Беатов Александр Георгиевич. Sky-Blue Globe

SKY-BLUE GLOBE

Susie woke up as the suns rays, penetrated through the curtain fondled her eye lids.

The little girl did not want to get up and she was laying in her bed, looking at her toys which she thrown about the floor yesterday evening, and now, having been warmed by the sun, sparkling and calling her to continue the game.

A silence was interrupted by the twitter of the sparrow, chirping somewhere nearby in the garden and peering into the little girl window.

"Chik-chiurlik. Chik-chiurlik.

Come-to-me... Let's-get-up..."

Susie got up, had leaving a dent on the pillow and depriving her bed of the beauty that existed earlier, when she had been laying in it. In that time her hair and palm, near her face, with the bended fingers, created indescribable charm, broken now by its owner as she left the bed.

The little girl approached the window, and at that moment light wind was blowing, stirring the curtain and her hair.

The sparrow fell silent. The wind calmed down. Then the crackling of a grass hopper became distinctly heard. Susie put on her dress and sat down on the window-sill, trying to see what her father was doing with a book in the garden: he did not suspect that his daughter is peering over his head.

The door opened, and her nanny came in. Susie, not paying attention to her nanny, ran over the room, waving by her hands and crying:

"I've awoke! I've awoke!"

* * *

Susie rushed aside her nanny as the women was trying to wash little girl's face

"Hurry up, Betsy!"

It seemed that Betsy was taking her time washing susie's face for long time! Susie never liked to have her face washed, especially in the morning, when sher still wanted to sleep.

Finished with the bathroom, she ran to the garden to find her father, but didn't not find him there. Susie understood, that breakfast time is coming, and she would be sought.

It was so boring to sit at the table! Her father, looking towards the window, ate nothing as did her mother. Her brother looked like he just has been woken up.

Only Susie ate, hurrying, sometimes looking at one or another one, surprising why they are not merry.

A little girl was hurring though she had not anywhere special to go. She was hastening to meet anything new that this sunny day could bring. Ahead of all she left dining room and went to her toys, that had been waiting for her since yesterday.

Susie sat down on the rug and started playing. She became absorbed into this interesting pastime, talking with herself instead of to the dolls, not observing her brother, who came into her room. He was about the same age as Susie. His name was Tom. He began to play with his sister, being mostly interested in the cars, on which he carried the dolls from one place to another. Soon he became too bored to play and went outside. Then Susie followed him.

* * *

The children sat under a branchy oak on pillows. Close to them in the wicker chair sat their mother, reading book to them. Twittered the sparrow and crackled the grass hopper. The children were listening to the voice of their mother, narrating a fairy-tale.

Their father came up and stopped to look at the children. He also listen to the tale together with kids.

The end was happy, and the children made a joyful cry. Tom started to explain right away, considering that only he caught it.

"Well, children, do you want to go to the river bank?" - Inserted father when the boy had stumbled, trying to recall a lost thought.

"To the river?! - Indeed!" - Had come to her senses first the little girl.

"By a car?" - Asked her brother.

"Yes."

Then the children ran to the house so that Betsy dressed them for the trip, Tom, had forgotten about the tale, happy to be soon in the car, Susie - full of gladness, hoping to search something more new and interesting.

* * *

As father was driving the car. Tom was fidgeting near him. Susie with her mother sat in the back seat.

A half an hour had passed. Tom fell asleep and Susie began to examine the pictures on the package of the chewing gum. An entire owner of the treasure, she hardly unsealed the celluloid and open the package. Packed up by rows, there were motley balls, and there were drawn the different fruits under each of them: apple, lemon, pineapple, banana, branch of grape... The little girl took the bead with the picture of banana, put into her mouth and chewed it.

* * *

The family had a lunch on the river bank. Weather was calm, and there were small frequent waves which ran over the coast while a steamship passed along the river. They were very calm as though Mississippi river herself did not wish to be disturbed.

Everybody sat down on the rug, which was placed on the grass, and began to eat. The little girl did not hastening to eat now. She enjoyed being here, on the river beach with endless light blue sky.

* * *

After lunch father lay down with a book on the grass near a single thin tree. Mother was getting a tan on the rug. Children climbed on the big rock and dipped their feet into sand, wet from the waves, and started to talk, working by their jaws energetically.

"What kind of the gum do you have, Tom?"

"Orange."

"It's cool here, isn't it?!"

"Ye-eh..."

"Let's go over there! Look at that huge blue field!" - The little girl pointed along the river coast.

"It's too far... I don't wonna..."

"Well... Then I'll go there without you!"

Susie got down from the rock, took out the gum from her mouth, threw it into the water and started to run along the beach, leaving a cloud of spray that had been flowing from under her bare feet.

She enjoyed cleaving the air and by the spreading wide toes - the shallow waves, pouring her with spray that was refreshing her from the burning sun. She was not looking around. In the bright sun, gleaming from the water drops, she saw a rainbow, and it had carried her away so much that she stopped just when became tired.

The little girl recovered her breath and after looking to her right saw the field of the wonderful pale-blue flowers. Without rest after long run she rushed there. She gathered an entire armful of little twigs with light blue velvety beads, and could not keep herself from lying down into the field of flowers. She closed her eyes and started to look at big sky-blue globe through her eye-lids...

* * *

Susie felt a cold feeling and woke up. There was no sun; the wind blew from the river, rushing the waves on the shore.

The little girl got up and clasping the flowers tightly to herself, ran back. A stream of the air was beating to her face with a pain. The spray made her shudder and she became fearful. The way back seemed to take forever..

* * *

Here is that rock. Susie stopped and looked around. A place seemed to her familiar but it was not the same place where she left her relatives. Here was nothing, even the sun!.. Nevertheless at the same time it was the same place: here is the rock, with chewing gum, adhered by Tom; there is grass, crushed by rug and the small tree where her father was reading a book, and... the tracks left by their car...

Susie moved away from the beach where river raged not been giving a moment of silence, sat down under the tree and started to shrivel and sobbing.

* * *

It was getting dark. Sounds of the waves and wind were mixed and consumed everything, increasing, interrupting and hissing by loud sandy spitting. The wind was picking up dust from somewhere, bringing it here and flinging into Susie's face.

The time was passing like a slow nightmare. The little girl was not crying anymore. She leaned on a small tree with her back, keeping the bunch of flowers, together near her knees and hiding her chin as she closed her eyes...

* * *

Bright light cut into the darkness, coloring the running waves in the yellow-green. Then they became smaller than when they had not been seen. Another hissing, rustling and creak noise could be heard. Some huge subject with two flammable eyes stopped near little girl, then another creature separated from it and approached her...

* * *

She was sitting in her mother's arm embraces, replete and wrapped up by warm shawl. Still being in doubt that she is with them again, by sleepy eyes the little girl continued looking at her relatives. Tom was sleeping, hidden from her sight somewhere on front seat. Mother was plunged into her thoughts, looking into dark window, with running lights. Father was sitting without move, keeping the steering wheel. They all were her relatives, and Susie loved them now as even never before. Quiet breathing of her brother, a silence, coming from her mother, the squeak from the father's seat, - everything was relaxing her, drawing into the sleep. However may be because of a cup of coffee or something else that she tried to recall, Susie could not fell asleep.

Mother's exhale of relief unbalanced a rhythm of the silence. The braked creaked up, and the car stopped near their house.

* * *

After Susie drank hot milk and swallowed several tablets of medicine, she was tucked up and laid up in the bed.

A turned off light has not created a gloom: it was a dawning over the window. Somewhere there the dove moved and cooed, light rushes of the wind rustled by leaves, and there could be heard a sound of falling broken twigs.

Then the noise from the wind has been interrupted by chirping of the sparrow:

"Chik-chiurlik! Chik-chiurlik!

Sun-sun! It's time - to get up!"

Then the sun started to play by its slanting non-heating beams, going through leaves, the curtain, through the eye lids of the little girl.

She dreamt of the field of flowers. She was running over it, cleaving soft sky-blue beads, fondling by warm stream. She was closing her eyes and watching through rainbow on the sun globe and running without stop.

The field was huge, and she wanted to run all the time...

1974

Translated from Russian: 1992 / 2013

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Аннотация: This short story has been written originally in Russian when Author lived in his motherland. Translated by Author to English in 1992 and edited in 2013 from original short story "Голубой Шар"(Can be found in Russian here). English is not a native language of the Author. Suspect linguistic and syntactic mistakes. Last edition and update: July 2, 2013.

Беатов Александр Георгиевич : другие произведения.

Sky-Blue Globe