Whilst Marisha, as the new acquaintance was called, was heating the kettle and slicing the roulade, Vasya emptied the entire sweet bowl from excitement.
Marish, — asked Vasya with his mouth full, — 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, placed a plate with roulade on the table, sat down next to Vasya and answered:
You see, my dad Sasha travels on long business trips for work quite often. 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 she got tired too. She said she was staying in St Petersburg. There are lots of exhibitions there. And dad took me with him. Well, I've already changed five schools since I was six! At first it was easier, but then, when I grew up a bit, I started making friends with other children. In every 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, in case he would 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 party! 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 distant cousin and her mum too! 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! — chattered the Ant, — 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 head.
Aha, — smiled Marisha, — I flinched in fright, lifted my head, and this marvel is looking at me from the screen! — she tugged the Ant by her pigtail, she squeaked, pulled her hand away, and they both laughed.
Why are you laughing? — asked the Mouse.
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 quite often, as a joke, I pull her by her pigtails. And when you touch her pigtails, they're like thin wires, and they give you an electric shock, 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 electric shocks. Then he carefully touched the Ant's pigtails with his fingers.
Ouch! — his fingers were flicked.
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, daddy! — Marisha ran out to meet him, — We have guests! By the way, this is for you!
Vasya froze in fright and glanced at the Mouse and the Ant. But they had vanished without a trace! The boy got up from the table and hung his head guiltily, pushing the ball closer to him with his foot.
Well, hello there, guest, — said Uncle Sasha sternly, hung his jacket on the coat rack in the hallway, and came into 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 for long? — asked Uncle Sasha.
Yes, I came straight to you this morning when mum went to work! — began Vasya anxiously, — Straight to you, I 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 said you should come with your father! We could have discussed your behaviour, — said Uncle Sasha sternly.
Vasya looked away and said quietly:
Yes, 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 calm voice:
I see! Of course, you can't upset your mum. And so, it turns out that there's no one to give you a telling-off? 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 telling-off too…
And the boy turned his ear, burning with shame, towards him.
Uncle Sasha laughed until tears streamed down his face!!! Marisha laughed after him, and then, hesitantly, Vasya too.
Alright, I won't give you a telling-off, — Uncle Sasha gave Vasya a conciliatory pat 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 yesterday's cowardice, and said nothing, looking down.
That's excellent! 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, — agreed Vasya, — Then I'll run home now. I need to call mum. And we'll come this evening.
That's excellent! — Uncle Sasha slapped his knees.
Vasya and Marisha went into her room. From under the table, smiling cunningly, 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 telling-off! And we're being invited to dinner!
Mum, well Uncle Sasha needs to help his daughter choose a school, — Vasya said cunningly, — Well, as neighbours should!?
Mum affectionately ruffled her son's hair, smiled and said:
- As neighbours should: don't break street lights and don't damage cars! Alright, go and get changed, and I'll go to the shop for a cake. We can't go visiting empty-handed.
Half an hour later Vasya and his mum were already sitting at their neighbours' table having dinner. Uncle Sasha, as it turned out, could cook very deliciously! He even managed to bake an apple pie, so Vasya and Marisha had something to enjoy!
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, wondering what was the matter, looked at her.
Marisha squeaked again and laughed again. Vasya blinked in surprise. But a minute later he guessed what was going on when he felt small hands tickling his feet! The Ant!!! — Vasya squeaked and laughed too.
His mum looked at him sternly and said:
Vasily, how do you behave at the table like that?!
But, flushed from laughter, Vasya and Marisha could no longer stop. Because of this Ant, they had "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 matters about school.
Vasya and Marisha shot out from behind the table and ran to the room. There they immediately began searching for the Ant. When they looked under the bed, they saw a laughing face there. But not just one, but two! Next to the Ant, the Mouse was laughing merrily!
What are you doing here? — said Vasya 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 her, but saw that Marisha was smiling calmly, so he didn't.
Why are you misbehaving? — asked Marisha, — We were sent away from the table because of you! We didn't even try the cake!
Oh, never mind! — waved the Ant, — We're sitting here hungry anyway, and we're having fun!
Footsteps were heard in the corridor.
Quickly into the computer! See 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? Has the fun worn off? Or are you 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, wishing her a good night, 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? — asked Vasya into the emptiness. Silence again, — Alright, don't be upset! Tomorrow I'll buy you a crossword and a little book of poems. You can enjoy them, 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 far too long and emotionally exhausting a day.
Vasya got under the blanket, wrapped himself 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 wretch, 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 had quarrelled, he never refused a book as a peace offering.
Vasya looked around the whole flat again. Empty. Quickly he pulled on his shorts and t-shirt and, without washing, ran to Marisha's.
The girl met him with tears in her eyes.
Vasya, my Ant has disappeared!
Then Vasya was truly frightened!
And my Mouse has disappeared too.
The girl blinked in confusion.
Come in.
In Marisha's room they sat on the sofa.
- Right! 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 that 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 wonderful and beautiful there. The kingdom is ruled by Princess Webby, 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 afraid!
Colourful balls, 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.
All around everything shone in different colours, weightless paths scattered in different directions, everything buzzed, crackled, sparkled with silver 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 buzzed some glowing insects, more like flying letters from the Russian and English alphabet. You had to wave your hands at them, they flew away 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, at an awkward moment, remembered that he hadn't washed or combed his hair in the morning, and was dressed in a crumpled 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, my dear! — Marisha picked up the dog, — Where is your mistress? Take us quickly to Princess Webby!
Vasya first heard pleasant singing and only then saw Princess Webby. She floated through the air and held something like a computer 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 flowing 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 as if she glowed like phosphorus.
Princess Webby! — 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 star fountain and floated towards the children.
