The Magic Cheese - стр. 2

   One day Vovka went to the store to buy some cheese, biscuits and sooshkas (bread-like doughnuts, only dry and hard) for his Grandpa and Grandma, because they had promised to call in. Grandpa and Grandma liked having tea. They would stay in the kitchen together with Mama for the whole evening and have tea until they were tired. Grandma liked dipping biscuits in her tea and Grandpa enjoyed crunchy sooshkas. All his false teeth were of metal, so it was easy for him to eat hard stuff.

   So, Vovka went to the store. He thought of buying something for Uncle and Aunt, but then decided against it. You could never tell for sure, whether they were going to come. Uncle and Aunt had promised to call in so often, but then they had never had. Nevertheless, they could come without telling about it, and no one really objected. Uncle and Aunt had their own business and not much time, and everybody understood that. When they did come, they would always bring lots of tasty things, especially when no one expected them.

   That was the reason why Vovka didn’t buy anything for his Uncle and Aunt. He decided to buy a chocolate bar for Mama instead. He thought that Uncle and Aunt might not come, but Mama would for sure – and she liked chocolate. It made her cheerful, and she often had it. Even when there was no chocolate left, Mama would smell the paper it was wrapped into and smile.

   Vovka thought that over and bought biscuits, sooshkas and a chocolate bar. He did that rather fast. Buying cheese was a harder task, though. Vovka spent a lot of time standing in front of a shop window. The sorts of cheese were so many and it was so hard to pick up only one. There were white cheeses, yellow cheeses, with or without holes in them, soft cheeses, hard cheeses, smoked and salty ones and also curd cakes. Even the shape was different – round, rectangular or sliced. There were cheeses for a picnic, cheeses for tea and for a snack. And oh, how they smelled! Vovka even closed his eyes and shook his head.

   When he opened his eyes again, he saw an old lady, but such a strange one that he even forgot which cheese he had chosen. The old lady was wearing an old-fashioned dress, the one that could be seen only in old movies or in a museum. Her hat was old-fashioned, too. Sometimes Vovka saw ladies that wore hats, decorated with flowers or bows. But on the old lady’s hat there were tiny cows and calves, sheep and lambs, and goats – all with little bells hanging on their necks! Vovka’s mouth went wide open.