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– My drawing teacher, – the girl continued, – says, that you shouldn’t give up on your talents. And if you do something great, then, you should work hard to surpass yourself.

 

Chapter 6

Koschei raised his head as soon as he heard that Hope can draw too. While earlier she was evoking his curiosity, now he was struck by this brave little girl, who understood and shared his delight of touching the canvas with a brush for the first time, putting bright colours softly and creating real paintings. The waves of sheer magic are going through you body, pouring out onto the canvas, paper or board, and forming whole, brights images. He remembered the trembling the young artist was holding one of the portraits with. It was his early work. What would she say if she saw his late ones? It became incredibly interesting and important for him to hear her opinion. But he didn’t dare to ask. It would be too harsh, too early. To trust so soon could cause new pain. 

What a catch! No, he wouldn’t send her away and let her go at all, Koschei decided. At least, until he finds out her opinion about each of his paintings. He whistled at the amount of paintings in his house silently. His heart filled with the joy of anticipation, as if thousands of butterflies spread their wings in his chest all together, flying up to the light.

But then she continued her story, making him sad again.

– But I will never draw again, – Hope said and explained. – Because I can end up anywhere. I got here, for instance, when I drew the forest.

– So you got here through the canvas? – Gorynych perked up after her words, raised his head and looked carefully at Koschei.

The girl was shifting her gaze from one fairy-tale creature to another, baffled. Koschei answered his friend:

– Yes, Gorynych, it seems like I’ve found my last canvas.

– But how? – Hope asked.

Koschei started his story, slowly recalling the most forgotten days.