Let me tell you a story about one family.
The main characters are Mark and Ola, their parents and grandparents. The story begins like this:

Translated from Polish by Conrad B.
Original title: "Marek i Ola"

18/2014/2015.

Preview audio:

storyj.mp/ahwk5jbcxbmv

Mark and Ola are being ra-
ised by grandparents. Their pa-
rents could not care for them
because they worked long ho-
urs and did not have time for
them. Ola and Mark lived in
the countryside with grandpa-
rents. Their parents chose a
different life, they lived with
own friends, often went to di-
sco. They were not at all inte-
rested in the lives of their chi-
ldren. They moved to Gdansk
on the Rabbit’s Street and on-

ly every four months visited and brought gifts for their chi-
ldren in the country. Children wrote letters to their parents
and longed so much for them.

On the 13th of November grandma fainted. Grandpa was
visiting friends and was not at home. Ola and Mark called
999 for an ambulance, which arrived and rescued grandma.
Rescuers gave chocolate to Ola and teddy bear to Mark.
When grandpa returned home, he was surprised how child-
ren got chocolate and the teddy bear. He also said that as he
walked home, he saw ambulance driving away on the street.
Ola and Mark replied grandpa that the ambulance was for
grandma, who fainted and they saved her.
When grandfather was in delegation, grandmother fell ill
and only Mark went to school. Grandma asked Ola to go to
the city to buy medicine at the pharmacy. She gave her a no-
te with the name of the medicine and 47 PLN. When Ola

was on the bus, one man asked her if she could spare 10
PLN. Ola answered that she can’t because her ill grandma
is home and needs medicine. She got scared by that man
and had to get off the bus one stop earlier.
   ‒ Too bad, I’ll have to go on foot. At the pharmacy the
line was terrible and Ola had long to wait. Later she decei-
ved her grandma and pocketed 18 PLN.
   On the way back to the bus stop Ola met her mother with
another lady. Mother said:
   ‒ This is my new friend. Maybe you go shopping with us
and afterwards we will escort you to the bus.
   When Ola was buying new dress, her mom was surprised
where the girl has so much money from. Ola replied that
she took the change from shopping at the pharmacy. Then

mother told Ola to return the money to Grandma and offer-
ed to pay for her new dress.
   When Ola returned home Grandma asked her:
   ‒ Where have you been? You were gone for so long, for
six hours. You only had to go to the pharmacy to get med-
icine for me.
   – Grandma, I'm sorry. This is because I met my mother
with another lady on the way and we went shopping.
   – You could call and tell me about it.
   It became late and Ola said to grandma to go get Mark
from school and that she will cook lunch. When grandma
and grandson returned, they ate lunch. Later Ola with gra-
ndma helped Mark with his homework. Then grandmother
asked them to feed the parrot, and when they do, they could

play.
   A few days later, Ola and Mark were playing with autumn
leaves in the back yard. Later they brought them home and
made beautiful bouquets. Grandmother with grandfather as-
ked them if they wanted to go to mom and dad and their fri-
ends to Gdansk. Grandma said that it is very far away and
they will have to go by train for seven hours. She made san-
dwiches and drinks and then they all were ready to go.
   – We will be there at 10pm and probably will not sleep
until 2am at night.
   – Okay, yes, hooray! – Ola and Mark cried a cheerful voi-
ce.
   Children rode the train first time for so long and they slept
for 1.5 hours.

   At 10pm they were all at parents and their friends’ ho-
me. They sat at the table and told what they do and how
they live in the country. Ola said that recently two pigs
died, eight puppies were born and thirty chicklets were
sold by grandparents. Also one beautiful kitten got lost.
Father then said:
   – Maybe it’s this kitten. We have two, one is fluffy
and brown. Then dad called the kitten:
   – Czarus! And kitten came.
   – No, it’s not the one. Then dad called second kitten.
It was fluffy with patches, called “Smikus”.
   – Yes, that’s the one. What’s it doing with you?
   – It was just walking in the neighborhood and we took
it. And mom said:
   – Let us keep it, you have many animals in the country

and we have only two cats. Please.
Grandmother and grandfather with grandchildren agreed
and the whole family in joyous mood talked late into the
night. Only about 1am was a late-night dinner, and when
everyone had eaten, they went to sleep.
The next day grandma and mom did the dishes. Grandpa
and dad with the children checked the house and the gar-
den, friends went to work. In the afternoon they all went
to the grass field to play football. Grandfather scored 18
points, grandma 23, mom 38, dad 53 and grandchildren
scored 109. When friends came back from work, they all
went to the horses and took photos as a souvenir for the
future. For dinner everyone took eight helpings. Then gra-
ndma with grandfather and parents were talking and Ola

and Mark played on the com-
puter.
In the evening, when it got
dark, children with dad and
grandfather went from house
to house and said, "Trick or
treat" because it was a night
of Halloween. They collect-
ed eight bags of candies and
returned home at 10pm.
They were very hungry. At
home everyone was asleep.
Dad said that there was no
dinner left for them. Grand-
children have found a piece

of paper on which was written: "We are very sorry; in the
refrigerator you have vegetables and sauce". They ate dinn-
er and decided that the next day will go groceries shopping.
    Everyone went to bed; only grandchildren kept eating
sweets and played by throwing wrappers all over the house.
At some point, Ola said:
   – Mark, who will clean it up?
   – What for? My stomach hurts from sweets. – Mark ans-
wered.
   – We will be punished in the morning.
   – Okay, let's clean-up and go to sleep, because we're very
tired.
   In the morning when parents woke up, they went to the st-
ore for shopping. When they returned, grandma and grandpa
were trying to wake up children but they were responding:

   – Grandma, let us sleep.
   – You should have slept at night not romp. Get up, brea-
kfast will be in an hour.
   During stay in Gdansk Ola and Mark became friends with
Florence. Together they played various games, played with
Florence’s dog and talked about life in the countryside.
   In the evenings, the whole family liked to watch photos
of grandparents and parents. It was very interesting, beca-
use children could see how their parents looked at the age
of one, how, when they were in kindergarten and in the
school years. They saw what grandparents looked like in
the younger years, how they dressed and where they lived.
   When saying goodbye, mom and dad gave children gifts:
for Mark T-shirt with Ronaldo and for Ola blouse with
Violette.

   From dad Mark got a new toy car and from friends Ola
received a Barbie doll that she can comb. Ola and Mark we-
re very glad with these gifts. They went to say goodbye to
friend Florence and her dog. Later they all made sandwiches
for the journey and grandma made a photo gallery for the
grandchildren from the trip to Gdansk.
   The next day, after returning home, the children went to
school. After school Ola called grandfather and asked him
if she and brother could come home by themselves. Grand-
father agreed. When they were dressing in the locker room
Marek said:
    – You know sister; today I stole a toy car from my best
friend. Ola replied:
    – Why did you steal it?
    – Um, because I got bored with a toy car that I got from

my dad and decided to steal a new one, nicer and cooler.
– You know Mark, you did a very bad thing!
   A moment later Teacher came to the locker room and as-
ked:
   – Ola, Mark, haven’t you seen your classmate Rafal’s toy
car? He is sitting sad and crying, because it was a gift from
his grandfather.
   – We know nothing. – Answered the children and the
teacher went on to look for the toy car with other children.
Ola said to Mark:
– You should have admitted that you have Rafal’s toy car.
See how your friend is crying and is worried. Oh, brother,
you will see, in a few days you will have a guilty conscien-
ce, and then you give the toy back.
   After returning home, grandmother looked into Mark’s

backpack and saw the
car. She asked:
   – Mark, and where did
you get such a nice car
from? And Mark said:
   – You know Grandma,
today was a contest in
school, and I won.
   – That's good, congra-
tulations. Now go do
homework, and I'll do
the laundry.
   The next day, on the
way to school Mark says
to his sister:

   – You know Ola, yesterday I had a guilty conscience bec-
ause of this little car. I think the best would be like to admit
and give it back to Rafal.
When the Teacher was checking the attendance list, Mark
walked over to his friend and said:
   – I feel so bad and I am very sorry because I have to tell
you that I stole your car. Will you forgive me? I apologize.
   – Say what? It is you who stole my toy? You know that
we are no longer friends! I am very angry at you and when
I meet your grandmother, I will tell her everything!
   – Please, do not say anything, because I'll be punished.
I’m really sorry. I feel bad for doing such a thing.
– Well, I’ll think about it and I tell you later.
   After the school lunch Rafal said to Mark, that would not
tell anything to his grandmother, but that he must do it.

   – All right, I'll tell her. Now come, let’s play in tigers and
swords.
   – OK, then again we're friends.
   After returning home Mark said to grandparents:
   – Grandma, grandpa, I have to tell you something. You
know, recently I stole a toy from my friend, but I gave it ba-
ck to him. Grandparents replied:
   – It was wrong. Do not steal anything. As punishment
you'll have to suffer the consequences. You have a ban on
watching television and playing on the computer for two
weeks. And yet you borrow your friend your favorite toy for
one day.
   – It's not fair! If so, then I take offense. It's not fair! – Ma-
rk answered with a crying voice.
   After two hours, Mark came back to grandparents and said:

   – I thought about it. You are right, I did wrong and I
deserve the punishment.
   On Saturday Ola and Mark said to grandparents that they
were going to town to play at the playground.
    – But it is very far away, you'll have to take a bus.
   – We'll be fine, nothing will happen to us. – Responded
children and set out on the road. Children played on the
playground for five hours, and because they do not pick up
the cellphone grandparents called the police, who found
them and brought to the house. Mark and Ola said only:
   – Grandma, we are very hungry.
   – Where have you been? What were you doing for so
long in that town?
   – In the playground we met our friend and went to her
home.

– You could still call. We
were worried about you,
and so we called the police.
We called the police unne-
cessarily.
A day in the kindergarten.
Today is birthday of a friend
Elvira. All are singing "Hap-
py Birthday" to her. Elvira
handed out candies in the
classroom; she gave each
classmate twenty candies.
Classmates gave her gifts,
Ola gave new clips and hair
bands and Peter gave a teddy

bear. Emily gave blue jump rope and Frank gave her a new
puzzle from Hello Kitty. That’s how the day looked in the
kindergarten.
   ‒ Grandma, will you give us 5 PLN? We will throw it
into the piggy bank. ‒ Ask the children.
   ‒ Yes, please. It's good that you save. – Grandmother
praised them. Someone knocked on the door and grand-
mother went to answer it. It was a neighbor. Grandmother
and her were to go shopping.
   ‒ We will go to the city and grandfather will come to
you. We want to buy a dress with crystals, suitable for our
age, that is now in fashion.
   When Grandpa was with grandchildren, they asked him if
he could give them 8 PLN for the piggy bank.
   ‒ How much have you collected so far? – Grandpa beca-

me curious.
   ‒ We already have 28 PLN in the piggy bank.
   Grandpa was surprised. – That’s a lot. What do you need
so much money for?
   ‒ For different things, Grandpa. Can we go buy new toys?
   ‒ You have enough toys in your room.
   ‒ We got tired of them, except for the gifts from parents.
   ‒ And what about the toys you have in the room?
   ‒ We will go to the room now and when we get back, we
will tell you. After two hours, they came with new toys and
sweets. Later they said they were going to put new toys in
the room. Sixteen minutes later, they came back and said:
   ‒ Grandpa, we have sorted the toys already. The old ones
we want to take to a neighbor, who has one twelve months
old child named Cornelia. When the children returned, they

said to grandfather:
   ‒ Miss Karolina became very happy. She said that we hel-
ped her much. Now we will eat candy and watch TV.
After 20 minutes grandmother came home.
   ‒ Grandma, what do you have in that bag?
   ‒ New dress.
   ‒ So pretty and shiny. – The children were delighted.
   A few days later a letter arrived for grandmother. After
reading it, she said to the children:
   ‒ Your mom and dad have changed so much. They no
longer go to discos. Friends moved out of the house and
each of them will live with own family now. Mom and Dad
are moving to the town nearby, because they have jobs the-
re. They will be able to take you in so you ca live together
with them.

the next day the parents came to grandparents and everyone
hugged each other.
   ‒ Thank you, now we'll be together. ‒ The children were
overjoyed.
   ‒ Family Court has already permitted us to take care of
you.
   Everyone celebrated on the occasion of this joyful news.
   ‒ Grandma, you know, I have never eaten such a cake in
my entire life.
   And they all lived happily and cheerfully ever after.


                                        The end!

Veterinary
Street Warsaw,
May 2015

The End.