How much is needed for joy

— Dear? A citizen? A young man? A girl? — a gray-haired old man in a red down jacket and a knitted hat tried in vain to attract attention to himself.

People hurried past, collars turned up and hoods pulled up, frowning. They didn't care about a confused grandfather with a big bag over his shoulder. I've got a lot to do. And the weather today... It feels like winter has lost a couple of days to autumn at cards. So she's having fun on New Year's Eve. It drenches the cheerful Christmas trees with a cold rain, an icy wind blows, and drives garbage through gray puddles.

Finally, the old man got tired and lost hope of reaching hurrying passersby. I sat down on a bench near the subway.

— Now, now, be patient a little. Let's sit for five minutes and go home," came a voice from the right.

An elderly woman was sitting on a bench. Thin, small, in a quilted coat of unmarked blue color. Two curious brown eyes peeked out from her bosom, accompanied by a pair of triangular ears and a black nose.

"The puppy! He's nice, he's got a forehead," the old man thought.

Meanwhile, the woman reached into her coat pocket and took out a crumpet in a transparent bag. Broke it:

"Here, have a bite to eat," she offered the puppy.

He did not force himself to persuade. He swept away the proffered crumpet as if it had never existed.

— And this is for sparrows... — The other half of the crumpet scattered crumbs on the asphalt at the woman's feet.

The old man watched in silence. Finally, he was noticed.:

"Are you lost, honey?"

The old man nodded:

— There are a few... I was trying to ask for directions. Yes, no one suggested it. People are running past, in a hurry.

"Where do you want to go?"

— I'm looking for a training lane.

"You're lucky." I live there. Wait a bit, I'll take a break and I'll walk you out. Just don't forget, we won't run fast. I'm older than you, actually. She was running away.

— Thank you! The old man smiled through his gray mustache.

***

"It's not for nothing that I reached the subway today,— Maria thought. — I just wanted to look at the Christmas trees, but I wanted to buy tangerines... And look, it turns out that someone else can use me!"

She loved New Year's Eve. No matter what, I loved him. Let something prickle and creak in the body over the years. Let life change inexorably, and often not for the better. Anyway, on New Year's Eve, Maria was waiting for some kind of miracle, at least a tiny one, cherished a timid hope in her heart...

"Take off your rose—colored glasses. Read it, they're already absenteeism in the cemetery, and you're still enjoying the holiday like an unreasonable child," grumbled her friend, Elena . — What's there to be happy about? Fireworks will go off, congratulations will sound on TV, and oops! You go out to the store on January first, and prices have been raised again, followed by communal services.

Maria only smiled in response. She had gotten used to her friend's nagging for so many years. Egorovna is always dissatisfied with something. You'd think something would change because of her discontent: prices would be lowered or pensions would be increased by one hundred percent... I'm not. So why get drunk, spoil your mood?

But convincing is more expensive for yourself. She was born that way. She's offended by life, so she's grumbling. Oh well, everyone has their own flaws. Moreover, Maria has no one closer to her. My husband died a few years ago. I couldn't get kids. was the only one left nearby.

She has more relatives, but they rarely visit her. They live far away, busy forever. takes offense at them:

— Oh, Masha, God didn't give you kids... He gave it to me, but in return he took away my youth. And what? After all, she fluttered over her son like a bird over a baby bird. No sleep, no breathing. And where is the gratitude? My son calls once in a hundred years, he comes once in two hundred years! If a mother is alive, it's good, but if she dies, it's also a matter of everyday life!

Maria listened, comforted as best she could, and sympathized as best she could. But in her heart, she didn't agree with her friend. I tried to wake her up sometimes, but in vain. So today I offered to take a walk to the subway. But she categorically refused.:

— Yes, I got these Christmas trees in the rain. Besides, there are a lot of people around. And people are angry and nervous these days. I don't want to! Go alone if you want to get wet and push so much.

And Maria went.

She had already bought tangerines when she caught sight of a shabby-looking peasant harassing passersby.:

— Buy your kid a dog for the New Year! Great doggie!

But people were hurrying past.

"I wonder where he got the puppy? He looks like a regular drunkard, Maria thought. — And then where will he put the poor guy? There aren't many people willing to take the puppy away."

***

Adam sold the puppy because of complete hopelessness. He had been celebrating for a week. The money is gone, and so is everything that can be sold. My friends and comrades were in no hurry to help. So Adam left the apartment, hoping to meet someone he knew on the street. Maybe they will give you a "cure", they will not leave a person in trouble.

On the first floor, under the radiator, he noticed a small black puppy. "Someone threw it away, or maybe, on the contrary, they let the dog warm up,— he thought. — Maybe we should sell it, since it's a draw anyway? I remember when I was a kid, a dog was considered a good gift!"

Rejoicing at his quick wit, he tucked the puppy into his bosom and hurried to the subway. There, perched under the canopy at the exit, he launched his advertising campaign.:

— Treat yourself to joy! Buy a dog. Cute guard puppy! Your children will be happy, and your home will be protected!

But the people hurried past, walked around Adam in an arc and were not interested in the puppy. Finally, Adam got tired, leaned against the wall, lit a cigarette. And then they tugged at his sleeve.:

"How much do you want for the dog?"

Granny was standing in front of him. She was small and thin, in a blue quilted coat, with a bag at the bottom of which the orange sides of tangerines could be guessed.

"Five hundred!"

— Well, my dear, you've bent it! I can give you three hundred. Come on, don't be greedy. Three hundred is better than nothing.

—Okay, four hundred,— Adam condescended, estimating the customer's solvency.

—The hell with you. Take it! Just out of sympathy for the puppy. After all, you'll throw the poor guy away, damn it, if you don't sell. Granny dived into the inside pocket of her coat and fished out four neatly folded bills.

Then she took the puppy away from Adam , tucked it into her bosom and scurried away.

— Now, darling, we'll buy a couple of crumpets, take a break on a bench for five minutes, and go home! Maria whispered into her bosom, from where two attentive brown eyes looked at her. "I'll treat you, too." He's probably hungry. I love crumpets. They used to taste better, but these are nothing either.

She settled down on a bench by the subway. My grandfather was sitting next to me in a red down jacket. My grandfather looked lost and unhappy. The rain soaked his knitted hat and hung in drops on his gray mustache and beard. "Are you lost, Grandpa? Maria thought. — I need to help... I feel sorry for the man. He looks about my age. It's old. Maybe I forgot the address."

To her delight, her grandfather remembered the address. Besides, he had to go to the same street where Maria herself had lived for a hundred years.

"Let me at least help," the old man suggested, slinging a large red bag over his shoulder.

"Don't!" Don't grunt under your own burden, darling. That's what I have... A kilo of tangerines, and here's a surprise, black and eared," Maria smiled.

But the old man, ignoring her objections, took the package away from her, and they set off across the courtyards towards Lane.

While they were walking, Maria started talking. Somehow it turned out that she told her traveling companion everything about her simple life. Grandfather was silent, listened, nodded.

— I've loved New Year since I was a kid. I can't be fixed anymore," said Maria . — When my husband died, I thought I wouldn't have time for the holidays. I grieved a lot. What about. We've lived with him for almost half a century. We lived well. Even without the kids...

And that's how it was to accept that now I'm going to have to waddle through life alone? Everything inside was protesting. And then she recovered somehow. I thought that since I was given this life, I need to accept it and enjoy every day. I'll still be able to get to my husband... I believe that he will wait for me there. My girlfriend thinks I'm stupid for that. Well, that's her business. I'm not holding a grudge. She's good at everything else...

So, while they were talking, they came to the twelfth house on Lane.

—Well, here we are,— Maria nodded at front door number seven. —Which house do you want, honey?"

The old man thought for a moment:

— Yes, I'm here too, sort of. Educational, building twelve, apartment forty-three.

—What's forty—three?" asked Maria in surprise. "You made a mistake, honey. Forty-third is next to me. But no one lives there. The apartment has been empty for a long time. They seemed to have passed it... But the tenants left about three months ago. Of course, I don't know where.

Grandfather sighed and handed Maria a bag of tangerines.:

— So, I was mistaken... well, okay, I'll go. Happy holidays to you.

"But where are you going?" Come on, honey, come on. You will be a guest. It's not right to drive a good man outside in the dark," Maria decided.

— Aren't you afraid? — Grandfather hesitated. "Maybe I'm not good at all."

— Maria pulled the door handle, looked around. —And the fact that you're good is written in big letters on your forehead, honey.

***

"Who did you bring, old girl?" looked into the room, nodded to an old man she didn't know, and returned to the kitchen, where Maria was busy.

"Who are you talking about?" About the guest or about the dog?

— About that old man who's settled at your table.

— I invited a good person. My grandfather got lost. I came to forty-three, and no one has lived there for a hundred years. You know that.

—Where did you get it?" persisted.

— By the subway.

— My grandmother is completely stupid. What if he's a crook or some kind of maniac?

"Why would you steal from me?" Maria looked at her friend from under her glasses. — And he's not a maniac. Look into his eyes! Well, bad people don't have such a kind look. Or I don't understand anything at all in life.

— Of course you don't understand anything! How did you live to have gray hair with your gullibility? Oh, woe is me with you... Give me the plates!

"Here,— Maria handed a stack of dishes. — Take it. And don't scare our grandpa!

When she entered the room herself, was sitting on one side of the table, grandfather on the other... The TV was mumbling. But her friend wasn't interested in him, she was intently studying the embarrassed guest.

— Why don't you even have spruce paws this year, "What is it?" she asked peevishly.

Grandfather roused himself. He grabbed his red bag.

"We'll fix that." We'll do it fast!

A zipper clicked, and a miniature Christmas tree appeared from the bag, then a couple of boxes in a golden wrapper, followed by a bottle of champagne, a dozen firecrackers, five shiny snakes of tinsel, several cans of pickles, figures of Santa Claus and the snow maiden, a huge pineapple...

— Did you pick up a magician on the street? — watched in surprise as more and more new items popped out of the bag. — Your last name is not Kio, by any chance? Well, it couldn't fit so much in there!

Grandfather looked slyly at , smiled into his snow-white beard, then winked at Maria .

She looked into his kind blue eyes. Something familiar, long forgotten, opened a door in the very depths of memory. She had seen the same eyes framed by snow-white curls before... A long time ago, they had a big Santa Claus under the Christmas tree. He was wearing a beautiful red sheepskin coat studded with silver snowflakes, an equally elegant cap, a full beard and eyes the color of a gentle sky.

— His last name is not Kio... — She said, mesmerized. — I know the name of our guest! Were you really waiting for me on that bench by the subway? Did they really know that apartment forty-three was empty? Did you really know that I would definitely invite you?

— Not exactly like that... The old man replied. — I was looking for a good person. I really wanted to give a miracle to someone who really deserves it. And I met you. With a puppy in my bosom, with tangerines in a bag, with a holiday in my soul, despite all the adversities...

still uncomprehending, looked from one to the other. Finally, I figured it out. She pressed her hand to her chest:

— Oh, my friend brought a live Santa Claus! It's crazy!

— Don't go crazy. The old man handed a box wrapped in golden paper. — We should celebrate and receive gifts!

A Christmas tree was flashing on the table, a black puppy was spinning at her feet, was clutching a shiny gift to her chest.

— There is a place for joy in our lives... Maria whispered. — Otherwise, how to live?

Santa Claus nodded. And thought: "You're right, Masha. Even if it turns out in the morning that we dreamed it all... But it was a happy dream. Anyway, we'll think about it tomorrow!"

— Open the champagne, fabulous old man! — She ordered.

***