Gray

 

Two old men once lived in a small house on the outskirts of town. In the same house, in a hole under the floor, lived a family of mice. Since the old men had no one close to them, they became fond of their roommates. Grandma would sometimes leave them crumbs or leftovers from dinner, and in the evenings, Grandpa would play the flute—and you should know that mice love the music played on this instrument.

So it was good for the mice in the old men's home. But well, the old men's life came to an end, and the house remained empty for a while, until one day new residents moved in. And then things started to go wrong for the mice. Not only did no one leave them crumbs, but to make matters worse, mouse traps were placed in every corner. But that wasn't all. One day, the mice heard their host say,

"I must buy a cat that will finally exterminate these nasty mice." The mice were terrified and decided to look for a new home. So they packed their meager belongings and set off. They stopped in front of each house, and Dad went off to scout. When he returned, he'd look sad and say,

"No way. There are cats in this house." Or,

"Unfortunately, Mrs. Gryzikowska has just gone mad and needs some peace and quiet. "

Or,

"Three mouse families already live here, and there's really no room for us anymore.

" Or,

"There's a war going on between the Myszyniec and Myszory clans, so it could be dangerous..."

Eventually, however, fortune smiled on them, and they settled in a beautiful, new kindergarten. It was truly a mouse paradise! No one bothered the mice, and there was plenty of food. However, their eldest son, named Szaruś, decided to set out into the world one day, in search of adventure. So he set off on a journey into the unknown.

Szaruś was walking along the edge of the sidewalk when he suddenly noticed two gleaming green eyes ahead. He bowed politely and asked,

"Excuse me, sir, who are you?

" "Meow." He's asking who I am... A handsome fellow. I'm Burasek the cat, and I'm about to eat you for lunch.

And then Szaruś saw a huge maw, ringed with sharp teeth, opening below his eyes. He would have perished miserably if he hadn't noticed a series of elongated holes in the road. It was a sewer grate, through which water from rain or melted snow flows into the canals. But Szaruś didn't know this. He jumped into one of the holes and began to fall into the dark abyss. He flew for a moment, and suddenly—splash!—he fell into the water. He began to flail with all his might, but the water was already pouring into his eyes. Suddenly, he bumped something with his nose. He grabbed it with his paws. Now he was floating on the surface of the water and could look around. He saw that he was in a thick pipe, through which a torrent of dirty water flowed with a loud roar, carrying brown sheets of foam, various pieces of debris, and pieces of wood. It was just such a piece of broken branch that had saved Szaruś from a drowning death.

He climbed onto the stick and floated as if on a raft. Daylight flashed overhead, filtering into the pipe through a grate similar to the one through which he had entered the canal. After a while, the pipe connected to another, much wider one, on the edge of which Szaruś saw something resembling a walkway. He began rowing vigorously with his paws, steering his ship in that direction. Finally, he managed to reach the safe shore and, after a moment, stood on dry concrete. He remembered how his teacher had once read to preschoolers about a shipwrecked boy who landed on a deserted island and immediately imagined himself as Mousebinson. He played for a while, but not finding any sign of Fivemouse, he decided to climb out. He looked for a suitable spot and, taking advantage of various irregularities, easily reached the grate. After squeezing through the gap, he emerged onto the street.

What a different world this was than a quiet suburban old couple's house, or a kindergarten hidden among the greenery. Cars roared by on all sides, trams grinded on their tracks, honking their bells every now and then. It was also full of people hurrying. It seemed to him that the other side of the street was a bit quieter, so he decided he'd have a better chance of avoiding being trampled. The spit-like heels of some of the ladies' shoes seemed particularly dangerous. He was about to cross when, lifting his head slightly, he saw a large green eye. With the memory of his encounter with the cat still fresh in his mind, he immediately hid in a crack between the paving stones and waited to see what would happen next. After a moment, he was relieved to see that the green eye had disappeared, replaced by a flashing red one. Now Szaruś boldly stepped onto the road. But what was it? Suddenly, cars began to speed ahead of him, behind him, and above him. He miraculously avoided being run over several times before he made it to the other side, barely alive with fear.

He'd had enough of wandering and longed to return home. But how could he do that? He didn't know which way to go. And how could he avoid a terrible death under the wheels of cars.

"I'll think of something tomorrow," he decided. "In the meantime, I need to find a quiet place where I can get something to eat and sleep until morning."

He began to move along the building's wall until he reached a small window just above the sidewalk. The window was barred and glassed, but at the bottom, in the very corner, a piece of the glass was broken. Szaruś carefully squeezed through the hole, but unfortunately, he cut his paw.

"It doesn't matter," he thought, "it'll heal by the wedding."

He found himself in a large basement, full of sacks and crates of potatoes, carrots, cabbage, and other vegetables. He ate his fill, then climbed into one of the sacks, finding a small hole in it. He fell asleep. A strange sensation, as if he were floating, woke him. And so it was, for a man slung a sack of potatoes over his back, carried it out of the basement, and placed it in the bed of the truck. Before Szaruś could dig himself out from under the potatoes, which were slightly crushing him, the truck moved off.

After a short drive, the truck stopped, the man lifted the sack onto his back again, carried it to a building, and set it on the floor. Szaruś waited a moment, and when he heard no more sounds, he carefully climbed out of the sack. The place he now found himself in had a vaguely familiar smell. It was full of various products: cereal, pasta, bread, cheese, and a whole host of other delicacies. He exited the warehouse through an ajar door and—yes, this is kindergarten!

He quickly ran to his parents and siblings. When he found himself among his own people, everyone was overjoyed. Then he told them about his adventures and said that kindergarten was the nicest place in the world. Then they all sang a cheerful song together:

"It's so good in kindergarten, (it's in kindergarten),

we don't have to live in the field, (live in the field).

There's food and plenty of room to play.

But the mice are sad here on Sundays.

When there are no children in kindergarten, the mice are sad.

Chin up - the children will be back tomorrow."