What the wind has said

I often see my friends. We make barbecue or parties together. My friends always are all ears to listen to my new short stories, fairytales and parables. Sometimes my stories are merry, sometimes sad. One of my parables I would like to tell to my new friends, who are coming up in greater numbers lately

    What the wind has said

Once the squirrel and hedgehog met each other in the wood under the big birch.
-Hi, squirrel! – the hedgehog said.
-Hi there, hedgehog! – the squirrel answered.
-How are you doing, squirrel? – the hedgehog asked.
-I am ok, thank you. – the squirrel replied. – Soon I will be preparing for winter: I must gather mushrooms and nuts. So, how are you doing, hedgehog?
-I am ok, too. – the hedgehog answered. – I am preparing for winter, too: I eat much food and get weight. I feel so good!
-We have a wonderful wood, it is so fertile! – the squirrel said being proud of it.
-Your truth – the hedgehog agreed.
The breeze flew over the tops of the trees and began to rustle by the birch leaves.
-Only the birch does no good in our wood – the hedgehog noted and pointed to the birch trunk which had the white curly bark.
-You are right, - the squirrel agreed. – There are no mushrooms and nuts on it… Useless tree.
-Yeeeeaah – the hedgehog grumbled thoughtfully. – And there are no apples and berries on it as well … Absolutely useless tree. The only advantage - it has a good shadow in the hot sunny day: it is not too thick as under the oak, and not too small as under the wild ash.
The wind still has been playing by the birch leaves as if by hair locks, and pulling back the flexible branches as if was calling to dance.
Saying goodbye to each other, the squirrel and hedgehog went to do their own things. Once at the end of summer the hedgehog was going along the wood searching for the wild apples and suddenly he saw the squirrel. It was running fussy around the low fresh stump.
Hi, squirrel! What have you lost there? – the hedgehog greeted the squirrel joyfully.
-Ah, hedgehog! Where is our birch? – the squirrel was crying. – I came here in order to dry gathered mushrooms on the branches, but there is no birch anymore! Look! Only the stump left! – the squirrel having tears in the eyes pointed at the stump which still has been giving the fresh scent of the birch. The hedgehog dropped the wild apple out of the paws and sat down.
-It is a disaster! – the hedgehog terrified. – The birch is cut!
-What will we do without it ?! – the squirrel was screaming. – Where will I dry my mushrooms?! Only this birch had the most flexible branches!
- Woe's me! woe's me! – the hedgehog bewailed running around the birch stump. – Where will I find such soft and delicate leaves?
The hedgehog and squirrel were crying for long sitting on the birch stump, they could do nothing, they couldn’t recover the tree.
-I will famishing in winter, - the squirrel was shedding tears. – There is a bad crop of nuts in the wood this year, and no place to dry mushrooms!
-I will famishing in winter, too, - the hedgehog was wailing. – I will not find such soft, warm and sweet leaves for my winter blanket!
Suddenly the wind arose making voices over their heads and said:
-There was the birch, but you didn't appreciate its value. Maybe now you will understand that a little but true good is always more valuable than a big but incidental favour.



Copyright ©2012 by Kseniya Malakhova
All rights are reserved.

INTERVIEW

You are welcomed to read a fragment of Interview given to the magazine "Новые горизонты":

1.When did you start writing? What makes for a good hook in your books?

I have been writing books during about 15 years. At first I wrote for my nearest friends and read them my works. Once they told me – “why don’t you try to publish?! Your manner and style of writing is very unordinary and exciting”. So they encouraged me to start publishing. In order to make my books easily available for the readers, I made Kindle version of my book which title is “Call It Yourself”. If to talk about f good hook – I think it is a question for my readers. I can guess the reader is “hooked” by mixing of reality and mysticism described in the plot. In spite of writing in the fantasy style, the plots of my books reflect our today’s life.


2. How do your books differ from each other?

Of course they differ by the plot. They are written in the fantasy style as I have said before, but my books are not “ single – type”, they are full of various events and actions.


3. Do you write for adults only?

No, I have some fairytales for kids! Some of them I would call “parables”, which are written in an approachable language so that such parables will be understandable and interesting not for adults only but for kids as well.


4. It must be considered you write in the fantasy style only?

No, I have the collection of the short stories about life of real people. The collection is being enlarged by the new stories, that’s why it is not on sale now. Else, I try to write in different styles. For instance, my new book is about to be published. It will be an amazing fairytale for kids and their parents.


5. How do you characterize yourself as a writer? Whether you make a schedule for writing or you are a “spontaneous” writer?

I don’t make any schedules for writing. So the heroes can appear in the plot very spontaneously, from this point of view – yes, I am spontaneous writer. Moreover, I pay a careful attention to the subject itself. For example, if I write about a planet I try to find the maximum of the information about it in order the plot sounds trustworthy so that the scientists and experts won’t blame me for being incompetent.


6. Where does your inspiration come from?

I write when I have a strong desire to write, let’s call it inspiration. In such moments I can write down the descriptions of what I see, feel and what I think about. In the case if for some reasons I cannot fix the thoughts on the paper, I feel myself very badly.


7. Is there anything that you don’t like in writing?

As I write the books using a sheet of paper and pencil, I don’t like to type ready texts. I spend much time for typing.


8. Who are your favorite writers? Did they influence on your manner of writing?

My favorite writers are Bulgakov, Gogol, Dostoevsky, Omar Khayyam, Shakespeare, Feihtvanger, Fitzgerald, this list can be continued endlessly, but my teachers are Arkadiy and Boris Strugatzky. I accept their philosophy and I like the way they express themselves.


9. Do you have time to read and if you have what are you reading now?

I always try to find time for reading. At present I read scientific – popular periodicals, else the short stories written by the contemporary little – known authors. I am interested in the works of other writers.


10. Let’s talk about your book “Call It Yourself”. There is a very unexpected plot , I like it very much. What do you think – who would be your choice to play Miracle from your book “Call It Yourself”?

Thanks for the question :) In fact I have never ever think about it, but if to choose among the popular actors, I would choose Gerard Depardieu to play Miracle from my book “Call It Yourself”. I think he could create and express the real image of Miracle.


11. If there was an opportunity to meet anyone from any time who would it be and what would be your question?

If I met anyone from any time I would love to meet Gerard Depardieu and my question would be – would you like to play Miracle from my book “Call It Yourself”? :)


12. Your book has been published on Amazon marketplaces, does this mean that the publishing industry headed this way?

Surely it has a rapid progress and becomes more and more popular. And it makes me very happy.


13. Do you have any new works for publishing? If yes, what are your new books about?

I have many ideas for my next works, just 24 hours are not enough for me to write them faster. Now I am working on the fairytale for kids which I plan to publish in the nearest future.


14. Who creates the covers for your books?

Well, I prefer drawing the book covers by myself, it allows me to express my individuality. It is a great pleasure for me as making the design of the covers as writing the books. It is a very interesting and amazing process. Else, when I make the sketches for the book covers ( there can be more than 20 ideas ), I ask my friends’ advice and I highly appreciate their opinion. I have the best friends in the world.