wrong, the game would start over.
However, gradually Andrey grew tired because there was no time to rest at all. Everything became real torture.
In the virtual world he was alone, with no one to talk to. Time seemed to stand still, yet the game continued. What could he do? How could he escape? The boy was trapped in the game. Despair completely overwhelmed him.
Then he remembered that the remaining magical acorns were in his pocket, which meant he could make two more wishes.
Now Andrey had only one wish — to get home as quickly as possible and forget it all like a bad dream. He took out the second acorn and threw it with all his might at the virtual surface and shouted that he wanted to be home, to talk with his friends and parents.
And he clapped his hands hard three times.
One! Two! Three!
Instantly he found himself sitting in a chair in front of the monitor, and he could hear his parents' voices from the next room.
How happy Andrey was about this! The boy quickly turned off the computer and decided for himself that he was saying goodbye to the virtual world forever.
He loudly called for his mom and volunteered to help her, since she was tired from preparing for the holiday.
Mom was very pleased about this.
Andrey fully realized that playing games was very harmful.
He asked if, after helping, he could go play with his friends outside. Mom, of course, agreed.
Guests arrived, and everyone gathered around the holiday table. They joked, talked, and reminisced about interesting events from past years. And Andrey decided for himself that he wouldn't go near the computer for the entire vacation. It was better to play with friends and read books.
He placed the last acorn on a shelf. Next time he would definitely make a well-thought-out wish that would surely come true...
