style="font-size:15px;"> – Will people learn to treat also it? – asked the girl.
– Probably some day it will happen, – Granny answered.
– But when will it happen? – Solnishko continued her questions.
– It’s a difficult question, – said Granny.
– It’s always so. You, the adults, reply in such a way, as if you don’t know the answer, – the girl resented.
– It’s already too late. You should go to bed, – Granny tried to interrupt the conversation but did not manage it.
– I won’t go. I shall wait for Mom and Dad, – replied the girl without calming down.
– Solnishko, darling, I” m afraid you have to wait for a long time. Do you see the hard snow outside? Everything is covered up. Plow trucks can’t function well. Neither go, no drive. Let’s go to bed. And at night, if you would like to drink some milk, Mom will bring it for you.
All the attempts to distract Solnishko were useless. The girl missed her Dad very much, as she hadn’t seen him over the last three months. Dad was on a scientific expedition and he was returning home on that day. The airplane had already landed. Dad had phoned from the airport. Two hours had already passed but he couldn’t reach home. Mom also worked very hard. That is why each spare hour spent together with her was a gift for the girl, which she was deprived of today.
– Why did you tell me that there is always a way out? – asked Solnishko by repeating the same question.
– Yes, really, there is always a way out. Simply sometimes you have to look for it too long, – answered Granny.
– It means that if one tries really hard, one finds it, doesn’t it? – Solnishko continued her questions.
– Yes, it does, – answered Granny. Certainly she was tired and could barely restrain her impatience.
– Granny, let’s call the MES, – the girl got inspired, believing, apparently, that it was exactly the solution to the problem.
– Why? – Granny was surprised.
– Do you remember when there were fires in the summer, people were rescued by MES?… Granny, what is MES?
– The Ministry of Emergency Situations, – explained Granny.
– What are emergency situations? – wondered Solnishko.
– Those are natural disasters, for example, fires and different dangerous situations people may face. Let’s suppose the door was locked, the little child stayed alone in the house and needs an urgent help.
– Is the traffic jam an ordinary situation?
– Yes, it is, – answered Granny with regret.
The girl lived on the 13th floor of the high-rise building and liked to sit down on the low windowsill and to look through the window while waiting for her parents. Also at that evening, by watching the endless string of cars, she took attention to a great number of wrong parked automobiles which the already difficult situation on the roads made much more difficult. And this circumstance could not leave indifferent the observant girl.
– Granny, why all these cars stand in the wrong place? – asked Solnishko.
– The car owners came to work and left their automobiles here to return home by cars after the work.
– But why didn’t they leave the cars where they should be? – persistently was asking the girl.
– You see there is no place for everyone in the car park. Besides, parking is often paid. That’s why many people leave the automobiles anywhere, – explained Granny.
– Are they punished for it? – the girl was surprised.
– Sometimes they are punished: or they simply write out a fine, or their machines are even taken to the penalty area, – Granny explained in detail.
– Who punishes them? Does the uncle GAIshnik do it? – remembered the girl.
– Yes, – Granny was pleasantly surprised that Solnishko didn’t forget the content of their past talks.
– But they are still not afraid of him, if they continue to park their machines where they shouldn’t be, aren’t they? – Solnishko wondered.
– It turns out they aren’t, – agreed Granny.
There was a pause. Being tired of those conversations Granny began to prepare the girl for going to bed.
At that time the phone rang up and Granny answered. After talking on the phone she turned to Solnishko:
– Mom told us not to wait for her and to go to bed.
– Must we do as Mom said? – asked Solnishko.
– Of course. You know that Mom’s word is a law for us, – emphasized Granny.
– But we won’t tell her, – protested the girl.
– Mom should always know the truth. And in general, Solnishko, it will be better to be punished for what you did wrong than for hiding it. In that case both the punishment will be light and the mistake can be corrected in time, – said Granny.
– But now you are here, with me. You may allow me not to go to bed, – continued Solnishko without calming down.
– No, darling, Mom’s word is more important than mine, – insisted Granny.
– But my Mom also may be mistaken, – Solnishko didn’t give up.
– Well, it’s quite possible. But also in this case, if it even seems to you that Mom is not right, you should do as Mom says. At least until you don’t take responsibility for your actions yourself, – explained Granny in a calm manner.
– It means if I don’t agree with Mom, I can never do what I want, doesn’t it? – the girl was sincerely surprised.
– Why? Be able to prove that you are right, so that Mom also accepts it, – answered Granny. – And besides, Solnishko, Mom allows you almost everything. There are some restrictions connected exclusively to your safety and health. It is impossible without any restriction. There will be anarchy and chaos.
– As it is on roads, isn’t it? – remembered the girl.
– It’s quite right, – said Granny.
– Is it so in all families? – Solnishko wondered.
– If you mean the system of restrictions, then it exists in each family. It’s another case when the system itself may be different, – explained Granny.
– You confused me, Granny, – said the girl.
– It is right,
