\u23f1 ~3 min reading<\/p>\n\n\n
On Sundays, my mother baked honey pancakes. Not ordinary ones, but thick, casserole-like ones, with layers of pancakes and honey cream inside. It was Nikita's favorite dessert.<\/p>\n\n
The kitchen smelled of honey, vanilla, and warm shortbread. Nikita hovered over the stove like a little bumblebee near a flower.<\/p>\n\n
"Mom. How much longer?"<\/p>\n\n
\u2014 Twenty minutes.<\/p>\n\n
\u2014 How much time has passed now?<\/p>\n\n
\u2014 Five.<\/p>\n\n
\u2014 Oh.<\/p>\n\n
Nikita sat down at the table. He looked at the clock on the wall. The hands moved terribly slowly. It seemed like they were standing still.<\/p>\n\n
A minute later he ran up again.<\/p>\n\n
\u2014 Mom. Can I take a look?<\/p>\n\n
\u2014 It's impossible.<\/p>\n\n
\u2014 Why?<\/p>\n\n
Mom turned around. She wiped her hands on her apron. She sat down next to Nikita on the stool.<\/p>\n\n
\u2014 Do you know what happens when you open the oven in the middle?<\/p>\n\n
\u2014 What?<\/p>\n\n
\u2014 The pancakes will settle. The heat will come out, the air inside them will blow out, and instead of a fluffy dessert, you will get a kind of flatbread.<\/p>\n\n
\u2014 Will it completely spoil?<\/p>\n\n
"It won't go bad. It just won't be what it could be.".<\/p>\n\n
Nikita thought for a moment. He looked at the oven. Through the glass he could see the form standing there in the golden light, the top slowly turning brown.<\/p>\n\n
\u2014 How many more are left to be opened?<\/p>\n\n
\u2014 Until the timer rings.<\/p>\n\n
Nikita sat down again. He looked at the clock. The hands seemed to freeze again.<\/p>\n\n
\u2014 Mom. Why does time go so slowly when you're waiting?<\/p>\n\n
Mom smiled.<\/p>\n\n
"Because you're looking at it. Time doesn't like to be looked at. Then it goes even slower.".<\/p>\n\n
\u2014 And if you don't look?<\/p>\n\n
\u2014 Try it.<\/p>\n\n
Nikita decided to try. He went into the room. He took a book \u2014 about a little elephant looking for his mother. He sat down on the carpet. He began to read \u2014 slowly, syllable by syllable, because he was just learning to read on his own.<\/p>\n\n
An elephant was walking through the forest. He met a monkey. The monkey said, \u00abDon\u2019t cry, your mother will come soon.\u00bb The elephant met a parrot. The parrot said, \u00abGo straight, you will see a path.\u00bb The elephant walked on. The path led to a clearing. In the clearing\u2026<\/p>\n\n
Day!<\/p>\n\n
Timer ringing.<\/p>\n\n
Nikita jumped up. He left the book behind. He ran to the kitchen.<\/p>\n\n
"Mom! Already!"<\/p>\n\n
\u2014 Already, son.<\/p>\n\n
Mom took the pan out of the oven with a glove. The casserole rose high. Golden on top. A caramel crust on the edges. Real honey and vanilla in the air.<\/p>\n\n
Nikita looked in.<\/p>\n\n
\u2014 It didn't settle!<\/p>\n\n
"Because you didn't open it. Thank you for your patience.".<\/p>\n\n
"But actually, I was just reading about an elephant. And time flew by.".<\/p>\n\n
Mom put the mold on the table. She brought a plate, a spoon. She cut off a large piece for Nikita \u2014 from the very center, the plumpest.<\/p>\n\n
The first bite melted on my tongue. The pancakes were soft, the layers were precise, the honey was gentle, not cloying.<\/p>\n\n
"Mom. What if I had opened it?"<\/p>\n\n
\u2014 It would be delicious. But it's not.<\/p>\n\n
Nikita nodded.<\/p>\n\n
\u2014 I found a way. Like an oven \u2014 it's an elephant in a book. Like a queue \u2014 it's looking out the window. Like something else \u2014 it's something else.<\/p>\n\n
Mom laughed\u2014quietly, in a homely way.<\/p>\n\n
"You already know the most important thing about waiting. You must not be empty in it.".<\/p>\n\n
Nikita put another spoon. The pancakes waited their turn. And he waited too.<\/p>\n\n\n
\ud83d\udca1 Eating quickly means waiting slowly.<\/p>\n\n<\/div>\n
Nikita wanted to open the oven quickly - honey pancakes were baking there. Mom showed that some delicious things just need peace.<\/p>","protected":false},"featured_media":3306,"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-2394","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\/2394","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\/3306"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kazkaland.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2394"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}