At last, the long-awaited winter holidays have arrived. And in two days comes the main event of winter — New Year. How long we've all been waiting for it.
The town has been transformed for the celebration, with decorated Christmas trees in almost every courtyard. Countless garlands shine with multicoloured lights. There's no denying it — New Year is the most thrilling 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 sledge run where lots of children always play: some on sledges, some on toboggans. And some build snowmen, have snowball fights — in short, it's the holidays!
On weekends or in my free time after finishing my homework, I really love playing computer games. The virtual world captivates me so much that everything around becomes completely uninteresting. My parents are outraged and make me read books, but what books could there be — it's the 21st century!
New Year's Eve was approaching, Mum had decorated the Christmas tree and was preparing treats for the festive table. And I, as always, was absorbed in another computer game. There was a ring at the door.
Dad called his son to open the door, but the boy was so engrossed in the game that he didn't even react at first.
Andrey reluctantly tore himself away from the computer and went to the corridor. The boy was very surprised indeed, as standing in the doorway was a real Father Frost with a full sack of presents. Usually Dad would dress up as Father Frost himself and give the presents.
Father Frost was tall and his beard looked quite real. What a beautiful coat he had, all patterned with real snowflakes that didn't even melt, and a squirrel sat on his shoulder.
After greeting Father Frost, Andrey looked with interest at his large sack.
Father Frost proclaimed in a booming voice that on the eve of New Year, he wanted to give him an unusual gift — three magic 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, Father Frost quietly disappeared.
Having examined the gift, the boy convinced himself that these were just ordinary forest acorns and there was nothing mysterious or unusual about them. Except perhaps you could feed them to squirrels.
Having lost interest in the gift, Andrey hurried back to his favourite pastime. But a little later he took one acorn from his pocket and placed it on the table beside him. At that moment Mum strictly asked him to stop playing — guests would be arriving soon and she needed help setting the table.
But how the boy didn't want to tear himself away from the game; nothing interested him except reaching the final level and defeating the boss.
Taking the acorn, Andrey threw it on the floor and wished for the most important thing in his life at that moment — the wish to play the game endlessly and for no one to bother him!
All that was left was to clap his hands three times.
One! Two! Three!
Unexpectedly all the lights around disappeared, he found himself inside the monitor, and became one of the game's characters.
The boy's happiness knew no bounds; he had become part of the game, now no one would stop him from reaching the end. The game completely consumed him. The first level passed, then the second, the third. Even if something went wrong, the game would start again.
However, gradually Andrey became tired, as there was no time for rest at all. Everything turned into real torture.
In the virtual world he was alone, with no one to talk to, time seemed to have stopped, and the game continued on. What could he do? How could he escape? The boy was trapped in the game. Despair completely overwhelmed him.
And then he remembered that the remaining magic acorns were in his pocket, which meant he could make two more wishes.
Andrey now 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 on the virtual surface and cried out that he wanted to be at 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 front of the monitor, and from the next room came the voices of his parents.
How happy Andrey was about this! The boy quickly switched off the computer and decided for himself that he had said goodbye to the virtual world for ever.
He called out loudly for Mum and volunteered to help her, as she was tired from preparing for the celebration.
Mum was very pleased about this.
Andrey fully realised that playing games was very harmful.
After helping, he asked if he could go and play with his friends outside. To which Mum, of course, agreed.
Guests arrived and everyone gathered around the festive table. They joked, chatted and recalled interesting events from the past years. And Andrey decided for himself that he wouldn't go near the computer for the entire holiday. Better to go for walks with friends and read books.
The last acorn the boy placed on a shelf. Next time he would definitely make a well-thought-out wish that was sure to come true…
