4

The winter has been surprising for two weeks. It was so cold and cloudy, that no one wanted to stay out.

Maria was sitting in the bedroom with two windows looking to the backyard. This morning, she has bought a ceramic figurine on the market and was now turning it over in her hands to take a closer look at it. The figurine was made in form of a cunning weaving of branches, in the middle of which there was a bright orange fruit with castings. The composition was called "Serenity" and, most likely, was depicting the biblical heaven before Adam and Eve's temptation. Maria has been seeing some different meaning. To her mind, the tree was a symbol of a human's life and the ripe fruit, as a result of it, was something that a human lives for. If the "fruit" of one's deeds if beautiful and tasty, the person had well-spent life and can enjoy his or her well-deserved rest.

Maria was happy with her :"life's fruit". She never was too much ambitious and liked tranquility and balanced order of things.

The part of delight for her usually is getting out of bed early in the morning, before ten-months-old Kate wakes up and brewing aromatic coffee. A small TV is muttering quietly in the corner of the kitchen, bursting out with news. Its screen flashes with yesterday's fires, floods mixing it up with plain goings-ons with happy endings – they are true guilty pleasure for province dwellers. Kate also murmurs some children's' stuff – some miscellany of dreams and naive thoughts about how she grows up and becomes an adult.

In a few minutes, Maria finishes her coffee and wakes up completely. Her speech, unlike Kate's becomes more distinct and sense bearing.

And her child, the fruit of Maria's life, the apex of creation, completing the pilgrimage of a mature woman. Life can throw a person from one extreme to another, beat, scuff, and test for strength, but this whole life does not cost anything at all, unless in the end there comes a moment when all doubts, anxieties and searches for truth are behind, and only warm and calm uniformity of the movement of time, soft and gentle autumn of life, full of wisdom and love await in the future. Nothing can stop the pendulum's quiet running: "tick-tock". It has always been so, it would be so now.

Today, Maria's husband decided to give her a day off and take their daughter for a walk.

So he took a bag that had been prepared since the evening with diapers and baby supplies. Maria once again carefully adjusted all the straps, pronounced the farewell speech and, finally, seen them out for a walk.

As they left, Maria could busy herself about the house, go shopping, have a walk around the neighborhood or just stay at home, flipping through old calendars and slick magazines.

But today she was feeling like a having a walk. She walked through the park, past the entrance to the reserve and, without noticing it, got to the town hall square, where the city market was located.

This picturesque town has been popular as a touristic spot and thus local artisans have never lacked buyers.

Lost in the crowd of onlookers, Maria walked through several rows lined with tents selling decorative bottles, portraits of the town founders made of multi-colored corn kernels, various woven ornaments and other household items. Suddenly, her eyes involuntarily laid on a small figurine. At that very moment, Maria knew where she would put it. On the shelf in the bedroom, of course. The second one to the left from the door. Exactly. Tick tock.

Ah, those flea markets! Could anything be compared to this endless business-like fuss of dozens and hundreds of red-cheeked buyers, children screaming 'Mom, look a kitten !!!'; strong and squat, well-fed housewives paving their way to their own aims, red-bearded potters, carpenters , tanners, bakers, brewers, blacksmiths and glassblowers? Could anything be compared to this miracle in the very heart of the city?

Here, all the sellers were real professionals. They were able to answer any questions, you just have to ask. On second thoughts, no, you don't even have to ask, as they would read the interest in your eyes before you can open your mouth. You will learn every smallest detail relating to the production and use of their goods. They will tell you how to paint a hot clay surface. Yes, you should never let the clay cool! You'll get to know how to connect the rods making a basket to hold the handle tighter. Here, you could also find out all about the weather, crops, barbershops, electric pump models. At the same time, they hardly talk about politics, money and life in other cities - why talking about unpleasant and uninteresting things? Ah, it was a real paradise inhabited by cheerful people!

Flea markets, that's how these spontaneous gatherings of merchants are called. People here really look like fleas, messing around, swarming and rustling in a colorful human stream. So let them fool around. And Maria would go home with the figurine that she purchased. The apple inside was like a sun. Sunrise and sunset of life… Damn it, what kind of thoughts were running through her head? Life still really hasn't even begun yet. Living life in hassle, constant move and seek for stability - is that how it should be? Tick-tock.

At first glance, Maria's husband was not a bad man – strict, nice, not a drinker. Can a woman ask for more? And today, her husband was being very supportive going for a walk with their daughter not forgetting to take the bottle, food and diapers. After all, Maria was breastfeeding and did not get enough sleep for a long time. So, such a day off was a real holiday for her.

Time flowed like a river - forward and a little bit down. Rivers never go up. Moreover, no things move up, unless they are moved. And to move something, you need to apply force. At that very moment, Maria wouldn't want to apply any kind of force like any effort was unfamiliar to her. She was feeling as if any physical or emotional tension could be an offence for her understanding of life. That same life that is ticking inside of every human and counting seconds on the calm invisible clock face. And it was all Maria's at that moment. New seconds were floating to change the old ones and were even better and Maria was calmly moving in the warm flow of the times sealed into the glass. The river of time was passing, crops are coming on, as well as, faces of regular flea market customers were turning red. In all this, the figurine of tree branch with an orange fruit of life hidden in it was there, being covered with dust. It seemed that Maria was feeling its fruity smell for a long time and now time has come to taste it. The sweetest time of her life was ahead and her daughter was hers and only hers.