Balcony that no one can see

There was a town where a carpenter with a very good heart lived.

No matter what someone asked him for, he could readily agree. For example:

"Mr. Carpenter, please make a shelf for my kitchen."

"Hey, hey. It's easy."

"There was a storm yesterday, and the wooden wall of my house was broken. Can you think of something?"

"Then it's too difficult for you. I'll fix it for you right away."

"My child wants to keep rabbits, please make a nest box."

"Ah, I'll do it for you when I have time."

The carpenter is still very young, but his craftsmanship is very good. He can even build a big house if he takes it to heart. He is a very good man, and people always ask him to do little work for no pay, so he is always poor.

One night.

A cat came and knocked on the window glass of the second-floor room where the carpenter slept.

"Good night, Mr. Carpenter. Please get up."

The cat greeted him very politely. On the other side of the window, the round moon rose up, facing the moon, and the cat's tail stood upright.

It was a snow-white cat with eyes as green as olive fruit. The carpenter was stared motionless by the cat's eyes, and his body couldn't help trembling.

"Whose cat are you?"

"Whose family? I don't have a home."

"Wildcat... but your coat color is quite beautiful."

"Well, I came here specially dressed because I have a special request for you."

"Oh, what's the matter then?"

The carpenter opened the window a crack. The cold wind blew in "whistle-", and the white wild cat said in a serious voice in the wind:

"I would like to invite you to make a balcony."

The carpenter stayed.

"Cats make balconies!" he cried. "Isn't that too much?"

So the cat shook his head:

"No, I don't want to use it. There is a girl who takes care of me, and I came to ask you for it because of her. The size of the balcony is one meter square, the color is sky blue, and the location is No. 7 Mistress Street, the second floor of the small apartment on the back street. It's a room with white curtains."

After saying that, the cat jumped on the neighbor's roof "swoosh" and disappeared as if it had melted into the darkness. The moonlight fell quietly, and it seemed that the tiled roof was like an ocean. The carpenter exhaled white air "huh-", wondering if it was a dream just now. - Even the cat came to ask for work, what was going on? Could it be that his craftsmanship has actually passed to the animals... Thinking about it, his body was a little hot unknowingly, and he fell into a gentle dream.

Unexpectedly, the next morning, the carpenter opened the window "clatter", and the sparrows parked in a row on the wire said in unison:

"Do you want to make a balcony? It is one meter square in size, the color is sky blue, and the location is No. 7 Mistress Street."

The carpenter was walking down the road with his tool bag, and this time the pigeon playing under the tree said:

"Are you going to make a balcony for our favorite girl? The location is No. 7 Mistress Street."

The carpenter's head was a little dizzy.

"What's going on? Cat wow, how can I suddenly understand what a bird is saying..."

Thinking, his feet involuntarily turned towards Mistress Street.

There is indeed an apartment at Seven Mistress Street.

The house behind the tall building had white curtains hanging from the furthest windows on the second floor.

"Yes, it's the same as what the cat said."

The carpenter looked up at the window approvingly.

"However, is it okay to do this? Make a balcony casually, and you won't be reprimanded by the apartment director, right?"

He was thinking when suddenly a voice said:

"Don't worry at all."

Look, last night, the cat was sitting on the roof of the apartment. The cat said happily:

"The balcony should be the same color as the sky. Then, I cast a spell so that no one can see it. In other words, it becomes a balcony that can only be seen from the inside."

The cat stroked its face with one hand.

"Hey, hey, please get to work! The girl is not at home now, she goes to work during the day and doesn't come back until night, and we want to surprise her. Because until now, we have been well cared for by her. The girl, who does not eat by herself, has to feed me and the birds. When I was injured, she applied medicine to me; when the little sparrow fell from the nest, she picked it up and raised it carefully. So, as a thank you gift, we always want to make a beautiful balcony for this unsightly window..."

Hearing this, the carpenter was already attracted by the cat's words:

"Okay, I accept. I have some old wood in my house, so let's use it to make a lovely balcony."

The carpenter got to work immediately. He brought in the wood, planed it carefully, measured the dimensions, sawed with a saw, and climbed to the roof, ringing the hammer "dong dong".

In this way, when the carpenter made a sky-blue balcony on the sunless apartment window at the back of the building, it was already dusk. The little painted balcony looked like a toy.

Alright alright! The carpenter thought, packing up and starting to go down the ladder. This is, the singing of the cat from the roof:

It can bloom and harvest vegetables,

Hands reach the stars and clouds,

Beautiful balcony that no one can see.

The carpenter hurriedly went down to the ground and looked up, wanting to see the balcony he had just finished. But, ah, as the cat said, the balcony can't even see shadows and shapes, and the only thing that can be seen is the roof.

The carpenter shook his head several times, rubbed his eyes, and thought, "What kind of girl is it to open that window?"

The carpenter lit a cigarette in the dark alley, leaning against the stone wall. He was waiting for the girl to come back. Smoking against the wall, he thought, would not be a good posture. Still, his eyes didn't leave the apartment window.

It was dark, and when the smell of dinner came from all around, the lights in the window "pooped". The white curtains swayed, and the glass windows opened. Then, the girl with long hair stuck her face out.

For a moment, the girl seemed particularly surprised, turned to look at the roof for a while, and shouted:

"What an amazing balcony!"

She stretched out her hand high and said:

"First star, come here,

Huo Huoyun, come here. "

Her little white hands seemed to have caught stars and clouds, and a happy smile appeared on her face.

Since then, several months have passed.

When the winter was over and the sun was a little warmer, a large package was sent to the carpenter's house. The package was wrapped in sky blue paper and tied with sky blue straps.

The carpenter tilted his neck and opened the bag. Oops, it was full of fragrant green vegetables, lettuce, cut greens, cabbage sprouts, parsley, cauliflower... and this card:

This is vegetables harvested on the balcony.

It's a thank you gift to the balcony builder.

The carpenter's eyes were round. There were so many real vegetables growing on the balcony that no one could see. He immediately made the vegetables into a salad. The vegetables harvested on the strange balcony were sweet and tender, and he felt comfortable after eating a bite.

It's May.

When the blowing wind brought the smell of flowers and green leaves, a medium-sized package was sent to the carpenter.

The carpenter opened the package and saw that there was a box of brightly colored strawberries inside, and the card was still attached:

These are strawberries harvested on the balcony.

It's a thank you gift to the balcony builder.

The carpenter doused the strawberries with a lot of milk and ate them. Strawberries are cool and fragrant, and you feel light in one bite.

At this time, the carpenter thought:

I really want to go somewhere far away.

Hope to build a tower to the stars in the middle of the desert, this boyhood dream, now, in the carpenter's chest suddenly awakened.

On the second floor behind the alley where only the roof can be seen, I have lived alone for a few years? In the narrow workplace, it has been a few years since the houses with the eaves almost close to the eaves were continuously built... ah, I really want to fly to the place where the hammer can "when -" resound through the sky and the earth.

Eating strawberries, the carpenter's heart was full of yearning for the distant world.

By June.

The rain had stopped for a long time, and on a hot and dazzling day, the carpenter sent another package.

This time it was a slender wooden box full of red roses sleeping in it.

This is the rose blooming on the balcony.

It's a thank you gift to the balcony builder.

The carpenter decorated the roses in his room. That night, he fell asleep surrounded by the fragrance of flowers.

The carpenter opened his eyes to the sound of someone gently knocking on the window. In the room, the scent of roses was pungent. Outside the window, the white cat sat upright last time, looking at this side.

The cat said motionless:

"Mr. Carpenter, I'm here to pick you up. Don't you want to sit on the sky-blue balcony and go far away?"

"Go far away...?"

The carpenter suddenly looked out, ah, the sky-blue balcony he made last time, like a boat, was floating in the air.

On the sky blue balcony, there are several large flower pots full of red roses. The branches of the roses are also tangled around the railing of the balcony, with small flower buds.

Among the blooming flowers stood Rapunzel, beckoning to the carpenter. Many pigeons rested on her shoulders. Sparrows are pecking at rose leaves.

The carpenter's heart lit up "pop". The indescribable joy made his heart skip a beat.

"Okay, let's go!"

He picked up the cat and didn't even change his pajamas, jumped out from the window, took a few steps on the roof, and jumped onto the balcony "poof".

So the balcony moved like a spaceship, flying slowly towards the stars and the moon, towards the clouds drifting in the night sky. Then, unknowingly, it became truly invisible.