Chapter 1. The Mysterious Painting
1:1 Overloaded city. An old Subaru Forester, lightly dusted and with scratches on its body, moved slowly along a busy city highway. It was quiet inside the car, but chaos reigned outside its windows: honking car horns, shouting street vendors, roaring mopeds – all this mixed into one cacophony that was hard to ignore. Inside the car, an electronic clock was burning, showing 17:22 on the dashboard, September 19, 2024.
The city with its noisy, rhythmic bustle was gradually left behind, giving way to quieter suburban areas. The monotonous noise of cars began to weaken, and the air, saturated with exhaust fumes, became cleaner. The car turned onto a narrow road leading to the outskirts of the city, where life flowed more measuredly. Here the space was more open, and the air was fresh, filled with the aromas of green fields and forests.
The car slowly shifted to a smooth speed, moving along smooth asphalt, surrounded by green expanses. Ahead, on the horizon, the contours of the Zailiyskiy Alatau mountains began to appear, barely noticeable in the haze of city dust. Their snow-capped peaks, as if absorbing the last rays of the setting sun, sparkled with snow-white sparks.
In the back seat of the car, fastened with a seat belt, sat a girl. In her hands was a drawing album, but now she was only thoughtfully looking out the window. Her gaze was riveted to the clouds slowly floating over the mountains; they seemed to her like fragments of a fairy-tale world, where unseen creatures lived and exciting adventures unfolded.
The car moved further and further away from the bustle of the city, plunging into the world of nature, where silence and tranquility reigned. Soon the road became even narrower, surrounded by tall trees, whose thick crowns formed a green tunnel through which the last rays of the passing day broke through.
The countryside landscape seemed to absorb the car, erasing the boundaries between reality and dream, and gradually filling the space with a sense of comfort and safety. Each new movement of the car seemed like a step deeper into this peaceful world, where everything is subject to the rhythm of nature, and life flows measuredly and calmly.
1:2 House in the garden. The Subaru Forester slowly turned onto the narrow road leading to the house, immersing itself in the natural world that was in stark contrast to the bustling cityscape it had left behind. Beyond the windshield, a panorama of the surrounding area began to open up: green expanses stretching to the horizon, creating an impression of boundless peace and solitude. The road wound through dense thickets of trees, their branches gently swaying in the wind, casting shadows on the ground. Ahead, through the dense foliage, a garden full of well-tended apple trees began to emerge. The crowns of the trees were thickly strewn with fruit, red and yellow apples standing out as bright spots against the greenery. There were so many of them that the garden seemed filled with hundreds of glowing lights, quietly flickering in the warm light of the fading day. This landscape seemed to invite one to forget about all worries and immerse oneself in a world of harmony and peace. The car continued on its way, smoothly moving along a narrow path paved with cobblestones. The closer they got, the more clearly the house, hidden among the trees, appeared. Its bright green roof, made in the shape of a pyramid, seemed to flash in the sun, like a huge emerald sparkling in the center of this paradise. The sun’s rays played softly on its surface, creating a feeling of coziness and completeness.
The garden opened up more and more before their eyes, embracing the house and making it a part of this picturesque landscape. The car slowly moved between the trees, barely touching the asphalt, until it reached the end of its path. The whole scene around was flooded with the warm golden light of the setting sun, which softly fell on the green grass and leaves of the trees, adding a special glow to them.
When the car finally stopped, there was absolute silence all around, broken only by the sounds of nature: the rustling of leaves, the singing of birds and the light noise of the wind. All this immersed us in a feeling of calm and peace, as if time slowed down, allowing us to enjoy every moment of this beautiful evening. The garden, the house and nature merged into one, creating an ideal picture of coziness and harmony, where dreams of a house, a garden and a family seemed to come true. This moment was full of promises, filling the heart with a warm feeling of satisfaction and peace.
1:3 Father and daughter. The Subaru Forester slowed smoothly, slowly turning into the driveway in front of the house. Pulling up to the house, the car carefully drove under the carport, hiding under the shadow of the roof. The engine died down, and a sudden silence filled the surrounding space, a sharp contrast to the noise of the bustle of the city, which was left far behind. Only the light rustling of leaves and distant birdsong disturbed this moment of peace.
