Maxík and Majka were standing by the window and were gazing dreamily into the distance. Outside, it was snowing beautifully and freezing, and the frost was drawing pictures on the windows.
“That's wonderful,” whispered Majka.
“It sure is,” agreed Max.
“Winter is beautiful.”
“Do you know what the worst thing about winter is?” Maxík breathed on the glass.
“That it's cold,” Majka drew a heart on the fogged-up window.
“Sure, the worst thing about winter is that it's cold,” laughed Maxík, adding a teardrop and an arrow to the heart.
“Then it's that it's not as cold as in the pictures,” breathed Majka on the window.
“That's not even the worst part,” said Maxík, starting to draw some squiggles on the glass pane.
“No?”
“No, because there are places where it's not that cold,” and suddenly the squiggles turned into a snowstorm on the glass pane.
“That's true,” Majka thought, and began to dream about something.
“But...” Maxík wanted to say something.
“I know, it's because Kaško doesn't come to see us every day,” Majka found another answer.
“You know, even in the ghost world they have to shovel the snow,” he added, drawing a sleigh on the glass pane.
“He told us that, but I don't really believe him because...”
“What don't you believe?” came a voice from outside the window, and Kaško appeared from behind the sleigh. Majka quickly opened the window and closed it again.
“I can't even imagine snow in the ghost world,” Majka finished.
“But I didn't tell you about that world.”
“Where do you go to shovel the snow?”
“We help little creatures that you humans don't understand,” Kaško explained.
“Like what?” Majka looked at Kaško suspiciously.
“Animals, for example,” said Kaško, drawing a squirrel on the window.
“Oh, I got that,” sighed Majka.
“What do you mean?” Kaško didn't understand.
“That's the saddest thing about winter.”
“Animals,” Majka thought.
“But not only that, but also that we can't go to the zoo park to see the animals, and that some castles and palaces are closed and...” explained Maxík, and Majka thought for a moment.
“What do animals do at the zoo park when it's closed?”
“The same thing they do when it's open, only there are no people there,” Kaško looked at Majka perplexed.
“But there are also animals that like people, aren't there?”
“Sure, and there are quite a few of them, because most of the animals in the zoo are animals that would be in danger in the wild.”
“Oh, and what do they do then?” Majka wouldn't let Kaško off the hook.
“They dream,” Kaško said mysteriously.
“What do they do?” Maxík joined the conversation, because he couldn't quite figure it out.
“They dream,” Kaško repeated.
“You mean they sleep all day?” Majka couldn't believe it and thought of animals that hibernate during the winter.
“No, they dream, like they dream... well... about cool things, and since they found out that people don't go to the zoo park in winter because it's Christmas, they dream even more,” Kaško tried to explain.
“What do they dream about?” Maxík and Majka asked at the same time, not understanding.
“All animals dream about something different.”
“And do their dreams come true?”
“That's why we go there,” Kaško blinked.
“Kaškooo,” Majka began to beg.
“Yes?” Kaško perked up.
“Let's go help some animals make their dreams come true,” begged Majka.
“Uh, that's not a bad idea,” Kaško thought.
“We have a zoo park right around the corner, on the hill in Košice,” Maxík contributed.
“How about we go to a different zoo park?” Kaško suggested mischievously.
“Is there another zoo park in Haravara?” Maxík wondered.
“Sure, let's get ready and dress warmly,” said Kaško.
In no time, they were at the train station and took a train to Spišská Nová Ves. As soon as they got off, they set off across the town, past the spire with two clocks, which is so tall and slender that you almost break your neck looking up at it.
“If you come here in the summer, you can meet various characters from history.”
“Ghosts?” the children's eyes lit up.
“No, living statues,” smiled Kaško.
“Oh, what's that?”
“There's a festival of living statues here.”
And by the time Kaško had told them everything there was to see in Spišská Nová Ves – such as LaborARTorium, an amazing place where you can explore how nature works, and the fantastic theatre in the city - they were standing in front of the zoo park gate.
“How do we get in?” Max and Majka looked at the closed gate.
“I'm not the ghost of Haravara for nothing, and you're not my friends for nothing,” Kaško began boastfully.
“So how?”
“Like this.”
Kaško pulled a small bottle out of his cloak.
“What's this?”
“A shrinking potion.”
“What?” cried both siblings.
“It's a plant that we have to guard in secret places.”
“Why?” asked Max and Majka more quietly.
“Because when you take it, you shrink so much that you can squeeze through any bars.”
"I see."
“Can you imagine what would happen if all the pirates and bandits in the past and present knew about this?” Kaško looked at them with eyes that said no one must ever find out.
“Don't even think about it,” whispered Majka, imagining all the stories she had read about robbers and pirates.
Maxík and Majka drank and felt very strange—like lines in a notebook—they stretched through the bars and found themselves in the zoo park. Luckily, the shrinking spell only lasts for five minutes.
“So, what animals shall we choose?” Kaško looked around the zoo park.
“What would we find in the zoo park in Spišská?”
"For example, kangaroos, llamas, orangutans, camels, flamingos, emus, and of course lions, and cougars.“
”Wow, and this is the smallest zoo park in Haravara?“ Majka and Maxík's eyes widened.
“Uh-huh.“
”But they do have quite a lot of animals here," thought Majka and Maxík as they looked around to see which animal they would choose to make its dreams come true.
“So, where to?” Kaško rubbed his hands impatiently.
“How about we make the dreams of all the animals that don't live where it's cold and had to adapt to it come true?” suggested Majka.
“As you say,” Kaško bowed like in an old movie and flew away.
“But how will we find out what they want?” Maxík stopped.
“You probably don't know this, but animals can usually speak human language.”
“Whaaaat?!” Majka and Maxík almost fell into the snow.
“When children and adults are here, they don't want to reveal themselves because they would ask them all sorts of questions and shout even more and...” explained Kaško.
“So, they understand us too?” the children were almost speechless with surprise.
“Of course.”
“I want to see that,” said Maxík, not believing it.
“Go up to the amphitheatre,” Kaško pointed to the amphitheatre in the small zoo park.
“They have an amphitheatre here?” Majka didn't understand and immediately imagined what games could be played there.
“Of course, where else would they organise all the performances and activities for children,” Kaško shook his head.
Maxík and Majka hid at the top of the amphitheatre and looked at all the beautiful animals around them. As soon as Kaško appeared, it began. The animals began to talk happily about what they had experienced and what had happened to them during the day. The kangaroo, for example, talked about how she was carrying hay in her pouch for her camel friends and started sneezing, so all the hay spilled out.
“I think I'm allergic,” sighed the camel.
“That's nothing, but I wanted to go into hibernation,” began the bear.
"Why aren't you in hibernation yet?" asked Kaško, who realised that the bear should have fallen asleep long ago.
"Someone ate my honey," grumbled the bear angrily. "And as you know, bears with empty stomachs don't sleep."
"That's nothing," said the crane, tapping his beak. "I just went out for a walk and didn't notice the ice on the road. I slipped and fell flat on my face and couldn't get up for three hours."
“That's great, guys, but you know why I'm here, right?”
“Just like every Christmas,” the animals' eyes lit up.
“That's right. What dream can I make come true for you?” Kaško sat down on one of the walls.
“Kaško,” growled a lion from somewhere, “on behalf of all the animals, I want to tell you that our biggest dream is to dance at an animal dance gala.”
“What?” Kaško couldn't believe his ears.
"Yes!" Majka cried out involuntarily as she imagined the beauty of an animal dancing.
"People," hissed the snake in the terrarium.
"They heard us," said the crane in horror.
"Don't worry. They're friends," Kaško reassured the animals.
"Friends?" the animals looked at Maxík and Majka.
"Come here, you masters of hiding."
"I'm sorry, but I really like the idea of an animal gala, and we've already organised one," Majka began as she and Maxík came out of their hiding place.
"Well, what if we found a place where we could do it?" Kaško's eyes lit up.
"How are we going to get out of here?" asked the grumbling bear, while the other animals looked at the newcomers.
"That's a good question," thought Kaško.
“Honeysuckle,” whispered Maxík to Kaško.
Kaško took a few more honeysuckle leaves out of his pocket and offered them to the animals. They squeezed through the bars, and I must tell you, seeing a flattened bear, a puma, and a camel like that was quite a sight.
“Where are we going?” asked the curious camel.
“To the only place where you can dance like in a castle and where animals can dance too,” smiled Kaško, watching the animals turn back into little lines.
“And where is that?” Majka and Maxík were also curious.
“At Zámčisko (castle ground),” Kaško chirped into the wind and flew ahead of the animals to show them the way.
After walking along the red trail for a while, they came to a meadow where there was a beautiful chapel and an obelisk, but no castle and certainly no castle grounds.
“Kaško, but there's no castle or castle grounds here,” whispered Majka so that the animals wouldn't hear her.
“You're standing on it.”
“What?” the animals grumbled.
“The hill is called Zámčisko,” smiled Kaško.
“So, you tricked us,” the animals began to snort strangely, and the lion pulled his claws out of the snow.
“No, I didn't. There used to be a castle here where the most beautiful balls and dances I've ever seen were held, and I was at my Aunt Gertrude's ball in Vienna.”
“And this chapel?” Maxík pointed to a beautiful little chapel that looked like something out of a fairy tale.
“This chapel and the obelisk are the only things left of its former glory.”
“Look under the snow,” said the bear, pointing under his paws.
Everyone looked down at the stones arranged.
“Here are the outlines of the castle,” Kaško pointed. “And this chapel is called the Thousand-Year Chapel.”
“Is it a thousand years old?” asked Aunt Owl, who had joined the animals, nodding appreciatively.
“No, but there was a chapel here a thousand years ago, and this chapel was built in its place.”
“It's really beautiful,” said Majka's little soul, once again finding something to admire.
“And that obelisk?” asked the camel, remembering similar ones she had seen in Egypt, where she had lived before.
"It was part of the castle, and imagine, it burned down completely, and a few years ago they restored it so that everyone could remember how beautiful it used to be. There used to be a small castle or rather a summer palace here."
“A summer palace?”
“Well, a place for the Čáky family to spend the summer, where the most beautiful and elegant balls were held.”
“I see,” said Majka, already imagining it.
“And they called it Sans Souci,” said Kaško, wanting to continue with the story...
“Kaško,” said the lion.
“Yes, Your Majesty?”
“It's really beautiful here.”
“It is.”
“I can imagine coming here to relax and have a barbecue in the summer or just think about life..."
“But?” Kaško interrupted them.
‘But we came here to dance," several animals cried out at once.
"I'm sorry, I completely forgot," admitted Kaško. "Christmas dreams must come true."
He muttered something into the wind, and suddenly, beautifully dressed ghosts with musical instruments appeared and began to play, and the animals began to show off their dances.
It was beautiful and funny at the same time.
The kangaroo jumped with a snake, the lion danced on the flamingo's legs, and the camel had two jumping monkeys on its humps. And of course, as the band played familiar melodies, the animals accompanied them with squeaking, whistling, and croaking, and the donkey just brayed.
The animals played to their hearts' content, and after a while, Majka and Maxík joined them. They danced with all the animals they liked and then returned to the zoo park.
When they returned, they heard faint crying or sobbing. They searched for the source of the crying.
"It's behind that door," cried Majka.
"I think I know," whispered Kaško.
‘What do you know?“
“This is the aquaterium.“
“What's that?“ Maxík and Majka looked at the door in confusion.
“It's part of the Spišská Nová Ves Zoo where the fish are,“ explained Kaško.
“Did we forget them?“ The other animals tapped their foreheads with their hooves, wings and paws.
“Not you, but me,“ admitted Kaško.
“What now?“
“We still have a little time, so let's ask them what they're dreaming about.“
The fish, like the animals, began to talk as soon as the last human disappeared from their vicinity. And so, when they saw Kaško, they immediately complained that he had forgotten about them again and...
“Okay, okay, I'm sorry. I promise I'll grant you the craziest wish you can think of.“
“We want to slide and sledge on a rainbow,“ said the fish, and fell silent, like fish.
‘On a rainbow, now?“
“Mhm,“ the fish sang softly between their teeth and lips.
Kaško almost fainted, but suddenly a mischievous smile appeared on his face. Maxík and Majka already knew that smile.
"Let's go!" The children waited for this command after his smile.
“But we can't walk, didn't you notice?” the fish added, almost offended.
“But you can fly, can't you?”
“What?” the fish opened their mouths.
Kaško dipped a kind of magic wand with some herbs into the water and the fish's fins turned into wings.
Kaško took Maxík and Majka and they flew away.
“Where are we flying?” Majka asked casually.
“To the rainbow,” Kaško smiled.
"To heaven?" asked several fish eagerly.
"Slovak Paradise is not far away."
"And is there a rainbow there now?" the fish began to rejoice.
"And not just any rainbow," added Kaško.
"What kind?" the fish almost stopped flying out of curiosity.
“One that drinks water.”
"What?"
Kaško flew away, followed by the fish, laughing loudly.
They flew to a hill.
“Dear fish and dear children, this is a rainbow,” said Kaško, and the fish opened their mouths and were speechless, just like Majka and Maxík.”
“But it's a wooden rainbow!” They suspected that Kaško was playing a trick on them.
“It's a work of art,” he said, tapping the wooden rainbow standing on the hill. “And did you know that you can go inside it and walk across it?”
“But it's not a rainbow,” said several fish.
"It's a work of art made of wood and it's called The Rainbow that Drinks Water."
“Kaško, you tricked us a little,” said the flying fish, looking at Kaško.
“I didn't trick you, it's a rainbow.”
“It is,” the fish had to admit, flapping their fins.
“And is there snow on it?”
“Yes,” laughed Majka, amused by Kaško's idea.
“And I brought you sleds and cushions for sliding.”
At first, the fish felt a little cheated, but then the clown fish was the first to slide down the rainbow on its tail, and so it began. It was the craziest fun Majka and Maxík had ever seen – fish sledding and sliding on a rainbow.
“When you come here in spring or summer, you can relax by this rainbow and use it as a lookout tower and a shelter from the wind,” Kaško showed the rainbow to the children.
"It's beautiful!" shouted Majka as she whizzed around the rainbow on her sled.
"It's land art," Kaško showed off with some fancy words.
"What?" Maxík stopped on his seat.
"It's a kind of art in the countryside."
But it was time to go.
The fish, Kaško, Maxík and Majka flew away, each to their own home.
When Majka got home, she couldn't sleep - she played quietly on her imaginary guitar and composed a song about the rainbow on Košiarny Briežok.
