Читать книгу MillyLilly. Chocolate Battle - Harry Boro - Страница 6

On that Friday night, Nole waited at home for his friend Chaps so that they go together to the Torch of Life.

Knock-Knock! Knocked someone at the door.

“Who’s that?” asked Nole from the armchair where he was sitting and thinking deeply about the world, life, and the pair of his favorite orange socks he couldn’t find anywhere.

“Chaps!” said Chaps.

“Come in! The door is not closed.”

“I know. I am here.”

Nole raised his eyes to find Chaps sitting right across him. “You were here?”

“Yes,” Chaps said. “I walked in; you were deeply thinking. I waited for very long time, maybe a minute or something, but you kept thinking. So, I had to get up, go back to the door, and knock to get your attention.”

“Why didn’t you shake me to get my attention?” asked Nole.

“Well.” Chaps scratched his head. “Last time I shook you, you weren’t happy.”

“Maybe, it’s because you shook me upside down holding me at my ankles? It’s a little bit unusual way to wake up someone in the morning.”

“Nah,” said Chaps. “You probably don’t know but I used to work as a shaker – in fact, I was the best shaker. They taught us that if you want to wake a person as soon as possible, put him in a position he never sleeps in. Do you ever sleep upside down?”

“No,” said Nole, confused.

“You see?” said Chaps proudly.

“Where did you work as a shaker?” wondered Nole.

“In the Shaking Company, of course,” responded Chaps and jumped to the window, obviously uncomfortable with the Nole’s question.

“We don’t have the Shaking Company in Ambia.”

“It’s not in Ambia,” said Chaps without turning from the window. “It’s… Have you ever been in RaspberryJamville?”

“No.”

“It’s in RaspberryJamville.”

“Okay,” said Nole.

Chaps immediately jumped back to Nole.

“I have a little suggestion before we go….”

“No!” Nole interrupted his friend firmly. “We are not going to eat ambia before the Torch of Life ceremony. Remember what happened last time when you ate just two scoops of ambia?”

“What?”

“You fell asleep and started snoring, and everybody, including Sage Keon, was looking at you.”

“That was long time ago. I’m a different grasshopper now. I can control myself,” said Chaps.

“It was last Friday,” reminded Nole.

“Okay… Okay…” agreed Chaps reluctantly. “You’re right. What about one scoop?”

“No,” said Nole. “Only after ceremony”.

And they went to the ceremony. For many years, the Torch of Life ceremony had been set on the lake’s shore; it was arranged so to let fish be part of the ceremony too and, thus, to support the peaceful coexistence of MillyLilly and fish. You probably don’t know, my friend, but some of the statesmen in our world of people were dreaming about peaceful coexistence with fish for long time. But while they were and are dreaming, MillyLilly made the dream come true.

The Torch of Life is actually Sage Keon’s staff, with the small lantern on the top. Once all residents of Ambia gather around Sage Keon, and lake fish stick out their curious heads out of water, Sage Keon rubs the lantern and the whole area around gets filled with the amazing bluish light of the stars and the warmth of friendship and love. You can say that Sage Keon was a kind of wizard, but he didn’t entertain MillyLilly with a lot of miracles. He loved to say that too many miracles make us forget about the main miracle – life. And the Torch of Life ceremony was all about this – praising the life in all its forms.