KIDS CORNER
THE PINK MASK STORY BY
SLAVA NOOR
ILLUSTRATIONS BY
MADINA KAZANTAYEVA
CATS RULE! “Okay! Breathe in. One, two, three, and then breathe out. One, two, three. Breathe in and out, and calm down. Now sit and tell me the whole story. By the way, my name is TigRRR. What’s yours?” “I’m Ula,” she replied and continued to tell TigRRR about the mask she had found, about meeting Rita the green turtle, the creepy Trash Monster who decided to enslave the ocean, and about her escape.” Ula was not ashamed to share her story with TigRRR and wasn’t afraid he wouldn’t believe her. TigRRR listened attentively while licking his paws and sharpening his claws on a tree. But when Ula paused, he rubbed his head on her legs or gently placed his paw on her knee.
“Ouch!” “Mrrrrrrrrrrrrrr! Meeeoooow!” Where did this huge ginger cat come from that Ula has tripped over? And its no ordinary ginger cat, this one was the colour of a very ripe orange with black stripes. His long white whiskers were tense and showed distress, and his huge green eyes stated how annoyed he was. “I’m sorry” said Ula feeling guilty for having bothered the cat. The cat meowed in response in a low tone to show his frustration. “I’m sorry” repeated Ula. “I do not understand you.” 26
DIVERS FOR THE ENVIRONMENT | MARCH 2022
The cat sat down and looked into the girl’s eyes and said, “Meow”! And then she had an idea. The mask! What if it doesn’t just work underwater? Ula took the mask out of her backpack and put it on the cat. “You’re not as silly as I first thought,” declared the cat. “Why are you running so fast, who are you running away from? I don’t see any dogs or boys with sticks after you.” “From the Trash Monster… I mean... from a turtle... I don’t know... I don’t want...”
“come on, don’t be shy, I’m your friend. Surprisingly, Ula really did calm down by the end of the story.” “If the mask chose you, it means it believes in your strength, courage and good heart,” TigRRR muttered. “But I’m the one who found the mask!” objected the girl. The cat smiled mysteriously and began to tel Ula all about the mask’s legend.
