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Because I am…
(Bo ja jestem…)
We were walking side by side, two steps behind Granny Kasia and Janeczka. We weren’t listening to what they were talking about.
In a voice trembling with excitement, I broke the embarrassing silence:
– And I thought you didn’t like me …
– I? – Lucretia bowed her head, and the snow-white fringe fell over her eyes.
– You have never even looked at me …
“I didn’t know what you would think of me,” she confessed quietly. And after a while she added: – Because … because I am …
– Shy? I finished for her. – It would never occur to me that an Arab princess might be shy.
“And yet…” She looked up. Only then was I able to see her extraordinary eyes outlined with a blue iris.
“There is a rainbow in those eyes,” I thought, enchanted, but I didn’t want to make Lucrezia uncomfortable, so I bit my tongue. Unnecessarily, because Lucrezia took courage and decided to return a compliment herself.
“Sometimes I overheard you talking to your cousins,” she admitted. – You tell them so beautifully. And you have so many great ideas. But I never dared to interfere …
“Aha,” I grunted in disbelief. – Do you remember when I ran into you? You immediately pointed out to me that I had hay on my back. Is that how shy princess behaves ?!
– You surprised me. I did not know what to say. That was the only thing that came to mind. How silly I am. Will you ever forgive me for that?
– Will I forgive you? Forgive you! I snorted teasingly, and Lucrezia lowered her head again. “There is nothing to forgive,” I added after a moment, lifting my tail happily.
I was so happy that I wanted here and now to feel the drops of morning dew on my back, to kick up carelessly and roll over from side to side.
Lucrezia must have felt something similar. (Maybe she had butterflies in her stomach, just like me?) She quickly figured out what was on my mind under that rainbow mane.
– So what ?! Now?! She whined pugnaciously.
A moment later we both were rolling in the grass. And in the sand. And mud on the forest path.
– What’s in your head, kids?! – Granny Kasia laughed.
– It’s okay, Grandma. After returning, I will brush them and take them to the washer – said Janeczka, amused.
…