Over the next few weeks, Peter and I discussed the test youth popur works. He promised to send me new books by parcel, and I waited impatiently. I was gd that I could communicate with my best friend again, even if he was a busy student constantly sitting in front of his textbooks. I painted my paintings, perfecting my style, but I didn’t forget about my regur activities. Alice was strict at times, but she no longer scolded me. All shortcomings were compensated for by my efforts. I also had a second teacher, Mr. Bronx, who came twice a week. These were the days of the exact sciences, with which, to put it mildly, I was not good. But Mr. Bronx never scolded me, he just tried to expin again. This elderly, banced man knew his subjects very well and was ready to share knowledge and guide students on the right path. In this case I was that student. Besides, he caught me drawing a couple of times. And although he loved more conservative movements in art, he said:

  “Baby, you are undoubtedly talented. Now put the sketch aside and let’s gnaw on the granite of numbers and physical ws.”

  I liked how unobtrusively he taught. His face often lit up with a wide smile. And sometimes he shared funny stories from his life. And I felt rexed. If only Alice were as calm and unbiased.

  ***

  “Dear daddy, hello!

  You probably work a lot, but I just wanted to know how you were doing. I miss you a lot and am looking forward to Christmas. We will finally be able to see each other. Send me some photos from Brazil. Are there a lot of rainforests there? It is very interesting to me. And yesterday I painted a new picture. Remember I had a girl with the body of a delphinium? And now I drew a girl with a salvia body.Looks original. I’ll show you when you arrive. It’s te, I’ll go to bed.

  Kiss!”

  I told Peter about the paintings and said that I wanted to draw a flower with his face on it when he came home for the holidays. I was a little worried because I was worried that he would refuse. I checked the new messages.

  “Hi Chris!

  It is an unexpected offer. No one has ever drawn me, much less in such an abstract form. But I trust you ;)”

  I was damn gd, I ran down the stairs in search of Ae and found her in the kitchen.

  “Ae, Marco, this is amazing! Can you imagine if I could draw my best friend Peter as a flower?! This will be a bomb!!!”

  “Miss First Brush of Scotnd, calm down!”

  Marco pyfully covered his ears, and then stroked my head. And Ae squeezed my hands in hers and smiled warmly:

  “You will achieve great success with such perseverance, Christina.”

  Ae looked like the sun with her red head of hair. She always lifted my spirits with just her appearance. Of course, I was more accustomed to seeing my mother next to my dad. But what happened to mom already happened. And we all needed to move on with our lives. Ae would really cheer up dad, change his life, and maybe he would want to spend more time at home. Although I rarely saw my parents since childhood, and took it for granted, because that was their job, I wanted more attention. And this is not surprising. It’s good that except for Grandma, John and Alice, everyone treated me with warmth, and I didn’t feel so lonely.

  ***

  “Hi Peter :)

  All our trees are yellow, and it rained for several days, but it finally stopped. Today I sat by the pond and read “Emma” by Jane Austen, one of the books you sent me. Emma seems to be a strong woman, and although she is proud, she is not heartless. She has feelings too, I definitely like this novel.

  Christina.”

  “Hi Chris!

  Gd to hear that. Have you already read “Divergent”? If so, what do you think?”

  “Oh yes, I read the first part. I haven’t gotten to the second one yet. I prefer to alternate genres of books to read. As for this book... There are factions, I would choose Amity or Sincerity.”

  “Probably Chris. True, these people had no choice. Beatrice wanted to join the Fearless faction, but due to her family, she was raised according to the canons of Abnegation, and her parents expected the same from her. And those who were able to get into several factions based on their personal qualities, those same divergents, were condemned by society. The faction of Erudites, trying to seize the championship, was simply afraid of them… The masses can be controlled if you know exactly the levers of pressure. And if you don’t have such knowledge, you cannot predict their actions. Don’t you think this is stupid?

  Friendliness or Sincerity? I appreciate you and your opinion, friend, but I think you didn’t read carefully.These are rival factions. Sincerity is open to the truth, and Friendliness is “both ours and yours.” It’s not that hard to understand.

  I wish you a good evening.”

  “Peter, hi!

  Well, let’s start with the fact that any information can be presented harmlessly, and at the same time sincerely. And in general, now you are talking like an Erudite. A little arrogant, don’t you think? Do you know what’s really stupid? It’s good when a person has principles. But this should not lead people to hostility and the desire of some to destroy others. People have set barriers for themselves and do not want to break them. This novel would not be relevant if people had not continued to this day to build a wall, protecting themselves from others. My grandmother is an example of this, and you know it.”

  “I don’t agree with you. But I don’t want to prove anything. You will understand when you grow up that the world is not ideal!”

  Wow, he looks pissed. I always knew my friend to be calm, kind and banced. Maybe he just liked to always be right. It probably had to do with age. He was still older than me, although he had been around for several years, during which, it seemed to me, I got to know him well. Apparently I knew him badly. But life goes on. Perhaps he was having a bad day. But I decided not to write to him anymore until he cools down. He imagines himself to be the smartest. But I’m not that stupid, even if I’m only fourteen.

  ***

  “Hello, daughter!

  I’m fine. True, everything turned out to be a little more difficult than we expected. So I don’t know yet when we’ll get it done. And we have almost no free time. However, I am enclosing for you a photo of the Amazon River and the local fauna. And a little bit of myself :)

  I hug and kiss my daughter tightly on the very top of her head.

  Loving dad.”

  What wonderful photos those were. Nature is completely different from what I saw looking out the window or going outside. It’s incredible. I promised myself that day that one day I would travel around the world. Maybe not all of it, but those pces that are not well explored by man. The rustling of trees always brought me to the right mood. I felt peace being in nature, especially alone. Although I didn’t like loneliness in itself. It was unusual to not communicate with Peter. But he was in no hurry to apologize, although it was just a discussion about the book. I tried many times to figure out what I said wrong and couldn’t find the answer. In the st autumn days, I often sat by the water in a warm coat. I no longer read outside the home. It was already getting cold outside, and it was often raining. I just came to think and dream there.

  “December will come soon,” I thought, “and dad will be there again, hugging me and telling me funny stories.”

  I missed him very much. I returned home and tried to make pencil sketches. Sometimes it turned out better, sometimes worse, but drawing calmed me down. I lived in hope of a merry Christmas in the comfort of my family, but at the end of November my dad wrote to me…

  “Dear daughter!

  I’m very sorry to tell you this news, but I won’t be able to come home for the holidays.

  We don’t meet the pn. They could have sent me home for three days. But I won’t get anything done during this time. I’d rather come in the spring or summer. But remember, this is not a reason to be sad. Daddy loves you. Besides, John will probably come. At least he was going to. I think he’s wiser now, so you won’t be bored. I’m sending you some more photos since you liked the st ones so much. We can find many different photos of interesting pces on the Internet. And mine, like many others. But in real life it always looks more juicy and colorful.

  I love my baby. Dad.”

  I was upset, but I understood that dad really wouldn’t have managed anything during such a short vacation. Therefore, I restrainedly answered him that I understand everything, because I am no longer little. And it will really be better this way.