One morning Madame Viola woke up with a feeling that something wonderful is about to happen. She even felt inspired to bake a traditional Winter apple pie with cinnamon. That’s when the trouble started! Madame Viola placed the cake in the oven and decided to clean the house in the meantime.
She got so busy and distracted that she didn’t notice how much time had passed. She was reminded of the pie only when the whole house started filling up with smoke. Madame Viola rushed to the kitchen and took the pie out of the oven. It was even still burning on one corner! She had to open the window. It was noisy outside: some kids were having a snowball fight. The frosty air spread out in the kitchen immediately. Just as Madame Viola thought that the fresh air was worth it putting up with the horrible noise, a snowball flew into the open window.
Whoosh! — The snowball flew across the room.
ClinK! — The snowball hit the shelf with the cups and saucers.
Bang! — The box with medical herbs and potions fell on the floor.
«Oh!» exclaimed Madame Viola, as she rushed to the shelf and accidentally stepped on the most important bottle with the Pink Night Drops:
CRunch!
Madame Viola ran to the window and shouted some rude words, but the children only laughed and made fun of her. What was she supposed to do? She couldn’t fall asleep without the Pink Night Drops! She instantly had to run to the doctor to get a new bottle! Madame Viola quickly changed from her gray home dress into a gray going-out dress, put on a gray woolen coat, wrapped herself in a cocoa-colored scarf, and pulled her hat so low that only her long nose stuck out.
Loudly tapped the heels of Madame Viola’s gray boots while she was passing the rowdy group of children. She pointed at them with her black umbrella to threaten them but the kids just kept giggling and even threw a snowball at Madame Viola. She managed to open the umbrella right in time and shouted indignantly:
«I’m going to tell your parents!»
The children started to sing the old song in unison:
AnGry VioLa — The LoNg Nose!
SitTing at hoMe, overgRown with mOss!
Madame Viola hastily moved along the narrow street in between the houses. Of course, she would not tell anyone about the kids. Quite frankly, they were right about her. She rarely went outside. Why should she? It’s calm and cozy inside, and the streets are full of dangers even during the day, not to mention the Black Night! What if she gets lost and doesn’t make it home before sunset? She shivered at the mere thought of it. Madame Viola picked up the pace. Imagine her disappointment when she got to the Doctor’s house and found a snowdrift on the stoop and a note on the door:
Dear ones, I went to visit Mom and Dad, I won’t be back
neither today nor tomorrow, and maybe not even on Wednesday.
Your Doctor
Frustrated, Madame Viola stomped her foot into a frozen puddle. How could she have forgotten that it’s New Year’s Eve! That explaned all the troubles — it was her least favorite day of the year since childhood, although she didn’t remember why. Madame Viola hurried home, hiding behind her umbrella from all the possible dangers: sharp icicles, children’s snowballs and a probable blizzard.
She did not pay attention to the pretty houses, trees covered in fluffy snow caps, frosty patterns on windows, bright decorated shops, nicely dressed neighbors. When someone greeted Madame Viola, she only muttered in return. She wanted to get back home as soon as possible! Meanwhile, the children had built a snowman on the square. He had a bucket on his head, and crooked dry branches as arms. Madame Viola trembled with fear, fenced herself off with an umbrella and rushed to her house.
And here more bad luck was awaiting her: right at the door she slipped on ice. She waved her arms trying to balance herself and not fall and her umbrella got caught in the wind. For a moment Madame Viola was floating in the air. The children pointed their fingers at her and laughed. Madame Viola finally entered the house and slammed the door behind her.
The kids started singing:
ANgry VioLa is in the house all daY!
By her own shadow she iS scaRed away!
Madame Viola was angry indeed: not only did she have to clean up the mess that was caused by the snowball, but it was also freezing cold inside the house, because the window had been staying open this whole time. Madame Viola slammed it shut immediately, and just like that the street noises went mute. The children were frolicking in the fluffy snow for a little more, but as soon as the edge of the sun touched the tops of the firs of the Dark Forest, and the last ray ran over the tiled roofs and painted the smoke from the chimneys in a bright orange color, the children were blown away as if by the wind.
As the nightfall approached, all the townspeople hid in their houses and did not dare to stick their noses out. Everyone knows: Fears roam in the Black Night, and the light of the stars is too weak to banish them. If you stay outside after sunset, Fears will drag you into the Dark Forest.
Before going to bed, Madame Viola dripped some Peach Spring Drops into a glass of water. They would not make it easier for her to fall sleep, but they should at least brighten her mood. Darkness surrounded Madame Viola’s bed, and only the round lamp, covered with a tasseled lampshade, dispelled the Night Fears.
Madame Viola calmed down in its dim light and started dozing off, when suddenly a voice spoke to her in deep bass:
«WE Have tO get it back!»
Madame Viola hid herself under a blanket and shivered.
«I came every New Year’s Eve,» continued the voice sadly, «but you always slept so soundly that I could not wake you up. On this New Year’s Eve, I am back again and — oh happiness! — you are not sleeping, but — oh sorrow! — you refuse to listen.»
The voice went silent for a while, and Madame Viola decided to stick out her long nose from under the blanket. The huge silhouette of a mouse stretched across the entire wall and part of the ceiling.
«Supreme Mouse!» Madame Viola gasped and shut her eyes.
Everyone from young to old knows that the Supreme Mouse carries the World in his chariot, and simple mice help him by harnessing it. They run yearlong, and that’s how the World turns around, and tomorrow comes after today, and yesterday is left behind. The world stops only one time, that is on New Year’s Eve when the tired mice are replaced by new mice. Only the Supreme Mouse never leaves his job. Those mice that wiggled their paws all year are rewarded with the most beautiful gift: they are allowed to fulfill any wish of any person who does not sleep on New Year’s Eve.
«Oh, of course not, I’m not the Supreme!» the mouse said, twisting his whiskers.
He was flattered that he was mistaken for the most important Mouse.
«But don’t you remember me, little Vi? Of course, I got fatter, as I was feeding on cookies and pies, but it’s still me, Quarter the Mouse. Now that I have grown and matured, my name is the Fourth Mouse, because I always choose the fourth place in the harness.»
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Viola opened her eyes, looked closely and saw a mouse standing right on the top of the lamp. The mouse was small in height, but voluminous on the sides and casted a huge shadow on the wall and the ceiling.
«I have no wishes, the Fourth Mouse, and I don’t know you! I am awake because today my bottle with the Pink Night Drops broke.»
«I’m not here to fulfill your wishes, Madame little Vi!» said the Fourth Mouse sternly. «I came to correct the wish that I fulfilled for you when you were a little girl.»
«I did not make any wishes! I wouldn’t dare, it’s so scary! What if it does not come true as it should! This is not like me at all!»
«What a pity, little Vi, that you have completely forgotten not only me, but also yourself,» said the Fourth Mouse. «These Pink Drops are to blame!»
«You were a very brave girl, little Vi. So brave that one day you went for a walk in the Dark Forest! But you got lost...
Your parents found you in the morning, and you were so scared that for several days you did not say a word. They gave you the Strawberry Solution, the Hazelnut Tea, and the Dawn Herbs Liquid. You started to talk again, but no longer wanted to smile, go out and play with other children. When it was my turn to leave the chariot of the Supreme Mouse and fulfill any wish of any person in the World, I immediately came to you!»
Madame Viola got out from under the blanket and sat closer to the Fourth Mouse to be able to hear better.
«It was here in this room that you told me how terrifying it was when you were alone in the Forest at night, and that the only thing that protected you from the Fears was the moonlight. You wished that the light of the Moon was always with you. And I, that time a little stupid mouse Quarter, agreed to help so that the wish of the girl would come true, and she would become brave again!»
The Mouse shook his head, and his whiskers unrolled and drooped.
«In the middle of the night, you and I ran away from home, found the Oldest Spruce in the center of the Dark Forest and having climbed to the top, removed the Moon from the sky! We agreed that before the next New Year’s Eve you will learn not to be afraid, and we will quietly return the Moon to where it belongs. But when I was back a year later, you were asleep. And the next New Year’s Eve, too. Every year I returned, but you were sleeping. And now you are awake, but you don’t remember anything, and your head is full of Pink Mist!»
«My parents began to give me the Pink Night Drops, because I was more and more afraid. But why was I afraid if the moonlight was with me?»
«You were afraid, little Vi, that the Moon would have to be given away, and without it fear would return. You have become afraid of fear itself! And now the Night Fears have taken over the whole town! But today you woke up, and we will go to the Oldest Spruce and return the Moon.»
«No, nO, and No aGAin!» exclaimed Madame Viola and laughed nervously. «Now I see that you are a fraud. You are one of the Night Fears living in the Black Night, you want to lure me out of the house and drag me into the Dark Forest! I don’t have the Moon and I never did!
«And what is this then?» asked the Fourth Mouse, jumped onto the bedside table and pulled off the tasseled lampshade from the night lamp.
Madame Viola gasped. There was the Moon hiding under the lampshade instead of a lamp. The Moon flew up to the ceiling and began to whirl, showing the Mouse and Viola its beautiful spots. Although its light was dim, the Pink Fog that surrounded Madame Viola dissolved immediately, and she remembered everything that the Mouse was talking about.
«Let’s let her out of the window!» exclaimed Madame Viola.
«No, little Vi, this will not work!» sighed the Mouse. «We need to place the Moon in the exact same place from where we stole it, otherwise it will get lost. Get ready as we shall make our way through the darkness! Do not be afraid, because we will be together!»
Madame Viola jumped out of bed, put her gray coat right over her gray night dress, stuffed bottles with potions and drops into her deep pockets and put her arms around the Moon.
As soon as they went outside in the Black Night, illuminating it with the dim light of the Moon, the Snowman spread his branches and blocked their path.
«Hurry, the Fourth Mouse!» cried Madame Viola. «Get the Willow Tears out of my left pocket and throw them at it!»
The Mouse was small in height, but brave and smart. He immediately found the bottle, uncorked it and threw it at the Snowman. The branch-arms became covered with bright green leaves and wrapped around the Snowman so that it could not move.
Madame Viola and the Fourth Mouse ran on until they got to the very edge of the Dark Forest. As soon as they set foot on the path between the fir trees, the Owl flew beside them.
«Hoo-hoo!» softly she spoke. «Where are you going, my little ones? Where are you rushing, my darlings? Come with me, sweetheart, I love mice so much!»
«Faster, the Fourth Mouse!» Viola shouted out. «Take out the Flowering Nettle Solution from my right pocket!»
Everyone knows that this is the spiciest medicine and it stings the tongue. If even a little bit gets on the skin, it will itch all day! The Mouse grabbed the bottle, opened it and threw it at the Owl. But she briskly dodged, and the Solution spilled onto the snow, that immediately hissed and melted.
«What should we do, little Vi?!»
«Run!» shrieked Madame Viola, saving herself from the Owl’s sharp claws.
They ran, jumping over the snowdrifts, while the Owl flew after them and laughed:
«HoO-hoo, there’s nowhere to run! The Dark Forest is full of Fears!»
Madame Viola shouted to the Mouse:
«Quarter! Jump into my pocket and find the Potion of Summer Days!»
The Mouse climbed into the very depths of the pocket and found the vial. The Owl flew very close to them and tried to snatch the Moon from Madame Viola. The Mouse climbed onto Madam Viola’s head and from there threw an open vial directly at the Owl! She yawned, softly flapped her wings, sank to the ground and began to snore. Everyone knows that owls sleep during the day.
Finally, Madame Viola and the Fourth Mouse reached the Oldest Spruce in the center of the Dark Forest. The Mouse took the Moon, sat himself on Madame Viola’s shoulder, and she had to climb up.
Fears crawled out of the shadows and began to whisper:
«You won’t get there!»
«You will fall down!»
«Leave the Moon!»
«Run back home!»
«Or we take you to the most terrible corners of the Forest!»
«Just like when you were a child, remember, little Vi?»
Madame Viola did not get scared. Quite the opposite, she remembered how as a child, when she got lost in the Forest, the moonlight was leading her the way. She started to climb up even faster!
On top of the Oldest Spruce, she took the Fourth Mouse in her arms and lifted him as high as she could. The Mouse reached out and threw the Moon up, and — oh miracle! — the Moon took off, swayed, turned, settling comfortably in its place among the stars, and began to flare up brighter and brighter, until the light drove all fears into the most distant and dark corners of the Forest.
The stars sparkled brighter than ever. Now Madame Viola and the Fourth Mouse were not at all afraid to return to the town passing the Forest.
When she got back home, Madame Viola didn’t go to sleep — after all, she had been sleeping in the Pink Mist for so many years! She climbed into the attic, took out a box with colorful patches and sewed herself a bright dress and an elegant little cap for Quarter. Then she prepared the dough, and the Mouse helped to cut apples. They made little cakes in the shape of mouse ears.
When the morning came, Madame Viola put on the gray coat, tied the cocoa-colored scarf around her neck — she would need to seriously rearrange her wardrobe! — and went out into the street. She looked at her feet carefully, not to slip and not to drop the tray with treats.
The children started to sing: «Angry Viola!..», but when they saw the woman smiling wide, they immediately went silent.
«Please call me Madame Vi!» she said. «Help yourself with the mouse ears, eat them while they are still warm!»
After eating the sweet treats, the children offered Madame Viola help with the housework: to wipe off the dust, wash the dishes, sweep the paths... After all the housework was done, they began to throw snowballs together. The children were soon joined by their parents. Everyone brought treats, hot punch and tea and had fun, celebrating the New Year and rejoicing that Madame Viola had decided to make friends with the neighbors.
In the evening when everyone was ready to leave, Madame Vi shouted:
«Wait! Quarter the Mouse fulfilled my New Year’s wish, and now no one needs to be afraid!»
No one believed her at first, but the stronger was their surprise when the Sun went down, and instead of it the Moon appeared in the sky! The Night Fears fled, and the townspeople began to laugh and dance, and almost every man managed to invite Madame Vi to a dance.
The celebration lasted for several days, and when it was over, Madame Vi opened her own bakery, and the Doctor, who returned to the town, began to prepare Amazingly Refreshing Coffee instead of the Pink Night Drops and other anti-anxiety medicines.
Once, walking along the evening streets, he was gazing at the Moon and suddenly ran into Madame Vi. At that moment the Doctor realized what a graceful and poetic nose she had.
Quarter the Mouse stayed in the city for a whole year for a vacation, and then returned to the harness of the chariot and tried to move his paws as fast as possible, so that every new today would be no less happy than yesterday.