The Challenging Tit

The balcony on the third floor was overgrown with foliage. Roses towered over the glass partition, ivy twined along the walls, and in the depths were bunches of large yellowish leaves. They stretched from floor to ceiling — a sight to behold! The other balconies had only reeds or pots of geraniums. “How many gnats there must be!” — thought Plumsie the tit. Pushing off the maple branch with her paws, she fluttered right into the ivy. Plumsie was a very young tit. Her little yellow-breasted body demanded food at all times. And the most nutritious food is, surely, insects. All kinds of them.Hunger taught Plumsie courage and curiosity, for which the generous, exuberant life of spring rewarded her lusciously. She hung upside down on the ivy and turned around her head, covered byher blue cap, but strangely enough, she found nothing edible. Nothing at all! Plumsie fluttered from vine to vine: up, and down, and around, and back. Pokingherbeak into the foliage. But strangely enough, in the coolness of the ivy there was not a single gnat, not a single larva! It alsostinked, and the smell wasunfamiliar and pungent. Plumsie became dizzy. Tits are famous for their acrobatics, but somehow the young bird lost her direction. When she got tired of poking around corners, she decided to fly away from the inhospitable balcony. She flapped her wingslike usual, yetsomehow found herself not in the streams of wind, warm from the spring sun. Where she was? It was dusky… Plumsie looked around and saw a square of blue sky. It barelyglowedthrough the foliage, and it seemed cloudy for some reason…. But the skittish little tit couldn’t stand it! The Plumsie rose into the air, aimed straight at the sky…. — Stop! — someone squeaked. Startled by that, Plumsie flopped down. The dizziness from the strange odors never quite went away. She found herself on somethingwide and soft. I must say that she had stained the softness a little bit. Out of fear, like birds do. Plumsie turned her head, but found no owner of the squeaky voice. But she saw that she could sit up higher — it turned out that she had fallen on something like a garden bench, only tall and cloth-covered. From the back of this bench the bird saw the sky again — alas, it was covered with glass. Oh, how hard would her crash be if the squeaky one had not warned her! And that’s when Plumsie finally realized where she’d gotten herself. It was an apartment. A human apartment! What does a tit do when it panics? Of course, it starts flitting randomly in the air — just in case its luck takes it somewhere. It didn’t work out. No way out was seen in the dusky room. The little tit went down tiredly on a high stand, where her belly, breast and even her blue cap immediately got covered with dust. She shook it off and… Got herself to think? Not quite — Plumsie wasn’t good at thinking too long. She looked around, turning her head to the right, to the left, obliquely. And then, directing her black eye downward, she noticed swarming — the very thing thatawakens the appetite ofany small bird. Plumsie forgot where she was, and she forgot about the mysterious voice. She darted downward, diving to the edge of a metal-covered glass box. Across the box, in which greenish water gurgled and algae floated, a board was put. And on the board was a bowl, and in the bowlthere wereexcellent, juicy, red worms. Wiggling. — Yay! — squeaked Plumsieand started pecking one worm after another.One, and another, and the next, and more — but there were still as many! The bird sighed blissfully…. — Oh, what athief! It’s not yours, — said a voice behind the tit’s back. Out of surprise, Plumsie dropped a drippy from under her tail. A voice immediately commented: — Ew! Now you’re messing up where you eat. How uncivilized! Plumsie turned at the voice in one leap. She saw no one. In front of her at the other end of the room stood the same glass box, but there was nowater inside. The sun was burning in the box, its own sun — people are never satisfied with just one light; they always try to light hundreds of them, disturbing the birds' rest. Who was it burning there for? The box seemed empty. There was only sand at the bottom, and a piece of dry, crooked branch. “It’s not the branch that’s outraged, is it?” — Plumsie thought and asked: — If you’re here, please show yourself! If you’re not here, I’ll have another bite. I’m starving! You know, it’s no good dying. But don’t worry, I’ll save you a portion. Tits are very talkative. You could say that their inner fillings are not held back either from the beak side or the tail side. That’s the way they are by nature! — I’m here, — came a voice from nowhere. — And where is that “here”? — Can’t you see? Heh, heh, heh. No sooner had the tit chirped a surprised “What?” than the branch behind the glass began to change. At first, four tiny green legs appeared on it. Then, somehow by itself, a flexible body with a long tail appeared, clinging to the bark. And finally, two bulging eyes blinked with emerald eyelids — and just a moment ago the little tit was seeing two knobby knots on this spot! In a glass boxthere was a tinylizard. He barely resembled the lizards that had crawled out to warm themselves on the rock in the old park where Plumsie used to come for lunch. He was too beady-eyed, and his tail was a bit more agile. And his fingers! “If I had fingers like that — I could hang like a bat,” thought Plumsie. — Yes, that’s me,” the lizard said, eyes downcast. — My name is Chameleon. As you can see, I have some abilities… But let’s not talk about that. Hungry, you say? What happened to you, how did you get here? — Chu-chu-chrough the window. Out there, where there’s a little piece of sky. The half-closed eyes flew open. — The sky, — the chameleon whispered. — I sawitonce, when my master brought me here. And I’ve heard a lot about the sky. The human of this apartment, you see, is a naturalist. He observes me and these fish whose food you have so indiscreetly taken away…. — I’m sorry, — Plumsie said to the greenish water, but more in advance. She realized that by the end of the conversation she would be hungry again, and apparentlythe fish would get nothing at all. Chameleon continued: — He often talks to us, even though he doesn’t think we understand him. He seems to respect us. But the trouble is, his speeches made me sad. Knowledgeable — and thus, sad, you understand, no? It turns out that the world behind the glass is so big! Chameleon closed his eyelids, shaking his head. Plumsie didn’t miss a moment and snatched a worm from the plate. One, and the next, and another one! — Yeah, it’s a big one, — she agreed, swallowing her appetizer. — Speaking of the world, I can’t figure out where the exit is…. Cha-chameleon? Where are you? The tiny lizard had disappeared again. Plumsie stared at the branch, puzzled. Then she took one last peck from the saucer and flew over to the edge of the aquarium where the chameleon lived. — Where are you? — She asked again. And then the sand at the bottom winked at her! — Heh, heh… Have you noticed that I can take on any color I want? — Wow! You and the branch and the sand..... A pink mouth opened on a barely visible mound. The chameleon grinned contentedly, slowly regaininghisusual green coloring. — You have made a good point, my perceptive guest! I become anything as long as I can be near, or rather in the background of, the object of my transforming interest. I have been loose and I have been solid, I have been flexible as a leaf, and, and, and, and… The little lizard suddenly looked really sad. — That’s it, — he concluded with a sigh. A horrible guess pierced Plumsie with such force that a tit skittered over the edge of the aquarium. — What, what, what, what? So you’ve spent… All your life? In the glass? Yup, yup, yep, yep? — Once again, my guest with her sensible blue forehead hits the very bull’s eye. — Pal, that’s horrible! Dis-chis-honest! — The tit squealed, fluffing up its chest. — You think so? I’mfed well, you know, but I keep thinking… — Pi-pi-pitiable! — Plumsie went on ragefully. Too vividly she hadimagined a life in whicha living creaturecould not just go andchange a birch tree for a bush of bilberry, a forest hollow for the attic of an old house, and all of thatin a single hour. For the first time in her life, the young bird was afraid of something that was not happening to her. — But I keep thinking, — the chameleon raised his voice a little, — are dust and old logs worth turning into them? Not that I’m anything significant in and of myself — I hold no delusions — but, I beg your pardon, even such a small life is worth expressing itself in something…. Bigger! Do you understand? — You are very si-si-significant, — the tit assured him. The only word she understood firmly in his explanation. — If your curled tail were a worm, it would be a very significant worm! — If that’s a compliment, I’m flattered. Anyway, I have a bigger dream. Literally, so to speak, a sky-high ambition. — Ambi-ti-ti-tion? I have an ambition, too: a fat, soft fly…. — I dream of the sky, — said the chameleon, raising his eyes to the distant ceiling. — The sky, — said the tit. Suddenly, Plumsie realized how terribly she’s missingthe expandedblue. So much so that even the dainty worms in the bowl at the aquarium wouldn’t keep her away now — if she could find a way out! How long had she been sitting in the middle of a human nest, among the human junk? Isshe ever going toget out? All these feelings made her cry out: — Me choo! I wanna choo the sky! — Yes, my ambition is just seeing it, I need to touch the sky..... Then and only then can I become like it. — Well, let’s go! — Boundless, pure and free. I know I can do it I was born this way for a reason, for a reason! My powers of transformation. I beg your pardon? — Let’s fly. You want to see the sky, don’t you? I do, too. Then we’re on our way. — Yeah, but, uh… This chatter wastoo boring.Plumsie flewto the little chameleon, right into hisbox, and…. — Wait! — No, not the claws! Higher, higher, or I’ll… Ow, my nose! … clutched his slender body in both paws and flew out of the glass prison in which her new acquaintance had spent too long. — Wrong way, turn around! Okay, to the left. Do you feel that breeze? There’s an open balcony door! But before she could finally break free, Plumsie turned in a dashing pirouette. She flew over the aquarium — and flew out onto the balcony not only with a screaming chameleon in her paws, but also with a beak full of juicy, unforgettably nourishing worms. There was the balcony left behind, and the street noise in thedistance. Even the tiny lizard was quiet. Who knows why! Plumsie thought only of the fact that her wings were getting unaccustomedly heavy. What a mess! She tried to flap them less often, but the weight of the chameleon and her own belly was pulling her down. And yet they were going up. With the corner of her eye, Plumsie saw the railing of the flat roof going down. And then there was only… (She had never flown so high that the blue was stretchedall around her, weightless and boundless.) Only… — Just the sky! Wake up, chameleon, it’s your gloryhour! — It’s beautiful, — a voice whispered from below. — I feel it. I understand it. No, it’s incomprehensible! So far away and so close at the same time! — Hurry up, — Plumsie squeaked. It was getting a little hard to keep them both in the air. — Now I’m going to be just like the sky. As innocent — and as majestic, as noble. Plumsie’s stomach twisted with tension. In her paws, the lizard’s elastic body shook or blurred, and because of this, the tit was really about to clench herclaws. In addition, the chameleon kept saying something completely incomprehensible to the bird’s mind: — I am as gentle as the breeze. My spirit is filled with peace. My… Plumsie’s stomach felt rapidly lighter. That’s what birds do after a hearty meal. — I’m doing good! — She chirped happily, feeling that her wings were doing better now. Silence. — Good? Doing good? — finally squeaked from down there. — You did the worst thing! You can’t hold your own shit! You brainless bird! You voracious scum, you uncultured vagrant, you’ll pay for this! — What did I do? — Plumsie wondered aloud. — Look at that! At the most beautiful moment of my life, you dumped a bucket of you know what on me. I’m covered in poop! Plumsie obediently tilted her head to admire it. Well, the chameleon had asked for it! And the view was truly stunning. In her claws wriggled a wet, sticky, impossibly huge bluebird plaque. The chameleon, you see, learns from what it touches. - Oh, yikes! Plumsie’s paws unclenched. The trembling in her fingers had not yet passed, butthe plaque, flying down, turned green, twirled its tail…. - No-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o! — Without thinking, the tit foldedherwings and plummeted downward, towards the little master of transformations. Too slow! Pulling her soiled paws deep into the bellyfluff, Plumsie beat her wings fractionally, speeding up. Earth! How close she is! - I’ll crash, oh, I’ll crash! — She shrieked in terror, and yet she flew on at a breakneck speed. The air whistled. - I’m finished! — screamed the chameleon. Velcro fingers, long tail — everything was flailing about, looking for a foothold. In vain! But Plumsie was already there. Her paws, stretched out to their fullest extent, touched the scaly tail. Immediately the tail curled around them, and Plumsie’s claws — snatch! — closed. Aimingherbeak at the sun, the tit flutteredherwings…And both of them, flying over the asphalt, came out of the dive. They collapsed on the lawn. Exhausted but alive - The sun is so bright, — complained Plumsie. — It’s all right, we’ll rest now and I’ll carry you home. Chameleon was silent. - Hey, I didn’t do it on purpose! It’s just my body, it doeslike all birds do. Chameleon? Hello? - I failed, — the little lizard squeaked. — No, not you, butme. I turned into shit. The grass rustled around them. At other times, Plumsie would have looked under every leaf that fell. But not now. - I think-- Yeah, I think you did great. You did it, didn’t you? You did it! Chameleon rolled his eyes, examining himself. He shook off the remnants of the wadding from his back. He sighed softly: — That’s not enough. Shapeshifting is a miserable skill… If I hadn’t been such a shit on the inside, I would have kept my celestial form even with the, ahem, incident. Plumsie, — his eyes stared at the tit, — you have a celestial-colored cap, though you’re hardly aware of it. You’ll always have it with you. A bit of the sky. — Well, ap-pa-parently I do… — Plumsie brushed the feathers on the top of her head with a flick of her paw. — But it’s just what I’m born with. I’m just an ordinary tit. Nothing spechi-chi-chial about me. The suction cup finger touched the bird’s forehead. — Although I failed… Truly, a certain transformation happened today. — Chi-chi-chi? — Your cap is even bluer now than it was. Plumsie couldn’t find anything to say. Indeed, the color of the cap is not something that feeds your stomach, but still…. Still… She seemed to understand what the chameleon wanted to say. She still couldn’t understand what he was saying, but now, after the space above the rooftops, after the race to the death, she understood at least one of his phrases. And when the chameleon lowered his paw, they both stared at his fingers in amazement. His suction cups remained blue. Like the sky. And like a silly tit’s cap.