Réka, who is graduating from kindergarten, spent most of the summer before school started at her grandmother's, as her parents' holidays were not enough to spend the whole break with their daughter.
But even so, they talked to each other every night on the phone, and from Réka's account of the experience, her parents knew exactly what had happened that day, how their daughter was feeling, whether she was doing well.
The latter was never a problem, as he and Granny had a great summer.
Every day after breakfast, they went for a walk to the nearby park, where she got to know the different kinds of trees and flowers in the park, and sometimes they saw a beautiful bird among the foliage, which, thanks to Grandma, she learned a lot of interesting things about.
But Grandma told me something else. From a real storybook, until the daily reading, sitting on the park bench, became an unavoidable part of the morning walk. Of course, sometimes Réka took baby Jutka in her pram to get some air, and other times the big polka-dot ball, which could be used not only to bounce the ball around but also to shoot at goals on the small football pitch for children, which was almost identical to the real one.
But we must not forget the third participant in the walks, "whom" Réka used to take with her in the pocket of her dress or apron, and would not have left at home for any treasure.
This third companion was Makk Karcsi, or rather a tiny little acorn, "who" had painted eyes, a mouth, and black bangs peeking out from under his acorn-cap cap, all carefully secured with varnish.
He was meant to impersonate Réka's dearest kindergarten buddy, Kovács Karcsi. The little boy hand-painted the figurine and gave it to her as a memento and token of their friendship.
True, they will meet again after the summer break, at school, but where is September?! Réka has often mentioned Karcsi to her grandmother, which was the reason why she always carries the little acorn with her.
That particular day started the same as the others.
After breakfast, Réka put the polka dot ball in the net, Grandma took the storybook she hadn't read yet and they were off to the park. Réka ran back out the door:
- Wait, Grandma, I forgot to put Makk Karcsi in my pocket.
- "Leave it at home," said grandma, "You'll lose it in the park. It'll fall out of your pocket when you're playing ball, then you can cry about it. You'd better leave it at home.
But Réka could not be dissuaded and pocketed the acorns.
In the park there was a lot of ball bouncing, kicking goals, and when the little girl got tired, she settled down next to Grandma and waited for the next story. In the meantime, she remembered to check her pockets for Makk Karcsi. She even "sat" him down on the bench next to her. Then he turned expectantly to his grandmother:
- Here comes the new tale. Now Karcsi Makk will listen to it - he added.
The story was very exciting. So much so, that neither Réka nor Grandma noticed when a little red lightning bolt appeared in the canopy of the big pine tree above their heads. At least, if anyone had observed it, that's certainly all they would have seen.
Unfortunately, the interesting tale also came to an end. Grandma and her grandson were scrambling to get home. Réka put the polka-dot ball in the net, Grandma picked up the satyr - which of course always contained a small bottle of Réka's favourite soft drink - and they were on their way when the little girl cried out:
- Grandma, Karcsi Makk is missing!
- "Maybe look under the bench to see if it's fallen off," Grandma advised.
They looked for him in the grass, among the pebbles, Réka even looked in the nearby flowerbed, crawling on all fours, but Karcsi Makk just didn't turn up.
Tears started to fall, she was so sorry for the loss of her little friend. They went home. At home, Grandma was so considerate - and of course she loved and felt so sorry for her granddaughter - that she didn't tell her: 'I warned you not to bring Makk Karcsi to the park, because....
The next morning they went to the park, a little sad, just the two of them. Reeka missed her third partner, Karcsi Makk very much.
There was no ball play, no kicking at goal, although the dotted ball was still in the net. They just sat down quietly on the bench and Grandma began to read the next story.
The little girl was clearly paying little attention to the story. She hadn't even smiled at the amusing part when the slipper made of acorn-cup was placed on the whore's foot.
Maybe it wasn't such a good idea, Grandma thought, to choose a story that also talked about acorns. But she read the story anyway.
When he closed the book and started to pick at it, suddenly something clicked on the bench, right next to Réka. The little girl looked over and saw Makk Karcsi on the ground in the grass. Then she heard a noise above her head, a soft crackling of branches, and saw a red lightning flash by, which zigzagged a few more times and then landed on a nearby branch.
It was a beautiful, brownish-red squirrel with a waggy tail. He was sitting there - Réka thought he was smiling - and it was as if he said: 'I stole Makk Karcsi because he looked like a good treat, but I brought him back because he was so hard I couldn't chew him.
And indeed, there were tiny teeth marks on Karcsi Makk's hat, but that did not change the little girl's joy. Her friend was found, courtesy of an "honest finder".
What do you think: did Réka take Makk Karcsi to the park with her afterwards?
I can tell you that yes. He just didn't take it out of his pocket...
