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stratená farba je nová časť seriálu Mína a hviezdny kľúč, pripravená ako dvojjazyčný detský príbeh v slovenčine aj angličtine.
stratená farba: začína sa príbeh
Večer bola záhrada pri dome mäkká a voňala po tráve. Mína pobehovala po chodníčku v malých červených čižmičkách. Jej horčicová bunda sa jej pri behu nadúvala ako malá plachta. Na pleci jej sedel Piko, drobný zlatý motýlik so žiarivými krídlami.
V Míninom vrecku sa zrazu pohol malý strieborný hviezdny kľúč.
Cink.
Mína zastala pri starom kríku. Medzi dvoma vetvami našla maličké drevené dvierka, ktoré tam cez deň určite neboli. Kľúč do nich pasoval presne.
Keď nimi otočila, dvierka sa otvorili celkom potichu.
Za nimi bola záhrada. A predsa to nebola celkom tá istá záhrada. Tráva bola mäkšia, kvety väčšie a kvapky na listoch sa leskli ako sklenené guličky.
„Aha!“ povedala Mína. „Pozri, Piko. Tamtá ruža je skoro biela.“
Naklonila sa bližšie. Na ružovom lupeni ležala kvapka, ale nebola modrá ani strieborná. Vyzerala matne, akoby na ňu niekto zabudol posvietiť.
O kúsok ďalej bledli zvončeky. Aj malé jazierko pri kamienkoch malo sivastú vodu. Medzi konármi býval zvyčajne kúsok jasnej večernej oblohy. Teraz tam bolo len prázdne, svetlé miesto.
„Kde je modrá?“ zašepkala Mína.
Piko zamával krídlami. Jeho teplé zlaté svetlo sa zatriaslo na listoch. Potom sa pozrel pod veľký list hosty.
„Možno je maličká,“ pípne.
Mína hneď kľakla do trávy. Pozrela pod list. Potom za kamienok. Potom do suchej štrbinky pri chodníku.
„Modrááá!“ zavolala. „Ukáž sa! Hľadáme ťa!"
Vtom sa z trávy zdvihol drobný chumáčik semienok a odletel preč. Kvapka na lupeni sa zachvela, no modrá farba sa neukázala.
„Asi sa schovala veľmi dobre,“ povedal Piko.
„Tak ju nájdeme veľmi rýchlo,“ rozhodla Mína.
Prebehla k jazierku. Vo vode sa niečo na okamih zablyslo. Bol to jemný modrastý odlesk, tenký ako vlások.
„Tam!“ zvolala a načiahla ruku.
Odlesk však zmizol.
Mína zamračila čelo. Skúsila hľadať medzi lupienkami fialového kvetu. Na jednom z nich bol chladný tieň, trochu modrý. Keď sa však dievčatko naklonilo príliš rýchlo, tieň sa posunul pod lístok.
„Stále mi uteká,“ povedala.
Piko si sadol na kamienok. „Možno neuteká,“ pípne. „Možno len nechce dup-dupať.“
Mína pozrela na svoje červené čižmičky. Práve nimi netrpezlivo ťukala do chodníka.
„Ja nedupem veľmi,“ povedala tichšie.
Piko naklonil hlávku. „Len trošku veľa.“
To Mínu rozosmialo. Potom však zasa pozrela na bledú záhradu. Chcela, aby boli kvapky modré hneď. Chcela, aby sa obloha medzi vetvami zafarbila hneď. Lenže čím rýchlejšie chodila, tým menej modrých náznakov videla.
Neskôr si všimla lavičku pod voňavým kríkom. Bola nízka a okrúhla, akurát pre malé dievča.
„Na chvíľu si sadnem,“ povedala. „Ale iba na malinkú chvíľu.“
Usadila sa a položila ruky do lona. Piko jej priletel na plece.
„Nadýchni sa pomaly,“ pípne.
Mína sa nadýchla nosom. Vzduch voňal po mäte a po zemi po večernej rose. Potom vydýchla.
Ešte raz sa nadýchla.
Záhrada sa medzitým utíšila. Listy sa len jemne pohli. Z diaľky bolo počuť tiché kvap-kvap z malej fontánky. Piko už nič nehovoril. Ani Mína.
Práve vtedy sa v jednej kvapke na tráve objavil bodík modrého svetla.
Mína neodskočila. Len otvorila oči o trošku viac.
Vedľa kvapky sa v lupeni zvončeka ukázal jemný bledomodrý pásik. Nebol to tieň. Vyzeral ako kúsok hodvábnej stužky, ktorá sa veľmi pomaly hýbe.
„Vidím ťa,“ zašepkala Mína.
Modrý pásik sa zavlnil.
Až teraz si všimla, že podobných maličkých pásikov je v záhrade viac. Jeden spal v kvapke. Druhý bol schovaný medzi dvoma lupeňmi. Ďalší sa skrútil v chladnom tieni pod listom. Spolu tvorili mäkký modrý závoj, malú živú farbu, ktorá sa vedela poskladať a schovať do tých najmenších miest.
Mína pomaly vstala z lavičky. Čižmičky kládla na chodník tak opatrne, že ani kamienok necinkol.
„Nebudem ťa naháňať,“ povedala sotva počuteľne. „Len sa pozerám.“
Modrý závoj sa najprv trochu zachvel. Potom sa vytiahol z kvapiek ako tenká hmla. Prešiel popri Míninej ruke, ale nedotkol sa jej. Usadil sa na okraji jedného listu.
Keď sa veci začnú meniť
Piko spokojne zažiaril.
„Ticho mu pristane,“ pípne.
O chvíľu sa modrá rozvinula ďalej. Najprv sa vrátila do kvapiek. Každá dostala chladný, jasný lesk. Potom obkreslila okraje zvončekov a pridala jazierku jemný modrý odraz. Napokon sa medzi konármi objavil malý kúsok oblohy, pokojný a čistý.
Záhrada nebola hlučná ani krikľavá. Bola len zase celá.
Mína sa usmiala. „Bola si tu celý čas.“
Modrý závoj sa zatočil nad listom, akoby prikývol. Potom sa rozdelil na drobné iskričky a schoval sa tam, kam patrí: do kvapiek, do kvetov, do tieňov aj do oblohy.
Pri dvierkach sa Piko pritúlil bližšie k Míninmu krku. Za nimi už čakala obyčajná záhrada pri dome, tichá a večerná.
„Pôjdeme?“ spýtala sa Mína.
Piko žmurkol. „Pomaly.“
Keď prešla cez malé dvierka, strieborný hviezdny kľúč jemne cinkol. Sám sa jej skĺzol do vrecka horčicovej bundy, presne na svoje miesto.
Mína sa ešte raz otočila. Na jednom liste pri kríku zostal mäkký modrý lesk. Nehýbal sa, iba pokojne svietil v prichádzajúcej noci.
Dievčatko mu poslalo bozk z dlane a potom sa s Pikom vybrala domov, potichu a pomaly, pripravená na spánok.
Pokračovanie nabudúce…
Mina and the Star Key, part 5: The Missing Colour
The Story Begins
In the evening, the garden by the house was soft and smelled like grass. Mina ran along the path in her little red boots. Her mustard-yellow cardigan puffed out as she ran, like a small sail. Piko sat on her shoulder, a tiny golden moth with shining wings.
Then the small silver star key in Mina’s pocket moved.
Clink.
Mina stopped by an old bush. Between two branches, she found a tiny wooden door that had not been there in the day. The key fit perfectly.
When she turned it, the door opened very quietly.
Behind it was a garden. And yet, it was not quite the same garden. The grass was softer, the flowers were bigger, and the drops on the leaves shone like glass beads.
“Look!” said Mina. “Piko, see? That rose is almost white.”
She bent closer. On a pink petal lay a drop, but it was not blue or silver. It looked dull, as if someone had forgotten to shine light on it.
A little farther away, the bellflowers were fading. Even the small pond by the stones had gray water. Between the branches, there was usually a piece of bright evening sky. Now there was only an empty, pale space.
“Where is the blue?” Mina whispered.
Piko flapped his wings. His warm golden light shook over the leaves. Then he looked under a big hosta leaf.
“Maybe it is tiny,” he squeaked.
Right away Mina knelt in the grass. She looked under the leaf. Then behind a stone. Then into the dry crack by the path.
“Blueeee!” she called. “Come out! We are looking for you!”
Suddenly, a little puff of seeds rose from the grass and flew away. The drop on the petal trembled, but the blue color still did not show itself.
“I think it is hiding very well,” said Piko.
“Then we will find it very fast,” Mina decided.
She ran to the pond. Something flashed in the water for a moment. It was a soft blue glimmer, thin like a hair.
“There!” she cried and reached out her hand.
But the glimmer vanished.
Mina frowned. She tried to look between the petals of a purple flower. On one of them was a cool shadow, a little blue. But when she leaned too quickly, the shadow moved under a leaf.
“It keeps running away from me,” she said.
Piko sat on a stone. “Maybe it is not running,” he squeaked. “Maybe it just does not like stomp-stomp.”
Mina looked at her red boots. Just then, she had been tapping the path with them, a little impatiently.
“I do not stomp very much,” she said more quietly.
Piko tilted his head. “Only a little too much.”
That made Mina laugh. But then she looked again at the pale garden. She wanted the drops to be blue right away. She wanted the sky between the branches to be blue right away. Yet the faster she walked, the fewer blue signs she saw.
Later, she noticed a bench under a fragrant bush. It was low and round, just right for a small girl.
“I will sit for a moment,” she said. “But only for a tiny moment.”
She sat down and put her hands in her lap. Piko flew to her shoulder.
“Breathe slowly,” he squeaked.
Mina breathed in through her nose. The air smelled like mint and like the earth after evening dew. Then she breathed out.
She breathed in again.
Meanwhile, the garden grew quiet. The leaves moved only a little. Far away, she could hear a soft plip-plip from a small fountain. Piko did not speak now. Mina did not speak either.
When Things Start to Change
Just then, a tiny blue dot of light appeared in one drop on the grass.
Mina did not jump. She only opened her eyes a little wider.
Beside the drop, a soft pale blue stripe showed on a bellflower petal. It was not a shadow. It looked like a piece of silk ribbon, moving very slowly.
“I see you,” Mina whispered.
The blue stripe rippled.
Only now did she notice that there were more little stripes in the garden. One was sleeping in a drop. Another was hiding between two petals. A third had curled up in the cool shadow under a leaf. Together they made a soft blue veil, a little living color that could fold itself away into the smallest places.
Mina slowly stood up from the bench. She placed her boots on the path so carefully that not even a stone made a sound.
“I will not chase you,” she said, almost in a whisper. “I am only looking.”
At first, the blue veil trembled a little. Then it pulled itself out of the drops like thin mist. It drifted past Mina’s hand, but did not touch it. It settled on the edge of one leaf.
Piko glowed more brightly.
“Quiet suits it,” he squeaked.
After a while, the blue spread farther. First it returned to the drops. Each one got a cool, bright shine. Then it traced the edges of the bellflowers and gave the pond a soft blue reflection. In the end, a little piece of sky appeared between the branches, calm and clear.
The garden was not loud. It was not shouty. It was simply whole again.
Mina smiled. “You were here all the time.”
The blue veil turned above the leaf, as if it nodded. Then it broke into tiny sparkles and hid where it belonged: in the drops, in the flowers, in the shadows, and in the sky.
By the little door, Piko snuggled closer to Mina’s neck. Behind it waited the ordinary garden by the house, quiet in the evening.
“Shall we go?” Mina asked.
Piko blinked. “Slowly.”
When she went back through the little door, the silver star key gave a soft clink. It slid by itself into the pocket of her mustard-yellow cardigan, right where it belonged.
Mina looked back once more. On one leaf by the bush, there was still a soft blue shine. It did not move. It only glowed calmly in the coming night.
The little girl sent it a kiss from her hand, and then she and Piko went home, quietly and slowly, ready for sleep.
To be continued…