Вадим Иванович Кучеренко
In Year of Active Sun
At dawn there was a storm on the island. Born somewhere in the ocean it was moving rapidly from north to south seizing everything on its way. A thousand miles away from the island the storm has picked up an air-balloon. For a long time it has been playing with the balloon, throwing it up and down, despite the loud coursing of its pilot. The boy sitting in the basket made of willow rods, fastened to the balloon with a rope net, was very angry with the storm for it has changed his planned route of the flight. He was fearlessly shaking his fist at the storm.
Flying over the island, the aerostat subdued by the strong blast of wind has abruptly got down, touching top of a palm tree. The next moment it has fallen down on the sand shallow, raising a fountain of sand and water. A cover of the balloon has cracked with a loud bang, scattering the pieces of silk cloth on the whole shallow. However, the pilot was alive. He got out of the basket, shook off the sand and looked at the remnants of his aerostat with regret. Then, he looked around and saw the raft swinging on the waves and fastened to the palm tree with the vine, so that it couldn’t be swept out to the ocean. The boy came up to the raft and started inspecting it with great interest. He didn’t even notice a girl who was watching him from behind the mangrove bushes not daring to come out.
This morning when the girl, as usual, went to the shallow, she suddenly saw a boy near the raft. At first, she was very surprised and even scared as she has never met someone similar to her. She has always thought that such a human being should be exactly the same as her, like the two halves of a seashell, but a stranger had narrow hips, wide shoulders and dark hair. However, surprised by the difference, the girl was glad to see him. Having hesitated for some time, she decided that there was no need to hide and it was even silly of her.
So, she came out of the mangrove bushes. The boy saw her, but neither did he get surprised, nor expressed joy. He only pointed at the raft asking:
– Is it durable?
– I don’t know yet, – she answered smiling, – I am just going to take a voyage on it.
– Then, you need a mast and the paddles, – the boy said, – for the ocean current it looks not reliable. Can you control sails?
– What is a sail? – the girl asked naively.
The boy understood that she has no idea about shipbuilding and navigation and he shrugged his shoulders puzzled.
– How are you going to travel across the ocean!? – he asked with a bit of contempt. – Why do you need that?
– I feel sad, – answered the girl sincerely.
– But why? – the boy asked and his blue eyes got dark.
