I regained consciousness at the volcano's bottom. I lay curled up, having enclosed both palms under the head, on the stiffened but still warm lava, at first I thought that I lie on a stove. And near appeared my cat without one paw and tail.

The cat was militant. It lost his tail and paw fighting with traps. He winked with one eye and with all his arch look was saying to me:

“Of course, I understand everything - conscience torments. Trifles! When there is a strong wish for something - it's possible!”

I was angry. A minute more - and I will dump him from my stove. Only one thing stopped me: he is disabled. Well, what can we do with these disabled. After all he has only one thought: where to snatch all you have your paw on. He isn't even afraid to drag meat from traps put on tigers.

“You are already disabled and still trying to teach me! Oh, you're screwing me up so much!”

The cat was ingenious. It realized that now I can tear one more if his paws.

Somehow he began to change and turned into a small dark cloudlet. It rose in the sky and at parting sang to me:

                          “It seems to me, if I unmask,
                          All world will change with me.
                          But my tears aren't visible to anyone.
                          That shows that I am quite good Harlequin!”

A laughter of the cat was sounding in the sky. The laughter turned into a thunder. In the sky sparkled a lightning. And... it started to rain.

- “Friends, my dear friends, rain! What a wonderful rain! We are rescued!”

The people got up and began to turn around in the rain. Happy faces, smiles. There were many children. They wore some fine clothes. As flowers, children filled the dead platform with the lava and it recovered.

The people with guitars sang songs. The children got engaged in a round dance, and in the center of this fine fresh flower from children and singing stood having nestled to each other a loving couples. In the center there was the Beauty, and she was gently embraced by a beautiful young Prince.

The rain passed, there was sun and a rainbow flashed. On the rainbow has danced a big butterfly, and the words sounded distinctly, they were heard by all:

                           “Step by step, day after day
                           Behind a flickering fire!
                           Up a ladder,
                           Leading directly to the sky!
                           Angel of tomorrow
                           Will call me at night!”

The song ceased, and the rainbow turned into a white-white Temple. From the temple a marble ladder went down to the earth. We ran to it. We even began to push each other. Here and there some quarrels broke out. Some considered that they are worthy to be first to enter on the ladder to the temple. I saw - if that proceeds further, they will demolish the ladder and crush each other. The amount of people was multiplying. And with every second there arrived new ones.

“And there is only one ladder and not such wide!”

“My God, what should I do?!”

“Both - the temple and the people would be lost!”

“No, not so!”

“It can't be like that!”

From pain I closed my eyes. When opened them there were neither the temple, nor the people. Everything disappeared.

“Where all of them gone to?”

Slightly in a distance I saw a little painfully familiar lodge, with a front garden in which my favourite flowers of the childhood - dahlias grew.

I ran.

It was the House of my teacher, the House where lived my first Love.