One evening, Peter went to bed but couldn't fall asleep. He was thinking about his secret. You see, one of Peter's toys came to life every night. And Peter discovered this in the following way:
Once, Peter received a Clown as a birthday gift. He loved it right away and played with it for a long time. Then he started receiving other toys and began playing with them instead. Peter took the Clown out of the box less and less frequently, and eventually it disappeared somewhere at the bottom. Peter had already forgotten about it, but yesterday he saw it sitting right on his bed!
At first, Peter was surprised—who could have taken the Clown out from the bottom? Maybe his mum? Peter picked up the Clown and carried it back to the large toy box. And then Peter decided that tonight he would definitely not sleep but would keep watch for when the Clown came to him.
To stay awake, Peter began staring at the box. He didn't have to wait long. Soon he heard rustling, and the Clown climbed out of the toy box. Peter watched with amazed eyes as his old toy slowly climbed onto the bed and ended up right beside him.
Who are you? – asked Peter.
What do you mean, who? – the Clown protested. – I'm your Clown!
I didn't know toys were alive, – Peter said quietly.
They're all alive, every single one! – the Clown continued. – Listen to a story about toys. Once, children in our city played with things they found themselves. Pebbles, sticks, and leaves were the only toys they had. A master lived in the city, and he was a wizard. He wanted to give toys to the children. He sat in his workshop for a long time and made a thousand different toys. But they all turned out to be alive. Sometimes they chattered, laughed, and quarrelled so loudly that the master's ears began to hurt. One day, the wizard got angry and ordered them to be silent forever. And so they wouldn't run away, the wizard forbade them from running and jumping. And the toys became silent and still. The wizard gave them to the children of our city, and the children became truly happy.
Well, Peter, did you like my story? – asked the Clown.
Yes.
Now it's time for you and me to sleep, Peter. Tomorrow I'll tell you a new story.
And the Clown crawled back into his box. Peter pulled the blanket over himself, thought about the new story, and about how lucky he was to now have a real magical friend.
