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 was given a Clown for his birthday. He loved it immediately 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 forgotten all 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? Perhaps Mum? Peter took the Clown and carried it back to the large toy box. And then Peter decided that tonight he absolutely would not sleep, but would keep watch for when the Clown came to him.
To stay awake, Peter began watching 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 next to him.
Who are you? – asked Peter.
What do you mean, who? – the Clown protested. – I'm your Clown!
I didn't know that toys were alive, – Peter said quietly.
They're all alive, every single one! – the Clown continued. – Listen to a story about toys. Once upon a time, children in our city played with things they found themselves. Pebbles, sticks and leaves were the only toys they had. In the city lived a master who 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 became angry and ordered them to be silent forever. And so they wouldn't run away, the wizard forbade them to run and jump. And the toys became silent and motionless. The wizard gave them to the children of our city, and the children became simply happy.
Well, Peter, did you like my story? – asked the Clown.
Yes.
And 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 duvet over himself, thought about the new story and about how lucky he was to now have a real magical friend.
