\u23f1 ~4 min reading<\/p>\n\n\n
Artem had a younger brother, Levko. Levko was still very small \u2014 he walked a little with his legs in a circle, spoke in separate words, and called Artem \u00abTyoma.\u00bb Artem grew older \u2014 and this word \u00abelder\u00bb sometimes felt in his chest like a burden, and sometimes like a crown.<\/p>\n\n
On Saturday, Mom wasn't home \u2014 she went to the hairdresser. Dad was sitting in the living room with his laptop. Artem was playing with blocks in the kitchen, and Levko was spinning around nearby.<\/p>\n\n
There was a cup on the table. Artyom's favorite. With a yellow giraffe, whose long, long neck curled up to the very edge of the cup. Grandma had given it to him for his birthday. Artyom only drank cocoa from it.<\/p>\n\n
Levko ran to the table. He stretched out his small hand \u2014 he wanted to reach it. He couldn't reach it. He jumped up. The cup wobbled, went over the edge. It went over the edge.<\/p>\n\n
Click.<\/p>\n\n
The cup fell to the floor. It broke into three large pieces and several smaller ones. The giraffe was cut in half - head separately, body separately.<\/p>\n\n
Levko froze. Artem froze too. Something boiled in Artem's chest - hot, red. He had already opened his mouth to shout: "Why did you climb in! I told you! It's mine!"\u00ab<\/p>\n\n
Levko looked at him with wide eyes. His chin trembled. He understood \u2014 something bad had happened. He didn't know what exactly, but he felt it.<\/p>\n\n
Artem held back his scream. He clenched his fists. He exhaled.<\/p>\n\n
One day he remembered the day when he himself\u2014a long time ago, about two years ago\u2014had broken his grandmother's plate with flowers. He was scared then. He cried. Mom didn't scold him\u2014she hugged him and said, "That's a thing. Only people are whole.".<\/p>\n\n
Artem squatted down.<\/p>\n\n
\u2014 Levko. Stop. Don't step on it.<\/p>\n\n
Levko froze in place. His eyes were full of tears, about to spill out.<\/p>\n\n
Artem carefully hugged his brother. He lifted him up \u2014 Levko was heavy, but not too heavy \u2014 and carried him out of the kitchen into the hallway. He set him down there.<\/p>\n\n
"Wait. Don't come here. You'll cut your legs.".<\/p>\n\n
I went back. I took a broom, a dustpan. I swept up the big pieces. Then the small ones. Then again \u2014 with a wet rag \u2014 so that not a single piece of glass remained.<\/p>\n\n
When the floor was clean, Artem called out:<\/p>\n\n
\u2014 It is possible.<\/p>\n\n
Levko came running. Not to the stove, but to Artem. He grabbed his leg. He leaned his forehead against Artem's knee.<\/p>\n\n
\u2014 Darkness. Bach.<\/p>\n\n
\u2014 Yes, Levka. Bah. The cup broke.<\/p>\n\n
\u201cBah,\u201d Levko repeated, more quietly. \u201cZhilaf.\u201d.<\/p>\n\n
\u2014 Giraffe. Yes.<\/p>\n\n
Artem sat down on the floor. Levko sat down next to him. Artem held one piece in his hand \u2014 a giraffe's head. He smiled at her.<\/p>\n\n
Dad came from the living room and heard the end of the conversation.<\/p>\n\n
\u2014 What's here?<\/p>\n\n
"The cup fell," Artem said calmly. "I cleaned it up.".<\/p>\n\n
Dad looked at the clean floor. At Levko, who was huddled against his brother. At the giraffe's head in Artyom's hand.<\/p>\n\n
"You didn't scream?"<\/p>\n\n
\u2014 I wanted to. But\u2026 Levko is small. He didn\u2019t do it on purpose.<\/p>\n\n
Dad sat down next to me. He took the pieces in his palm \u2014 three large ones, two small ones.<\/p>\n\n
"You know, son. I once saw an old woman glue a broken cup together with gold. Gold in all the cracks. And that cup became even more beautiful than it was.".<\/p>\n\n
\u2014 Seriously?<\/p>\n\n
\u2014 Seriously. That's what the Japanese do. Because they believe: a crack is history. And history is beautiful.<\/p>\n\n
\u2014 Can we do it?<\/p>\n\n
\u2014 Let's try. Not with gold, of course. But with glue. We'll glue the giraffe together. He'll have a thin line on his neck, like a scar. And this will be his story: how his little brother let him in and how his older brother didn't scream.<\/p>\n\n
Artem nodded.<\/p>\n\n
They glued the whole evening. Dad held the small pieces with tweezers. Artem put the big ones out. Levko sat to the side and handed them glue, then a rag, then just watched with wide eyes.<\/p>\n\n
When Mom arrived, the cup was already dry on the windowsill. The giraffe had a thin line across its neck, like a scarf.<\/p>\n\n
\u201cWhat were you doing here?\u201d Mom asked in surprise.<\/p>\n\n
\u201cThe eldest was the eldest,\u201d Dad said and winked at Artyom.<\/p>\n\n
Artem blushed.<\/p>\n\n
Levko ran to his mother.<\/p>\n\n
\u2014 Mom! Darkness! Giraffe!<\/p>\n\n
Mom laughed. She took Levko in her arms. She looked over his shoulder at her older son \u2014 and there was something in her eyes that made Artyom's chest feel wide and light.<\/p>\n\n
That night the cup slept on the shelf. The next morning Artem drank cocoa from it. The cocoa was hot, with milk foam, and the giraffe scarf around his neck was like a smile.<\/p>\n\n\n
\ud83d\udca1 Being older means being kind.<\/p>\n\n<\/div>\n
The younger brother broke his favorite cup. Artem wanted to scream, but he did otherwise.<\/p>","protected":false},"featured_media":3284,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"yasr_overall_rating":0,"yasr_post_is_review":"","yasr_auto_insert_disabled":"","yasr_review_type":"","rank_math_description":"","rank_math_title":"","rank_math_focus_keyword":""},"class_list":["post-2349","istoriya","type-istoriya","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"acf":[],"yasr_visitor_votes":{"stars_attributes":{"read_only":false,"span_bottom":false},"number_of_votes":0,"sum_votes":0},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kazkaland.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/istoriya\/2349","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kazkaland.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/istoriya"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kazkaland.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/istoriya"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kazkaland.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3284"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kazkaland.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2349"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}