* * *

In this galaxy, far from its center, the planets circled around a dim yellow star. On a planet, which was green with forests, sandy-yellow with deserts, and blue with oceans, it was mid-summer on a peninsula between the mouth of a large river and the sea. It was morning.

A boy in a green sailor suit with a wide white collar took off from the stone porch into the courtyard of the ancient fortress. The courtyard was quiet, but colorful flags fluttered and flapped with the sea wind over the battlements of the towers. There must had been a hundred flags or more.

The boy looked at the flags, smiled, and ran to the gray block of coquina rock at the edge of the yard. On the block, a lizard basked in the sun with her legs spread out. She was not scared when the boy covered her with the palm of his hand. He put the lizard in the pocket of his sailor suit and quickly climbed the iron ladder to the upper platform of the tower.

It was windy at the top of the tower. The boy licked his salty lips and looked out to sea. The waves were bright blue and white-edged. Round multicolored sails flew over the waves. They looked like a flock of holiday balloons over the sea.

The boy took the lizard out of his pocket and set her on a flat stone of the tower.

“You see how beautiful it looks to us from here?” he said.

Then he looked down at the courtyard. His mother was on the porch.

"I'm here!" the boy waved his tanned hand at her. "We are here!"

"Let's go to the City!" Mom shouted to him. "The holiday starts soon!"

“Mom, I'm going with the guys! We will come straight to the square!”

Stolen story; please report.

“Fine! See you there later!”

His mom walked around the house and got into an orange bus, which had stopped next to the fort by the overgrown roadside. The boy waved after the bus and looked at the city.

The city was in the distance. Towers, bridges, and glass roofs rose from a gentle, wooded hill. The towers were white and colorful. The bridges were cobwebs. The roofs were shiny. The wind swung kites and colorful baloons over the rooftops. The city sparkled; it was joyfull - the way all cities in all galaxies should always be. Especially on such a day when the Universal Celebration of Intergalactic Tunnels and Bridges comes.

Guys ran to the old fortress along the road and even on the grass. They filled the sunny courtyard, where dandelions grew thickly between the stone slabs. A rickety plywood booth with a wire balcony stood there on four tall posts. It was an old dovecote. Boys with big multi-colored drums jumped out of the dovecote onto the slabs. They were cheerful, loud-voiced and in bright shirts.

The mischievous drum-roll echoed over the yard. The boy heard the roll call of drummers, who were lined up against the bright yellow wall.

“Yurka Rodin!”

“Me!”

“Valka Runners!”

“Here!”

“The Cornflower Snegirev!”

“Here!”

“Mitka Koshkarev!”

“Who?”

“The Terrible Mitka named Mouse!”

“Here I am!”

“The glass drummer Tilka!”

“The same to you with knobs on! Here I am!”

“The Drummers of the Gray Wall!”

“Here!”

“All six?”

“Yes!”

“The Drummers of the Morning Field!”

“Here! Here! Here!”

“The Drummer Daniel Degar!”

“Here I am, gentlemen!”

“The Drummers of "Caravel"!”

“They are from another galaxy ...”

“ Does not matter! We are here!”

“Commander of drummers Vovchik-Peabody!”

“ I’m here!”

“The newbie? Where is our newcomer with the lizard?”

“I'm here!” the boy shouted from above. “We're both here! I'm coming!”

He took his lizard in his left hand, and waved his right to the guys.

They stood with their heads thrown back and waved back at him. They laughed carelessly and boldly, as boys in the entire universe should laugh.

THE END

image [http://www.rusf.ru/vk/pict/sterligo/golubjatna_us_3_11bm.gif]

image [https://www.rusf.ru/vk/pict/sterligo/golubjatnja_na_jeltoi_poljane_24.gif]

1982-1983

Translated into English - Invir Lazarev - 2024