Solnishko and Maksim’s Friends’ Club

Solnishko and Maksim’s Friends’ Club
Susanna Arutyunyan

Anna Kazaryan

Mariya Kazaryan

“Solnishko and Maksim’s Friends’ Club” and “Games of Imagination” are the books of three authors of various generations. But they are connected to each other with a common approach towards forming of personality, family values, as well as social morality. The main characters of the book are persons still in their childhood, open to honest dialogue, deserving trust, careful attitude to themselves, to the fragile world of childish emotions, imaginations and creativity.

Solnishko and Maksim’s Friends’ Club

Susanna Arutyunyan

Anna Kazaryan

Mariya Kazaryan

Translated by Arsen Bobokhyan

Cover Design by Arabo Sarkissian

Typesetting by Ninetta Adamyan

© Susanna Arutyunyan, 2022

© Anna Kazaryan, 2022

© Mariya Kazaryan, 2022

ISBN 978-5-0056-7977-2

Created with Ridero smart publishing system

Dear reader!

Childhood. It happened so that in the XXI century children play mainly in Furby, Tamagotchi, Computer games, etc. And what are the consequences! Enclosing in own virtual space. Many children are even unable to articulate their thoughts verbally.

However, creativity helps to realize childish imaginations. You should believe in yourself and work hard. God will bless you.

Here are Solnishko and Maksim with their friends. Their games of imagination, at least for a while, will get you back from the virtual world.

    From the authors

Chapter 1. Creation of the website “Literary circle”

Two weeks passed. The children and even the adults continued to be in the euphoria from the holiday. There was only talk about the performance. After all, the holiday allowed everyone to look at each other from the other side and to reveal the possibilities of each in extreme conditions. The conditions indeed were extreme. Not every day the children could appear on a real stage, to follow the course of events in the performance which changed in an unpredictable way, not to get lost, not to panic but to continue calmly as if nothing had happened, to live on the stage within the image of the own hero. The performance made it possible to reveal all the internal reserves of children not only for the surrounding people but first of all for themselves. They believed in themselves, they felt a kind of rush of new energy. Some of them had already risen in their dreams to a person who was professionally engaged in theatrical art. Their self-esteem grew. As for the parents, many of them reconsidered their attitude towards children, began to reckon with them more, to trust them more and accept them not just as their little sons and daughters but as persons in childhood age. Those who refused to participate in the performance regretted about their choice and asked Solnishko to engage them more and more in their games with Maksim.

During another day of memories Granny said:

– My dear children, everything was wonderful, the holiday was glorious. Everybody was satisfied. But the holiday was over and work days came. Therefore I propose to distract from this topic and to move on. Otherwise we stomp in the same place. Each of you has a lot to do which should be taken seriously.

– Granny, why are you always so serious? You do not let Maksim and me rejoicing at our success, – Solnishko expressed dissatisfaction.

– You know darling, I listen to you and hear: “I’m flying and flying…”.

– Oh, Granny, it is impossible to dream with you, – the granddaughter was offended.

– So, you cannot dream with me?! – Granny resented.

– Okay, okay, you are right. I said, without thinking. You are saying everything right but what should we do with the children who want to play with us?

– You should think about it again! You had a wonderful idea in this regard, in my opinion, – answered Granny.

– What kind of idea? – the girl couldn’t remember.

– Unless you switch from the performance to anything else, new ideas will not arise. Maksim also doesn’t react in any way. But he approved your idea. And you discussed it for a while. Now, do you see that you need to return to the present day with all its problems and pleasures? – Granny answered her granddaughter.

A few more days passed. Life went on. Summer was in full swing. Many friends of our heroes parted somewhere: some to the camp, some to the summer cottage, some to the sea. Solnishko and Maksim were no exception as they were also getting ready for a trip. Vacation was especially important for Maksim. Indeed, with the first of September he had to go to school. The prospect of nearly two months of separation upset the children. They wanted to spend more time together, to communicate more. They decided that they needed to acquire their own Internet address and, while on vacation, write letters to each other. Maksim already read well and knew how to write. In addition, Maksim’s computer literacy allowed him to freely navigate the World Wide Web. He promised Solnishko to ask his computer class teacher to help him create an Internet address for himself and Solnishko. But there was a problem that upset the girl: she did not read fluently and did not know how to write. Her computer skills were at the level of a “teapot” as well. And, worst of all, she had to admit everything to Maksim. But Maksim was extremely kind. He promised before his departure to help Solnishko master the computer at a level sufficient for communication. She, in the meanwhile, would intensively read. As for writing, the work on the computer would help her to write more competently. After all, the program itself corrects errors or provides information about the error. So they decided. And it should be said, just in time. Every day, mother had to persuade, request, use various tricks to configure Solnishko to read another lesson. The reading itself took a little more than twenty minutes, but incredibly much was taken of mother’s energy. And here is such an incentive. Solnishko woke up and still in bed, began to read. Then she was already going to kindergarten. And after dinner, when the mandatory program scheduled for that day was exhausted, they were engaged in computer. Maksim kept his word, and a week later the children had their own Internet address.

Perhaps it was the closeness of separation that raised the idea of creating a club of friends of Solnishko and Maksim in the memory of the children. Discussions on this topic and discussions with adults, at the end, gave birth to the idea of creating their own website on the Internet under the name “Literary Circle”. Solnishko’s Granny suggested announcing a competition for the best novel, story and tale. Everyone liked this idea. And intensive work began on the realization of the dream. Parents of the children provided financial support, and also technical – the same computer class teacher. Thus the first story posted on the site was the celebration of Solnishko’s birthday. Fortunately, by the efforts of adults everything was filmed on video. Solnishko’s Dad was fond of photography and shot almost at a professional level, so the shots turned out to be very interesting and colorful.

Is it necessary to tell how enthusiastic the children were? How much strength, energy and emotions they put together with adults in implementation of this project. But when the work on the site was basically completed, it was necessary to leave. The children were immediately sad. The only hope was that this was not for long.

Maksim left with his mother to his Granny in the village, and Solnishko went to the sea with her Mom and Larisa. Dads stayed in Moscow.

Chapter 2. Magic Power of Love

2.1. Thirst for adventure

Every summer Maksim had his vacations in the village with his Granny. He liked to go with her to the forest for mushrooms and berries, to fish in a pond, swim, sunbathe and run across a meadow, simply to relax from the hustle and bustle of Moscow, from endless employment, when the day is scheduled literally in minutes. He liked when someone read for him historical books about ancient civilizations, sailors, pirates, discoverers, he was fond of popular science literature.

There is a lot of work in the village. Maksim helped his Granny in everything. All this was enough for him to rest and recover, but not this summer. The boy was bored. Even chess and a computer could not save him.

Maksim thirsted for adventure. At that time he did not know yet that our thoughts, words, emotions can be materialized. For much of the day he was in dreams and illusions. Perhaps that is why his dreams were extraordinary and so exciting that it was possible to escape film watching. One day Maksim dreamed as if he found himself deep in the forest all alone. It was already late and he got lost. There was such silence all around that he could hear the beating of his own heart. Fear seized the boy. Behind each tree he imagined either a hungry bear, eager to grab and drag him to his lair, or a lone wolf, fighting off the pack and scouring in search of prey. The farther he went, the more terrible it became: behold the Leshiy, waiting for him behind each bush, and there is Zmey Gorynich, who went out for a walk through the forest in search of fresh human blood and the thrill of sensations.

Maksim literally became numb. He did not know what to do: to go further or go back? Meanwhile, it began to darken and get colder. It was necessary to make some decision as soon as possible. And Maksim decided to go on his way in search of a night shelter. But, alas, in the dark he did not notice a tree fallen to the ground, apparently, by a strong wind. He stumbled, injured and dislocated his leg. The leg was swollen and each movement caused severe pain. The boy spent a lot of time and energy looking for a stick on which he could lean and somewhat alleviate his suffering. Then it started to rain. When Maksim was completely exhausted, wet and lost hope of finding shelter, dim light loomed ahead through the trees. The boy was delighted, and at that moment his only desire was that this light should not be a mirage, a figment of his imagination.

The hope of finding shelter gave the boy new strength, and, overcoming the pain, he went towards the light. Soon all doubts disappeared in himself. The light came from a hut, sheltered in the thicket of the forest. Maksim’s heart pounded. So, there are people nearby who will help him. When the boy finally reached the hut, he knocked on the door. No one answered. He knocked again and again. There was no answer. Then the boy tried to open the door. The door succumbed and he entered the hut. It was illuminated through the light emitted by a candle. It was tidied up everywhere. A large mat was spread out on the floor, the stove was burning and something was boiling in the stove in a large clay pot, covered with a lid. Only now Maksim suddenly felt a strong hunger. But from the pot came a strange intoxicating smell, not conducive to food. There was not a soul around. It seemed that someone had just gone out of the hut for a short while. Approaching closer to the stove to warm up, the boy patiently began to wait for the owners of the hut. He took off his wet clothes and shoes, laid them on the stove to dry.

Quite a lot of time passed, but no one appeared. Then the boy, exhausted from fatigue, pain and hunger, decided to eat a little. He took the pot out of the oven, put some of its contents in a smaller clay pot, took out a wooden spoon and began to eat a pottage soup, if only you could call like that the muddy liquid made possibly from leaves, roots and flowers of different plants. The food was very tasteless, with a disgusting smell, but Maksim, forgetting the saying often repeated by his mother, that it was better to be hungry than to eat, whatever, continued to eat. Soon he felt that his body seemed to be filled with lead. Legs, hands, head, tongue hardly obeyed him. With the last spoonful of food, he felt himself falling into a whirlpool. There was total darkness. It is not known how much the boy overslept. He woke up from severe pain in his leg and the touch of a terrible monster, bending over him and carefully examining his leg. The monster was huge. It occupied almost the entire space of the hut free from things. The monster resembled a two-headed snake with the body of a crocodile. His eyes burned with fire. The boy was horrified and closed his eyes. But, strange thing, with such dimensions and terrible appearance, it spoke in a beautiful and soft human voice:

– Already better. Wait a while. I fixed your leg, healed the wound, now I will again rub it with ointment, I will change the bandage and you’ll feel better.

So it began carefully looking after the boy. Its movements were quick and agile. It was felt that the monster was able to handle wounds and heal. All this was so ridiculous that it seemed to Maksim that he was still sleeping. But the pain let go and fear left him with it. The boy suddenly realized that he trusted the monster and even rejoiced at his presence. A conversation ensued between them, from which it followed that Maksim slept for seven days. The pottage soup he ate was actually a terrible potion of a witch, who had bewitched a noble prince and turned him into a monster. The boy was lucky that it was not yet completely ready. Otherwise, Maksim would fall asleep forever.

– The potion is prepared for a whole year, and this period expires today. Exactly at midnight the witch will return for it, – said the prince in the guise of a monster.

– Excuse me Your Majesty, but how can you talk so calmly about this?! – the boy was surprised. – How many other lives can the witch cripple?! – Let me destroy the potion, – said Maksim, heading for the stove.

– Wait! – the monster stopped him. – What are you doing? This potion is my only chance to regain my former appearance, – the monster shouted.