The sun was shining

The sun was shining. The curtains swayed gently in the summer breeze. The cheerful chirping of birds soothed the red-haired girl's tired soul. Her green eyes

sparkled with a strange light. She held a mug of cold tea in her hand. The green, lush grass caressed her aching feet. She rested her head on the wooden back of a garden chair, staring out the window of her house. She wasn't beautiful, nor was she ugly.

Just ordinary. Her hair stood out, which often led to unpleasant teasing from her peers, especially the opposite sex. She liked most things about herself except for her nose, which she considered too large. Of course, like her friends, she tried to stick to a diet, which wasn't very successful, considering that when she felt like it, she could eat an entire bar of milk chocolate. Later, she would experience terrible pangs of conscience and try to vomit the contents of her stomach into the toilet. She never succeeded. Although she had lost a lot of weight recently, it wasn't the result of any diet. Her grades were average. She had many friends, or rather, girlfriends, as she'd barely spoken to any boys for about three years (excluding those summers) for various reasons. I must emphasize that she wasn't a feminist. Quite the opposite. She believed that women who once fought for equal rights had made a fatal mistake, because if it weren't for them, she could have spent all day at home instead of going to school. She liked to think about many things. Simply sitting in a quiet corner and thinking about various things, or inventing interesting love stories involving herself. This particular girl was named Magda. She wasn't anyone special. She didn't stand out from the crowd of other teenagers. She didn't smoke. She didn't do drugs. She lived her dreams, which she couldn't keep to herself, and she always talked about them to her closest friends (and I'm not referring to her family). She often regretted keeping her mouth shut, which, incidentally, she wore braces. As you can see, she was truly an ordinary teenager, but the events that took place at the beginning of summer break and lasted less than two months meant she was no longer an ordinary seventeen-year-old. Her perspective and view of the world around her changed. Still staring out the window, she rested her head on her sun-baked hand. Her thoughts drifted back to the beginning of summer break…

"Great competition from Radio ZET!" the announcer exclaimed. Magda was painting her toenails. Summer break began today. Her first year of high school had ended. She felt wonderful!

"You've never had anything like this before! Just text 7698 to win an unforgettable trip for two. A luxury ship… the Caribbean Sea… But that's not all. Can you imagine the most glamorous stars of Hollywood aboard the Marine? Among them were Mel Gibson, Demi Moore, Salma Hayek, Tom Cruise, and many others?

You can spend an unforgettable week drinking champagne with the most famous faces in world cinema. Send text messages. You only have until tonight. We'll randomly select one from the submitted text messages and call the lucky winner around 8:30 PM. Only Radio ZET can provide you with such excitement! – a moment later, music played on the radio. Some new summer hit. Magda had probably heard it a thousand times, and at least for the fourth time today. Just like the announcements about this contest today. They'd been buzzing about it for about two weeks now. She could imagine how much money they must be making off these text messages. Although she didn't want to admit it to anyone, she sent two yesterday. She didn't believe she could win something like that, but she wanted to try. She always had a chance; it would be pretty cool to sail the Caribbean Sea while watching handsome actors. Especially since Orlando Bloom was supposed to be on that ship. No, that's it! – she said to herself. She'd long ago decided that Bloom was a thing of the past. But as often as she tried to forget him and stop acting like a stupid brat with a crush on someone she didn't even know, he kept popping into her mind at least three times an hour. Her friends thought Bloom was a complete faggot, and sometimes, even though she didn't tell them, she agreed with them, seeing the actor in his pink blouse, half-long curly hair, and fuzzy beard. But there were also photos that took her breath away. She loved looking at them and imagining being with him. Touching him, kissing him, and then making love to him in some quiet spot. That was just how she was, and although part of her mind told her she'd never meet him, never feel his touch, the other half believed that day would come, that her dream would come true. And now she sat quietly in the kitchen, painting her nails and losing herself in her thoughts again.

In a week, she was supposed to fly to New York, where she'd recently spent her vacation. Her brother and aunt lived there, so her parents sent her there, seeing no other way to spend her vacation. Don't think she was rich or anything. Her aunt, who had lived in the US for 25 years and owned her own jewelry store, where her brother worked, provided the tickets, accommodations, and meals. Magda's brother didn't work for her aunt. Honestly, she didn't want to go there for several reasons, which I won't mention because it would take up a significant portion of this story. However, she preferred it to staying home, where she'd probably do nothing but watch TV and eat ice cream. So, you could say that those text messages she sent last night before going to bed were meant to save her from summer boredom.

When the nail polish dried on her fingers, she got up and poured herself some cold water. She was alone in the house. Her parents had gone to work, and her other brother, who still lived with them, had gone out with his friends for a cold beer. So Magda could do what she most wanted to do: simply nothing. She went out into the garden, followed by her dog. She decided that this summer she would sunbathe a lot. With very fair skin and a smattering of freckles on her nose and cheeks, tanning was difficult for her. Every summer, she spent at least three hours a day lying flat on a dirty New York beach, praying that the sun's rays would reach her pale skin. To no avail. After such a dose of sun, her complexion turned red, and then the top layer of skin peeled away painfully. Holding her Walkman, sunglasses, towel, and suntan oil, she shuffled out onto the green grass in her flip-flops. She spread out a towel and lay down comfortably. It was almost 12 p.m. Sunbathing was forbidden at this time, as the sun was very harmful, but she didn't care. She put on her favorite Meredith Brooks song, "Bitch," and took advantage of the beautiful weather. She spent about two hours doing nothing. At 4 p.m., she had an appointment with her friends at the pizzeria where they always said goodbye before vacation. At 3 p.m., she returned home, took a quick shower, and left.

All the girls were already there except Hania, who was always late.

"Hey," all five seventeen-year-olds greeted each other. "As usual, are we waiting for Hania?"

Magda asked.

"How could it be otherwise?" replied Ania, a petite brunette, Magda's best friend. They chatted for several minutes about their vacation plans while waiting for the latecomer. When Hania finally arrived, they ordered pizza and cold drinks.

"It's a shame Miśka and Balbina aren't with us," Ania muttered.

"Actually, why didn't we tell them we were coming here?" Zuzia asked.

"Why do we need them here?" Julka squealed. "We've always met as a group of six, and it should stay that way.

" "I always thought they should come here with us," Magda said. Lately, things hadn't been going well with Julka, and frankly, she would have preferred the company of the two absent girls.

"Exactly..." Hania joined the conversation. Silence fell. Only Estera sat quietly, not contributing to this trivial and uninteresting discussion.

Magda really disliked situations like this and tried desperately to keep the conversation going.

"Do you know about that Radio ZET competition?

" "Who wouldn't?" Ania said wearily.

"Did you send text messages?" Magda continued. "To be honest, I did..." She spilled the beans again, though she didn't want to tell anyone.

- Me too - Hania smiled at her - Come on, the chances of winning anything are zero anyway.

"I know... but Bloom... I had to send... the Caribbean...

" "Not that Bloom again!" Zuzia said in a resigned voice. "When will you finally get over it?

" "I guess never... And if I win, who's going with me?" Julka immediately yelled,

"ME!!! Of course I am!" Magda thought that if she were forced to be with her for a whole week, she would probably give up the trip altogether. Although everyone said those six girls were like inseparable lovebirds, something had long since started to go sour between them. In reality, Magda was only close to Ania, Hania, and Zuzia. Julka and Estera really annoyed her, but she didn't know why.

"Julka," Ania said, tempering her enthusiasm. "If Magda won, she'd take me." Magda smiled at her friend, who always knew what was on her mind.

To avoid looking artificial, she started laughing, treating it as a joke. In a more relaxed atmosphere, they ate the pizza served, chatting and laughing at Magda's vulgar jokes.

After returning home, Magda called Ania to discuss the meeting. They were supposed to meet tomorrow at Ania's house. They had been talking for exactly half an hour when she heard her mother's cries from downstairs, needing to use the phone. Magda ended the conversation, agreeing on a specific time. When she finally managed to say goodbye to her friend, she glanced at her watch. It was exactly 8:30 PM. She heard the faint sound of her cell phone ringing. A shiver of excitement ran through her. But that didn't mean anything… she said, reaching for the phone. She glanced at the screen. It was calling: an unknown number. With a trembling hand, she pressed the answer button.

"Hello?" she asked uncertainly.

"Good evening," said a male voice. "Did you send a text message during the Radio ZET competition?

" "Yes," she whispered. She realized that everyone listening to Radio ZET was hearing this conversation.

"You won the grand prize, a week's stay aboard a luxury cruise ship..." Magda didn't hear the rest of the words, lost in her own thoughts. She couldn't believe it. She: an ordinary seventeen-year-old... she won... She's dreaming... this can't be true! Only when she heard the fanfare did she snap out of her thoughts.

"Are you there?" the announcer asked.

"Yes... but I can't believe I won. "

"You have to. Congratulations. Thank you for talking with me.

" "Thank you too..." She was about to hang up when a woman's voice came on the line:

"Please don't hang up. We need your details." Magda guessed it was no longer on the air. She answered the woman's questions one by one, but she couldn't believe it all and later wondered if she'd given the correct answers. When the interview finally ended, Magda lay down on the bed and decided that maybe this vacation wouldn't be completely wasted after all...