This story happened back in the days when schoolchildren wrote with goose quills, dipping the sharpened tip of the pen into an inkwell. Ordinary ballpoint pens didn't exist back then. They simply hadn't been invented yet.
Writing with quills was no simple task. They would squeak while writing, and if you dipped the tip of the pen too deep into the inkwell, a blot could drip onto the paper.
Yes, yes, a thick black blot that could get you a failing grade.
A boy named Kolya knew what it was like when a blot suddenly plopped down in the most inconvenient place. He would have to rewrite the entire page. And since Kolya was a restless and quick-witted boy, he had to do this very often.
So this time, when half a page of handwriting practice had already been filled, a large black Blot jumped off the tip of Kolya's pen.
Nasty blot! Because of you I won't be able to go play with the boys. I'll have to rewrite everything again.
Kolya jumped up from the table and ran to the kitchen to tell his older sister about his grievance.
Meanwhile, the Blot looked around and saw that she was not in the inkwell, but on a white notebook page. On the thin lines were little letters, dots, and commas. They all looked at the stranger in surprise and whispered to each other.
Look, look, it's a Blot! What is she doing here?
The consonants asked indignantly.
She doesn't look like us at all!
The vowels declared.
And she ruins the whole notebook page!
The exclamation mark said loudly.
The Blot felt very hurt. She wanted to shout at them that she came from the inkwell just like they did. It's just that there was much more ink in her than in them. But the noise was so loud that no one would have heard the Blot.
And she decided to leave this notebook, wherever her eyes would take her.
Quietly, she moved to the mathematics notebook. But she wasn't welcomed here either. The numbers, neat and tidy, were not pleased with such a neighbour. Sniffling from hurt, the Blot moved on. And soon found herself near an album.
On the open album page was a painting titled
