Den! How are you, man? It’s been too long…»
Denis sighed heavily, put on headphones, switched on music, and leaned back on his pillow.
Mysterious labyrinths
Peter jumped up on his bed. Overslept! The alarm clock showed 7:57. He threw off the blanket and rushed to his desk to switch on the computer. While it was loading, Peter rumpled his hair and rubbed his eyes. He cast a look at the alarm clock and started to tap on the table with his fingers as if wanting to hurry up the loading process. The computer took its time. Peter cast a look at his jeans, but remained seated in pyjamas. Finally, mathematical formulas appeared on the screen. Peter moved closer as if he wanted to dive into these formulas.
Suddenly a photo of some stones lying in circles popped up in the middle of the screen. The heading said, «Expedition to the ancient labyrinths.»
Peter got irritated; he was about to close the uninvited advertisement while his eyes caught the phrase, «Walking the labyrinth reinforces greatly human ability to reach the goal…» He kept on reading, «Today mazes are created based on mathematical models and theories.» Scrolling further, Peter got more and more excited. Finally, he grabbed his phone and started to type an SMS, as he heard the knock at his door. Peter turned.
His father stood at the door, holding a cup of coffee in his hand. He was a fit youngish-looking man, dressed in a white t-shirt and dark sports pants.
«Did you know that labyrinths are the tools of the sacred geometry?» Peter looked at his father in excitement.
«Wasting your time again! Instead of preparing…»
«But listen!»
«I fixed your interview.»
Peter froze.
«The Genius School?» he whispered.
Father nodded and cast a look at the screen,
«If you don’t pass… you can put a big fat cross over your career!»
Peter could barely breathe, as his father continued,
«Let’s have a look at your homework!»
Golden lights
Sveta sat on the windowsill, muffled in a duvet, looking outside. She remembered how she, Lisa, and Lisa’s Grandma were observing clouds and how Grandma said, «Skies are changing». Sveta smiled to herself.
Suddenly, she saw some sparks of golden light in a gray mist.
«Wow!» She leaned towards the window and for a while was totally captured by the golden lightning in the clouds.
Then she jumped down and ran from the room. She hurried to tell her older brother, Peter, about what she just saw.
While approaching, she heard her father’s voice coming from Peter’s room.
«So, what have you achieved so far!? Who would need you, loser?»
«But I solved the task…»
Sveta could barely hear Peter’s voice.
«This? You call this a solution? Dull! As all the rest you do! You think it’s going to be like your school?»
Peter kept silent.
«You are about to compete with the smartest kids in town! And you’ve got nothing, NOTHING unique about you!»
Sveta carefully opened the door and stuck her head inside the room. She saw red-faced Peter looking at his desk.
«Peter,» she whispered, «Peter, I saw something really interesting!»
«Leave me alone,» Peter waved her away.
Sveta hesitated.
«Sveta, have you finished your homework?» she heard her father ask.
Sveta gently closed the door.
«Just try… to embarrass me!» she heard her father telling Peter.
Sveta was about to go to her room, but sensed a nice smell. She ran to the kitchen. Her mom was making pancakes. Sveta turned on the music, and while dancing, took some apricot jam and drew a smile on a freshly baked pancake. Her mom smiled and hugged her.
Sun City
Lisa sat, leaned across the table, totally absorbed by drawing. Suddenly she stopped and straightened up. The light from the lamp lit up mountain tops, touched with blue aquarelle. But Lisa didn’t finish that drawing. Beneath the mountains she started on a new sketch. She tried to put on paper something that had occupied her mind for the last few days.
A couple days ago, Lisa forgot a book at school and went back to pick it up. It was late in the evening. She didn’t expect to meet anyone except the security. But while walking the school corridor she suddenly heard music. It came from the open door at the end of the corridor. She became curious, approached the room, and looked inside.
Surprisingly, she saw Denis playing the piano. He was alone. Normally he would be surrounded by girls from their class, asking him out, inviting him to parties, or just trying to talk to him. This time Denis was alone.
Lisa stood in the doorway, watching him playing totally immersed. He didn’t see her. He didn’t see anything – he was totally in his world. His beautiful world.
Lisa wanted to enter the room, but kept standing at the door, mesmerized. Suddenly he stopped playing and closed the piano lid. Lisa rushed out and leaned on the door from the corridor side. She thought of what to say to him. Nothing came to her mind. Time passed, but Denis didn’t walk out. For some time, Lisa listened to the silence and then looked inside the room again. Denis sat, looking at the closed piano lid.
Lisa breathed out as she walked out of her memories. She continued drawing Denis’s face. Then she sketched the piano. Lisa’s grandma walked in. She watched Lisa’s head leaned towards the drawing, then looked around. All over the walls there were pictures of mountains in pure calming, rosy, violet lighting. Grandma smiled.
In the corner of the room, there was an armchair. A big floor lamp by its side, cast light over the colorful pillows scattered on the floor. Grandma sat down in the armchair and looked at Lisa. The girl raised her head.
«What is it?»
«Just admiring you.»
Lisa looked down at her drawing. She wanted to say something and searched for words. Grandma waited patiently.
«Yesterday… Sasha told me… that I am SOO not cool… She doesn’t want to be friends anymore.»
Grandma smiled.
«You think it’s funny?»
Lisa sighed.
«My only friend is seven years old!»
Grandma kept being silent, just watching Lisa attentively. Lisa took a breath and turned to Grandma,
«So, you say, „New energy“ … It depends on what you do with it! But what can I do if nobody gets me?!»
«Now I understand why this map caught my eye this morning.»
«What map?»
«Lisa, have you ever thought… maybe you are searching for the answers in the wrong place?»
Lisa felt a rush of energy, as in a premonition.
«What do you mean?»
«Your school is just a tiny bit of the Universe. If you don’t find your answers there… maybe because THERE they don’t exist. Or not yet exist?» she added quietly.
Lisa looked at her Grandma waiting for her to continue. No continuation followed. So typical for Grandma, to light up and go silent…
«And what shall I do?»
«Accept it! Accept yourself the way you are, with