While Marisha, as the new acquaintance was called, was heating the kettle and slicing the cake roll, Vasya nervously emptied the entire bowl of sweets out of excitement.
Marish, — Vasya asked with a full mouth, — How did you find out that you also have a computer Mouse living in your computer, or rather a Mouse?
Marisha poured tea into cups, put a plate with the cake roll on the table, sat down next to Vasya and answered:
You see, my dad Sasha travels a lot for work on long business trips. And not just trips, but for a year or two. And Mum and I always went with him. We live in different cities, in different flats. Mum is an artist. It doesn't matter to her where to paint pictures. But even she got tired. She said she's staying in St Petersburg. There are lots of exhibitions there. And Dad took me with him. Well, and I've already changed five schools since I was six years old! At first it was easier, but then, when I grew up a bit, I started making friends with other kids. In each city — girlfriends, friends. We'd just become friends, and then there's a new move. Do you know how hard it is to say goodbye to friends?
Vasya carefully nodded and glanced at the Mouse, suddenly he might reproach him for yesterday's deed? But he was animatedly chatting with the Ant.
I kept quiet, — Marisha continued, — I didn't want to upset Dad, he bought me a computer, and I corresponded with all my friends through the internet. But you can't go on a hike with friends on the internet, and you can't invite them to your birthday! Although I have over two hundred classmates in "Odnoklassniki"! And indeed — classmates, not like usual — the neighbour on the right, the neighbour on the left, a third cousin and her mum to boot! And once I deleted my birthday from my page. And nobody congratulated me on my birthday, nobody even remembered! — the girl sniffled offendedly, — I was so upset that I put my head on the table and cried at the computer!
Yes, yes, yes, yes! — the Ant rattled on, — I remember, I remember! And I was sitting in the computer at that moment, drawing whiskers and glasses on her friends in "Odnoklassniki". And I felt so sorry for her that I reached out from the screen and stroked her on the head.
Aha, — Marisha smiled, — I flinched in fright, lifted my head, and this marvel is looking at me from the screen! — she tugged the Ant by the pigtail, she squeaked, pulled her hand away, and they both laughed.
What are you laughing about? — asked the Mouse.
Well, it's because I'm the Ant! — answered the Ant and smiled mischievously.
Vasya and the Mouse exchanged glances and fell silent, not understanding what was going on.
Alright, I'll explain, — said Marisha, — You see, my Mouse is a mischievous girl, and when she gets angry, sparks fly everywhere! And often, in jest, I pull her by the pigtails. And when you touch her pigtails, they give off a shock like thin wires, not strong, but so ticklish! I get goosebumps all over! So I called her Mouse Goosebumps at first, and then she became — the Ant!
Vasya reached out his hand to the Mouse's head, just in case, but his hair was stiff, but not prickly and certainly didn't give off shocks. Then he carefully touched the Ant's pigtails with his fingers.
Ouch! — a spark crackled across his fingers.
Vasya pulled his hand away, and the four of them laughed merrily!
At that moment, the door to the flat opened and Uncle Sasha came in.
Oh, Dad! — Marisha ran out to greet him, — We have guests! By the way, this is for you!
Vasya froze in fear and glanced at the Mouse and the Ant. But they had vanished without a trace! The boy stood up from the table and hung his head guiltily, pushing the ball closer to himself with his foot.
Well, hello there, guest, — Uncle Sasha said sternly, hung his jacket on the coat rack in the hallway, and entered the kitchen, - Daughter, pour me some tea. I see you've already had two cups each.
The Mouse and the Ant, of course, hadn't cleared their cups!
Have you been visiting long? — asked Uncle Sasha.
Well, this morning, as soon as Mum went to work, I came straight to you! — Vasya began anxiously, — Straight to you, wanted to apologise. It was me who broke the light bulb on the pole yesterday! And then my ball fell on your car. It's my fault…
Well, I told you to come with your father! We could have discussed your behaviour together, — Uncle Sasha said sternly.
Vasya looked away and said quietly:
Well, I know… I just don't have a dad. Mum and I live alone. And I didn't want to upset her.
Uncle Sasha fell silent and looked carefully at the boy. Then he sighed for some reason and continued in a calmer voice:
So that's how it is! Of course, you can't upset your mum. And so, it turns out there's no one to give you a clip round the ear? And no one to screw in the light bulb on the pole?
Vasya shook his head and said:
Well… if you need to, you can give me a clip round the ear…
And the boy turned his ear, burning with shame, towards him.
Uncle Sasha laughed until tears came!!! Marisha laughed after him, and then, hesitantly, Vasya too.
Alright, I won't give you a clip round the ear, — Uncle Sasha said reconcilingly, patting Vasya on the shoulder, — I can see you're a good lad. And I'll screw in the light bulb myself. But then you'll help me out!
I'm ready! — Vasya raised his hand up, — I can do a lot. And I'm strong, and…. — brave, Vasya wanted to add, but remembered his cowardice from yesterday, and fell silent, looking down.
Perfect! This evening you'll come to dinner with your mum. I'll have a word with her about school. Marisha is your age, maybe you'll go to the same class. Besides, I can see you've already become friends, haven't you?
Marisha clapped her hands. She and Vasya exchanged glances and smiled.
Alright, — Vasya agreed, — Then I'll run home for now. I need to call Mum. And we'll come this evening.
Perfect! — Uncle Sasha slapped his knees.
Vasya and Marisha went into her room. From under the table, grinning slyly, the Mouse and the Ant looked at them. Vasya picked up the Mouse in his arms, took his ball, and, winking at Marisha, ran home. He needed to prepare for the evening.
When Mum came home from work, Vasya honestly confessed everything to her. How he broke the lantern, and that he went to apologise today, and told her about the dinner invitation. But he didn't tell her anything about his Mouse and the Ant.
Mum threw up her hands in indignation:
Vasya! You should have been put in the corner and given a clip round the ear! And we're being invited to dinner!
Mum, well, Uncle Sasha needs help choosing a school for his daughter, — Vasya said cunningly, — Well, as neighbours do!?
Mum affectionately ruffled her son's hair, smiled and said:
- As neighbours do: you shouldn't break lights and damage cars! Alright, go and get changed, and I'll go to the shop for a cake. We can't go empty-handed.
Half an hour later, Vasya and his mum were already sitting at the neighbours' table having dinner. Uncle Sasha, as it turned out, was a very good cook! He'd even managed to bake an apple pie, so Vasya and Marisha had something to treat themselves to!
Vasya didn't bring the Mouse with him. After all, it was an "official visit", after all!
Marisha suddenly spat out her tea and burst out laughing!
Oh, sorry! — she covered her mouth with her hand.
Vasya, his mum and Uncle Sasha, puzzled as to what was going on, looked at her.
Marisha squeaked again and burst out laughing. Vasya blinked in surprise. But a minute later he guessed what was going on when he felt tiny hands tickling his feet! The Ant!!! — Vasya squeaked and laughed too.
Mum looked at him sternly and said:
Vasily, how do you behave at the table like that?!
But, flushed from laughter, Vasya and Marisha couldn't stop. Because of this Ant, they'd "caught the giggles", as they say!
Uncle Sasha thoughtfully smoothed his hair and calmly said:
Right then, you two. Go to the room. I can see your mood has lifted quite a bit from the sweets. We'll sit here and discuss a few things about school.
Vasya and Marisha shot out from behind the table and ran to the room. There they immediately started looking for the Ant. When they looked under the bed, they saw a laughing face. But not just one, but two! Next to the Ant, the Mouse was laughing merrily!
What are you doing here? — Vasya said in surprise, — How did you get here?
Through the computer network! — answered the Mouse, — The Ant taught me!
The Ant proudly raised her nose. Vasya was about to scold them, but saw that Marisha was smiling calmly, so he didn't.
Why are you messing about? — asked Marisha, — We were sent away from the table because of you! We didn't even get to try the cake!
Oh, come on! — waved the Ant, — We're sitting here hungry anyway, and we're still having fun!
Footsteps were heard in the corridor.
Quick, into the computer! Send the Mouse home and to bed! — commanded Marisha. And the Ant, disgruntled, dragged the Mouse by the hand to the desk, and they dissolved into the blue glow of the computer. Vasya just opened his mouth in surprise!
Uncle Sasha came in.
Well? Haven't you stopped having fun? Or is it sad in the room without cake and tea? Come to the kitchen, Tatiana Ivanovna has already cut the cake and poured the tea.
The rest of the dinner passed in quiet conversation. It was decided that Vasya's mum and Marisha's dad would go to the school headmaster tomorrow and ask for Marisha to be in the same class as Vasya. The children, pleased, exchanged glances and winked at each other.
Already at home, Vasya quickly showered, brushed his teeth, kissed his mum goodnight, and went to his room.
Mouse! — he called, — Mouse!
But the Mouse didn't answer. Vasya turned on the computer, but there was just the usual screensaver, no one was making funny faces from the screen.
Are you upset? — Vasya asked into the emptiness. Silence again, — Alright, don't be upset! Tomorrow I'll buy you a crossword puzzle and a little book of poems. You can treat yourself, alright? — silence in response.
Vasya yawned widely.
You think about it, and tell me tomorrow. Alright? — the boy's eyes were closing. It had been a long and emotionally packed day.
Vasya got under the blanket, wrapped up warmly and fell into a sweet sleep until morning.
In the morning, Vasya heard his mum humming something in the kitchen. He didn't want to get up. He waited until the front door slammed. Mum had gone to work. Vasya lay around for a few more minutes and jumped out of bed.
Mouse, I'm awake! Stop being upset. Come out, you cowardly traitor, let's make up!
But the Mouse still didn't jump out from under the bed with a wild cry, as usual. Even if they did quarrel, he never refused a book as a sign of reconciliation.
Vasya looked around the whole flat again. Empty. Quickly he pulled on shorts and a t-shirt and, without washing, ran to Marisha.
The girl met him with tears in her eyes.
Vasy, my Ant has disappeared!
Then Vasya was truly frightened!
And my Mouse has disappeared.
The girl blinked in confusion.
Come in.
In Marisha's room they sat on the sofa.
- So! Last night the Ant went to see the Mouse home through the computer network. They dissolved at the computer.
Ah! — the girl pressed her palms to her face in fright, — I know what happened! They got lost in the computer network! In the Kingdom of the World Wide Web!
Vasya didn't understand anything Marisha said, and the girl continued:
You see, the Ant and I have been friends for a long time and often in the evening, when Dad is asleep, we'd sneak into the computer and walk around the Kingdom of the World Wide Web. It's really cool and beautiful there. The kingdom is ruled by Princess Web, and we need to ask her for help!
How?! — Vasya and the Mouse had never walked around the world wide web.
Come on! — Marisha pulled him by the hand to the desk, - We can't waste time!
She quickly turned on the computer, but instead of the usual loading, she clicked on a button unknown to Vasya — the entrance to the Kingdom of the World Wide Web. The computer buzzed, Marisha took Vasya by the hands and whispered:
Don't be scared!
Colourful balls and stars swirled around the children, everything around became purple with golden rays of light! Then a bright flash! Vasya squeezed his eyes shut in fright and only opened them when Marisha let go of his hands. What he saw amazed him: it felt like they were in weightlessness, although they were standing firmly on their feet.
Everything around shone with different colours, weightless paths scattered in different directions, everything buzzed, crackled, sparkled with silvery stars and there was no end or edge to this riot of colours!
We're here. We need to go that way! — Marisha waved her hand in one direction. And she ran boldly along a narrow path. Vasya didn't dare step on it, but he didn't want to be left behind by Marisha either. One step, another, his feet didn't sink into the void. And he ran after the girl.
The path went upwards. Around them hummed some glowing insects, more like flying letters from the Russian and English alphabet. You had to wave your hands at them, they flew off to the side and, buzzing angrily, formed different words.
Another pass and Vasya gasped! Right before them appeared the Kingdom of the World Wide Web — the Internet. It was built from various holograms, laser beams shone in different directions, and in the middle stood a huge tower with a star on top.
Let's go straight to the princess! — said Marisha.
Vasya then, inopportunely, remembered that he hadn't washed or combed his hair this morning, and was dressed in a wrinkled t-shirt and shorts. But there was no turning back. He had to find the Ant and the Mouse!
The laser beams in front of them parted, forming a rainbow, then the northern lights. They entered a wonderful garden. There were sun fountains, unknown birds sang, huge flowers of unseen beauty grew. The branches of the trees swayed like seaweed, and a tiny dog ran towards them.
Cursor, sweetie! — Marisha picked up the dog, — Where is your mistress? Take us quickly to Princess Web!
Vasya first heard pleasant singing and only then saw Princess Web. She floated through the air and held something like a keyboard in her hands, in the manner of a harp! But when she pressed the buttons, a sad, quiet melody was heard, to which the princess sang. She floated through the air, her hair streaming in different directions, and instead of legs, like an octopus, thin wires stretched out in different directions. The princess's skin was pale blue, and it seemed that she glowed like phosphorus.
Princess Web! — cried Marisha, and the princess turned to her voice, — We urgently need your help!
The princess put her musical instrument on the edge of a pale blue starry fountain and floated towards the children.
