but purposeful snake. The sparkling puddle seemed to be calling out to the chick:
“Come and join us! Look how fun it is here and look at all this lovely food. Feast your eyes on all those tasty bugs and juicy worms.”
“But Mummy says I mustn’t,” the chick replied sensibly.
“Don’t be afraid, just jump and we’ll have great fun!”
“Yes, but I……,” the chick tumbled out of the nest before he’d even managed to finish his sentence.
The chick fell on to the grass was immediately startled by all the green undergrowth. Where had that inviting sunshine gone? Why was everything so damp and uncomfortable? Huge great beetles and dragonflies were flying at him and butterflies fluttered around his head. The worms were all hiding and the bugs had all crawled out of reach. Somehow it didn’t seem quite so jolly to the chick now. And then the snake appeared, reared up and lisped.
“And I was just feeling peckishhhh!"
The chick let out a cry as the snake lunged towards him and suddenly heard his mother’s voice:
“Leap up on to the lowest branch! Get ready and jump!
And he jumped! Once sat on the branch the chick looked around him. He was safe! But where was mum? She was nowhere to be seen. But then he felt the slightest puff of wind and the beating of wings nearby.
An Angel! It was his Angel! He had come to his aid in the nick of time.
The chick understood that he needed to jump further up the tree onto the higher branches. But he didn't have the strength. But then mum arrived and she had brought a whole flock of swallows with her. They had all come lend their support. Jumping from one branch to the other the chick eventually reached the nest and everything turned out well.
“Glory is to the Angel!” they all cried.
Before Ben even had had time to think about his dream let alone open his eyes, he sensed somebody standing in front of him. Ben opened his eyes and saw a beautiful slender youth with blue eyes and long fair hair, who was tenderly looking at him. Ben immediately understood that this was an Angel. The Angel smiled and said:
“You asked for help?”
Ben was so surprised that he was literally struck dumb.
“Soon you will be on a most interesting adventure with your cousin Michael. There is much that you will learn and see. But for now I must go. We will meet again soon.”
The Angel gave Ben a friendly wave and disappeared.
"My God, am I sleeping or is this for real? I must ask grandmother, maybe this is all just a daydream?”
But Ben didn't have time to ask anyone anything, because the train was coming into Sofia.
Sophia was already waiting for them on the platform, as always, in high spirits and with a ready smile. Ben immediately wanted to know when Michael would be coming and was pleased when he was told that it would only be a couple of days. He couldn't wait to share all his news with his cousin. But most importantly he wanted to tell him about the Angel and the adventures awaiting them.
The sun had just risen and the city seemed to play in its rays. The taxi passed through the centre of the city. The car streaked past a Russian church and the final resting place of its founder Serafim Sobolev, the Alexander Nevsky Cathedral which had been erected in honour of the liberation of Bulgaria from the Turks and the St. Kliment Ohridski University. And here was the Borisova Gradina Park where Ben and Michael would often go to play.
The car careered down Tsarigradsko Shose. The sun had now risen above the mountains, which circled Sofia. The light and sunny city surrounded by magnificent mountains made for an extremely romantic landscape. Towering above the other peaks loomed the peerless Mount Vitosha. When they were younger Ben and Michael had often made drawings of this stunning mountain. And there was the school where Michael had studied and the playground where he and his friends had played football. Ben felt completely at home in Sofia and had even learned Bulgarian.
The long awaited day of his cousin’s arrival finally came and Ben went with Sophia to meet Michael at the airport. The London flight was due in the middle of the night but Ben's enthusiasm knew no bounds. Michael had barely walked into the arrivals hall before Ben was upon him like an arrow to its mark.
“I’ve got some really important news for you," Ben gushed.
“So have I,” Michael replied.
“But the most important thing is that you and I are going to have the most amazing adventures this summer!”
The cousins blurted out in unison.
So what had happened to Michael? Well, first let me tell you a little bit more about Michael…
Michael
Michael and Ben used to meet up nearly every winter and summer holidays. Michael loved his cousin; they had been to stay with each other ever since their early childhood. Michael was two years older than Ben and had always protected his younger cousin. He made all his decisions for him and even took command in the most unlikely situations, explaining all this with a single phrase:
“He’s still so small.”
For as long as Michael could remember there had always been misunderstandings between him and his parents. Michael’s mum was very beautiful and special. But Michael would express his feelings for his mother in a very peculiar way. Ever since he was very small Michael would run up to her in order to give her a big hug and end up diving into her and hurting her. Of course his mum would end up getting angry and this would spoil things between them.
There were problems at school as well. Michael’s teacher complained that he didn’t pay attention. And all this was because Michael loved to let his imagination wander, especially during his lessons. He could spend hours looking out of the window and it would seem to him that everything around him had come alive. The sun would be smiling just like a small child’s drawing. The clouds would be chasing after each other as if they had a will of their own and the wind would appear like a powerful horseman sweeping in through the window, tearing at the curtain and whistling with all his might. But the strict voice of his teacher would rudely awaken him from this fascinating little world.
“Michael, can you tell me what I’ve just said!”
But that wasn’t all… When he was quite small Michael had had an imaginary friend who he used to play with. Although, it has to be said this ‘friend’ often used to let him down. Together they would smash up the dishes, break toys and make the most awful mess in the house. One day his mother said:
“That’s it, I’ve had enough!”
They went to the church and the priest, who was very wise, immediately grasped the situation. He turned to Michael and in a loud voice said:
“Evil spirit, be gone from the child and leave him to live in peace."
From that moment the ‘friend’ never appeared again.
Michael became interested in all things technical and began to mend and tinker with everything. He learned most of this from his grandfather when they repaired the car together. Despite some of the spare parts going missing the job itself had been a great success.
Now Michael had a new hobby – his computer. And for him the biggest punishment of all was to be barred from his computer. Michael made many new friends from various different countries. More often than not they were girls; somehow it was easier and more interesting to talk to them. One day he told one of them that he just couldn’t seem to get on with his parents and that they always seemed to be unhappy with him. The girl asked:
“Have you tried explaining your feelings to them, for example, why you were silent at friends or just said something frivolous?"
Michael answered that everything was already clear without any explanations. He didn’t like being with the adults and listening to their conversations and he was really irritated by the insincerity and histrionics of their children. But in order to please the grown-ups he needed to play the part of being a good boy. In addition, many adults depict themselves in a mu
ch better light than they are in reality. And Michael began to describe the faults of each and every one of them. This had all come to a head for him after the latest set of guests had been over and he was sat on his own. However, the girl advised Michael not to let other people’s faults affect him but to remain true to himself not only in terms of his internal but also external behaviour. What’s more, people often hide their misfortunes and problems behind the games and images that they play and project.
Like all children, Michael loved his parents very much. But when he compared his family with his friend’s parents and other acquaintances, then his mother and father’s standards and also those of Ben and his mother and grandmother were so much higher that there was just no comparison. Michael was extremely critical of himself and then there was the constant upheaval. In his short life he had already moved to three different countries. The first two had been his mother and father’s. He knew Russian, Bulgarian and a little bit of Ukrainian and was now beginning to master English as well. He could get by in the more precise subjects very well, but all these different languages and their literatures required a lot more study. He liked his school. Everyone was very kind to him and the lessons were organised around the abilities and knowledge of each pupil. After school he had loads of free time. If you wanted you could watch school tests or read, play a sport or some other favourite hobby.