The Adventures of Tim and Janik. The magic chest. Aliyah Meirbek
Foggy come?” asked the younger brother in a cheerless voice.
“All your neighbors would run away if they saw Foggy,” Grandma laughed, “he stayed to guard the house.”
After everyone said hello the taxi driver pulled out a big roll-on bag and called Tim`s father over to the trunk.
“Let me help you carry this into the house,” he suggested pointing at a large brown wooden chest with a padlock.
Tim`s father was about to grumpily ask why she would bring this huge chest to the city, but stopped himself. He knew that this was just the first of the oddities awaiting the family while his mother was visiting. They placed the chest in the guest room on the second floor. It was so heavy that the head of the house got a backache.
“That poor guy`s body must still be inside,” guessed Janik.
“Maybe there’s more than one,” whispered his older brother in reply.
At the table, Grandma asked each of her only son`s family members about their lives.
“How’s your business, Duman?” she began with the head of the house.
“All good. Just opened another selling spot.”
“Congratulations! And how is it going for you, Sara?” she asked her daughter-in-law, who worked as a psychologist.
“I’ve developed an original seminar ‘Woman`s Magic’ and now teach classes.”
“Mom, do you know magic too? Like Grandma?” asked Janik and not waiting for a response turned to Yenisaya, “Grandma, will you teach us some magic?”
“The best magic is what a person can do with his life,” smiled the guest, “I`ll teach you that when the time comes. In the meantime, young people, tell me what are you up to these days?”
“Tim sends texts about love to girls!” mischievously said Janik.
“Shut up!” indignantly shouted Tim, “That’s not true!”
“You shut up! I saw it!”
Tim wanted to hit his brother, and accidentally knocked down his tea-bowl, spilling its contents. Out of spite, the older boy hit his brother on the head, and the brother in return hit Tim on the shoulder.
“Tim! Janik!” the father called them to order.
“Almost grown-ups and still no brains!” Mom became upset. “What a mess you’ve made! Clumsy rhinoceros!”
“And what are your interests besides girls, Temirlan?”
“He likes hair fashion and playing guitar for the girls! Mwah-mwah!” Janik knew that his parents would stick up for him, and decided to use the opportunity to expose as much dirt as possible.
“That’s not true. I’m so tired of him tattling!” Tim knit his brows and wanted to get up and leave, but Grandma looked at him severely, so he stayed.
“And what exciting things can you tell us about yourself, Jansultan?” Yenisaya addressed the younger grandson by full name, as an adult. “You are ten now. What have you achieved under the guidance of your psychologist mother?”
“He does research on his boogers,” laughed Tim.
Father tried to change the subject and offered Janik a bun.
“I don’t want a bum,” Janik made a face.
“Teaching other people is much easier than teaching your own children,” sighed Sara.
The mysterious chest
During the day, all family members only pretended to go about their business. In reality, they were watching Grandma and waiting for her to start acting oddly. Tim went outside and in the garden saw Janik sitting on a tree and watching Yenisaya through the window.
“What are you doing up there?”
“Shush! Stop yelling. I’m spying on Grandma.”
Janik climbed down from the tree.
“She noticed me because of you!”
“What did you manage to see?”
Janik got wide-eyed and said, swinging his arms: “Grandma just pulled a sword out of the chest! It was thiiiis big and golden! She brandished it like a ninja.”
“Brandished what?” Tim did not believe a word his brother said.
“The sword. And then she saw me and threw the sword back into the chest. And she put a lock on it.”
“Stuff and nonsense!”
Tim saw that Grandma came outside and was slowly walking towards them. She was carrying two small boxes.
“We’ll ask about the sword,” Tim wanted everyone to understand what a nasty little liar his brother was.
The lady walked past her grandchildren, sat on a large swing, and invited the boys to sit next to her. They settled on both sides.
“When I was little, I was just as curious as you,” she said to Janik. He blushed. “The incurious have a boring life.”
“What have you got in that big chest?” the youngest grandson could not resist asking.
“I put my worldly wisdom and memories in it,” Grandma laughed.
She opened the cardboard boxes she brought with her, and pulled out two small gray chests, just like her big one, but in miniature.
“These are my gifts to you. Now each of you has your own chest. You will be able to store your own memories in them, and you will not need to poke your noses into other people`s chests,” grandma smiled and touched Janik`s nose with her finger.
“Nothing will fit in such a small chest,” Janik said, looking at the gift, thinking how to bring up the sword.
“These are no ordinary chests. They will grow with you. And someday they’ll be as big as mine.”
“And we’ll have to carry them around, too?” Tim asked, not very happy with the prospect.
“We all carry our chests with us. The question is what’s inside. If there are good things, it doesn’t seem so heavy.”
That night, when Father went to the children`s room to wish his sons sweet dreams, Tim and Janik asked him what Grandma kept in the chest. The answer made them even more intrigued.
“I’m forty years old, and I have no idea what my mother keeps in that chest. I wouldn’t be surprised if there are potions, dried snakes, or frogs. A neighbor once said that when I was little, my mother never treated me with pills, only made me herbal tea and worked her magic. I don’t remember any potions, but I remember that if something went wrong, my mother would collect more butterflies in the house, and we would play with them and laugh a lot. There are so many rumors about your Grandma that it’s hard to separate the truth from falsehood.”
The father kissed the children, turned off the light, and left. As soon as his footsteps faded, Janik began to annoy his brother.
“Tim, Tim, are you asleep?”
Tim decided to ignore him. Janik got up and jumped on his brother`s bed.
“I saw Grandma put the key in the pocket of her dress,” he whispered, shaking his brother by the shoulder.
“Do you know what happens if Grandma finds out you stole her key?”
“You’re saying that because you haven’t seen that sword. It was so nice and shiny. I don’t care about you, I’ll go and take a look.”
Janik quietly made his way towards his grandmother`s room. The door was closed, but not locked. Janik carefully opened it. The curtains only covered half of the window, and a clear moon illuminated the room. Grandma`s dress was hung on a chair. Janik