This is for you.

There were two little boys: Andrzejek and Adaś. They lived in the same house. And not far from the mountains, but very close by, in that small town west of your house.

They ate chocolate balls from the same bag for breakfast, and they shared a mother and father.

Andrzej was nine, and Adaś only five. Well, actually, five, because a year ago he was only four, and he didn't even go to preschool then.

They both had names starting with A because their mother, Agnieszka, said she specially ordered such boys from St. Joseph's because she really liked them. Andrzej wondered why they chose St. Joseph's. He knew this saint was the earthly father of the Lord Jesus, but so what? His mother explained that St. Joseph loved all children and was an expert in raising sons, so it was best to turn to him for boys.

The boys were very fond of each other. And there's a saying that if you like each other, you like each other. That doesn't mean they grew strange or colorful hair. The boys would often suddenly remember the same toy and both wanted to play with it. Adaś would then scream,

"Mommy! Andrzej is taking it away from me, and it's mine!" Mommy!

Jędruś would scream even louder.

"I'm sick of this Adaś! I wish he were gone."

Mommy would get very upset then. She said that one in a hundred silly wishes always comes true. And you never know when the hundredth wish will come true. Then the boys would calm down. Adaś would bring candy for Andrzej, and Andrzej would read Adaś a story, and peace would return... until the next time.

On Monday morning, Mommy would prepare breakfast, and the boys would brush their teeth in the bathroom.

"Give me back my toothbrush.

" ​​"It's mine! I had a pink one.

" "No, I had a pink one!

" "Yes, you?! You don't even know what color pink is." Mommy!

"Mommy!! Andrzej wants to rip my head off!

" "I wish you'd disappear! I'd finally have some peace!"

Suddenly, silence fell. Mommy had stopped buttering bread. She smiled as long as the boys shouted, but the silence was strange.

"Mom, Mom! Come here!" Andrzej shouted, as if something truly terrible had happened.

When Mom reached the bathroom, she found Andrzej completely alone.

"And it happened! I said that one in a hundred stupid wishes comes true!"

"Mom, but I didn't mean to... So now I'll ask him to appear. Adaś, I want you to appear! "

But nothing had changed.

"It's not that simple, son. Good wishes are harder... Only one in a thousand comes true.

" "I'll keep repeating this wish over and over again, and maybe Adaś will come back." Andrzej's eyes were filled with tears, so Mom stopped shouting at him.

"Wait, Jędrek. We'll call Dad, maybe he can give us some advice."

But Dad was at a very important meeting, and no one wanted to ask him to answer the phone.

"So what now?" Mom sat down sadly at the table, and it was clear she wasn't sure what to do next.

"Maybe we should go to Grandma's? She'll definitely know how to bring Adaś back."

Mom thought it wouldn't hurt to talk to Grandma, so she agreed to Andrzejek's suggestion.

Jędrek was sure he'd come up with the right idea. After all, both he and Adaś knew their Grandma was a fortune teller. When they came to her house, she always said something to the pots she cooked dinner in, or to the flowers. And those flowers grew very, very well... and the dinners were delicious, especially the tomato soup with dumplings. Grandpa thought so too, and he knew Grandma best. One day, the boys asked him what it was like with Grandma, whether she was a fortune teller or not. Grandpa laughed and said that sometimes she could be a real witch. So Grandma knew magic and would surely be able to help.

However, it turned out to be a difficult task even for her. She paced around the table, silent and pondering. She paced for a long time. Andrzej was afraid she would go dizzy from all this, but finally Grandma stopped.

"Are you ready to do anything to get Adaś back?

" "Yes, I'm ready!" Jędrek said quickly and loudly. "And I'll never say such stupid things again." He added, this time in a lower voice .

"So, listen. You have to do ten good deeds. I think that should help."

"Is that all? It's simple!" the boy rejoiced. "

We'll see, we'll see..."

But Andrzej was no longer listening to Grandma.

"Mommy, can I do anything for you?"

"Well... You could go to the store and get some bread and butter, because we're out of them."

Less than half an hour later, Andrzej was back. He gave the groceries and the rest to his mother, because this time he hadn't even bought a lollipop for himself. He was very pleased, especially since he already had an idea for his second good deed. A moment later, his mother and grandmother saw him through the window, briskly swinging a broom and sweeping Grandma's yard. When he returned, he was grimy but smiling.

"Grandma, was that any good?

" "Yes, one hundred percent!"

"I've already completed both tasks."

Andrzejek thought it was a bit like advancing to the next level in a video game. He was glad he'd passed the second one so easily. "

I'll ask Grandpa; maybe he has a task for me."

Grandpa was just repairing the roof of the gazebo. He was very happy that his grandson wanted to help him. He kept having to get down and back up the ladder. His legs were already hurting.

The repair took quite a while, and the boy got a little tired too, because he had to fetch boards, hand over nails, run for a hammer… and so on and so forth. After two hours, everything was ready. Andrzej thought that now he didn't even need to ask if it was a good deed.

Then it turned out it was already lunchtime. Three deeds had taken him that long.

While eating his favorite pickles with sour cream, he decided that today he would clean up for his mother. His mother was delighted, because it was the first time Andrzej had ever had such an idea. She even wanted to help him, but he said he would do everything himself. He tried very hard not to break anything, and… he almost succeeded. He was almost finished washing the dirty dishes when one naughty glass, which clearly wanted to stay dirty, slipped from his hands. Of course, it shattered into a thousand and one pieces. Jędrek was worried that his good deed hadn't worked out, but his mother said that such accidents happen, and this deed definitely counted. So, there are four deeds. What's next?... The boy thought about his room. His mother had reminded him so many times to put the toys and books back on the shelves. Yes, that was a good idea. He considered resting for a moment, because truth be told, he was already tired, but he thought of Adaś... and, taking the stairs two

at a time, ran to clean. When his mother entered his room a while later, he found all the books lined up neatly on the shelf like soldiers, and the soldiers were neatly in their boxes. Every single one! The same with the blocks. Not a single one had lost its way to its basket. The cars lined up neatly along the wall like a real parking lot.

"Well done, son! You've already completed five tasks. Another five, and maybe Adaś will come back.

" "He'll definitely come back, but..." The boy's expression showed he was struggling. "I'm out of ideas. What else could I do? "

His mother thought for a moment.

"I've planned to weed the carrots for tomorrow. If you could do it for me, I'd be very happy."

"I'm running."

"But, son, maybe you should get some rest." "

I don't have time, just a little, I'd get some rest now. I'd go outside, sit on a bench, read a comic book..." the boy dreamed. "But later, when Adaś comes back.

" "Just don't pull up the carrots!"

"I'll try!" and he was gone.

When he returned from the garden, he was very happy.

"There are no more weeds. The carrots can grow in peace, so the sixth task is completed. And by the way, I think the seventh too." Ladybug was lying on her back, waving her legs so funny. She didn't seem to be laughing, though. I don't think she could have fallen over on her own. I picked her up and placed her on a leaf, in the shade. I think it was a good deed." "

Of course."

"What next?"

His mother couldn't think of anything. She sent the boy outside, hoping an idea might come to him there. Andrzej paced the yard, but this time there were no ladybugs needing help. Disappointed, he sat down for a moment. But it wasn't a moment at all. He'd been working hard all day, and he was only a little boy, after all. No wonder, then, that when he sat down, he simply fell asleep. When he woke up, he was very angry with himself. He ran home.

"What time is it? "

"It's almost five. Dad will be home soon.

" "Five already?! I still have three more deeds to do!" Grandma was right; it wasn't such an easy task.

"Let's wait for Dad. Maybe he'll think of something..."

But Andrzejek didn't want to wait. He ran out of the house and wondered what else he could do that would be useful. As he paced, increasingly nervous, he suddenly heard a voice from behind the fence.

"Andrzej, can you help me?" – Paweł, a neighbor, was trying to climb a tree, and it was obvious he couldn't do it without help.

– And why do you even want to go up there?

– Starlings eat cherries, and Grandma says she can't stand them anymore. – because Paweł also had a grandmother, but Andrzej suspected she was quite ordinary, not like his. – I constructed a special scarer. Sure enough,

he had a stick in his hand, with strings attached to it, and at the end of each one was a Coca-Cola can swinging. Andrzej thought of the eighth task.

– I'll give you a boost, and you'll pull yourself up to the nearest branch.

As they thought, they did. Once they reached the first branch, Paweł continued to do very well. He attached his scarer high up so that the wind could move the strings freely. The cans were banging against each other, making quite a noise. Paweł looked down proudly at Andrzej, who was just thinking they'd done something good together.

– I've passed the eighth level, – he said to Paweł, who was slowly descending the tree.

"What level? What are you talking about? Aaah..." At that very moment, he slid down a thick branch and landed on the ground.

"Did something happen to you?!" Andrzej ran to his friend.

"My leg hurts." "Indeed, my entire calf was grazed and already bleeding." "I ripped my pants. What level were you talking about?

" "It doesn't matter anymore."

Jędrek looked at the large hole in Paweł's pants and at his grazed leg. However, he wouldn't pass the eighth deed. He wanted to help his friend, and lo and behold... A good deed turned bad. Paweł limped home, and Andrzej, increasingly nervous, ran to ask again what time it was. He met his father at the door, just returning from work. He was clearly very tired.

"What, trouble?" his mother asked.

"Yes. A real head-scratcher. In the midst of all this, I forgot to buy myself a newspaper for the evening.

" "I'll... I'll run and buy one!" –Andrzej jumped for joy.

"What happened, son? Did you and Adaś do something wrong?"

"I'll tell you everything." Mom was already giving Andrzej money so he could run off to buy a newspaper.

Andrzej ran like crazy. He was in a hurry to complete his eighth good deed as quickly as possible. On his way back, he met his neighbor, Mrs. Wandzia. She was carrying groceries. She had several bags and a new brush under her arm, which kept slipping off. The boy quickly thought of his ninth good deed and offered to help, though he was very embarrassed because until then he had only said "good morning" to the woman. It turned out, however, that it wasn't so bad. And the neighbor was very pleased. She handed him the brush and could finally take care of the bags. When they got home, she rewarded him with a cookie she'd pulled from one of the bags.

Jędrek returned home, gave the newspaper to his father, and began to think about his tenth and final deed. But the more he thought, the fewer ideas came to mind. He was very tired, his legs ached from the constant running, his head ached from the constant thinking. Still, he was ready to act. But… nothing came to mind. Dinner passed, and then Goodnight, and nothing had changed. Finally, his mother said, "

Son, it's time for bed." "

I have one more deed left!"

"It's late. You've done a lot of good today. Let's hope that's enough."

At the last minute, Andrzej came up with the idea of ​​bringing a toy car to Adaś's room, which they both really liked, but which he had mostly played with until now. He placed the car on Adaś's pillow and waited.

Nothing changed. His brother was still gone. The boy sighed and went to bed. Apparently, one of the deeds hadn't been completed. Maybe the one with the ladybug had been too easy, or he'd taken a cookie from the neighbor unnecessarily, or Paweł's accident had ruined everything. The day was over, and there was nothing more to be done… What would happen to Adaś?

His mother woke him in the night. She was smiling. She put a finger to her lips and quietly led him to his brother's room. Andrzejek saw little feet peeking out from under the covers. When he got closer, he realized Adaś was fast asleep, holding a toy car in his hand. His older brother felt very tired now. His mother led him to bed, tucked him in, and he was finally able to sleep peacefully.

Tomorrow would be a new day. He had to prepare for it.