When I was in school in Russia, all my summer holidays I used to spend at a small playground near my grandmother's apartment building. This is the picture, nothing much changed since that time, it ts almost the same like 20 years ago.
My parents were doctors, divorced, working, my father was remarried, my mother had a boyfriend, my grandmother was a doctor too, everyone working 8 am to 6 pm, everyday.
And of course no one had much time for me and my sister, who was in kindergarten then. So most of my summer time I was outside with the girls and boys from the same building or living in the neighborhood.
And all days long we were just playing, running, stealing candies from a supermarket around the corner and listening each others stories.
I don't remember who told us this story, but I still remember how we, a group of a girls sitting near car garages on a wooden bench surrounded by small green tree branches, were talking about it:
"There is a fairyland, a beautiful place with magic, princesses and princes. And it is in the middle of the forest. All you have to do its find the middle of the forest, there will be an old blanket and when you leave the corner of the blanket you will find the road to the fairy land."
And in a few days we, I think 5 girls, were standing near the forest just a few minutes drive from our city. We were so exited, like we would find the magic blanket and would go to the fairy land. Bravely we walked to the forest. It was green, big and fresh. We did not even think it was not safe and we had no idea we had to go.
We walked for a long time and then Oksana (one of us) said: "I think that bird is following us". And she pointed at the small black bird sitting on the tree near us.
We look up at the bird and then the bird turned into a young pretty woman dressed in very fashionable clothes the same we looked at in a fashion magazine in our only one city library.
The woman had short blue-black hair, nicely cut, was dressed in sparkly black sweater and short black mini skirt, she was wearing blue high heels and was sitting on the tree and looking at us.
"What are you doing here? - she asked.
"We are looking for a fairy land" - we all answered together.
The girl smiled and pointed to the big tree.
Near the tree was a woman sitting on a wooden throne.
"This is the Squirrel Queen", - the "bird" girl said.
The Squirrel Queen was very nice to us, asking why we are here almost at the middle of a deep forest alone without our parents. Then she took us to an old pine tree.
"Look, there is the blanket, just look under it".
And there was a beautiful palace, princess and princesses riding white horses and waiving us. The magic land was green with lots of flowers just the same from my mother's garden. In the second we were standing right in the beautiful garden under the apple tree.
One of the princes touched my face:
"Wake up, wake up, wake up", I was thinking why the prince asks me to wake up.
I looked up, and there was a police officer from our city department.
Me and my girlfriends felt a sleep under one of the trees. The bus driver called the police after seeing us going to the forest and all I have seen was just in my dreams!
