© L. Talimonova, text, illustrations, design

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Once upon a time, in the vast empty spaces of the Universe, there was a round yellow Moon. And on this Moon lived the Moon-elves. They were kind and merry little folk. Each elf had his own cosy little house, and around each house was an orchard and lots and lots of flowers. Out of all the flowers, the Moon-elves were particularly fond of roses, and they looked after them with special care. The Moon-folk spent their days working in their little gardens, and in return for their hard work the trees gave them Moon-apples and Moon-pears all year round. Wild strawberry bushes gave plenty of berries, and beautiful flowers made everyone happy.

Every morning the little elves collected dew from their flowers and spent the day drinking it. They thought that the morning flower dew was the best drink in the whole Universe. In the evening everyone would gather together to tell each other magical stories and sing merry songs. Life was good for the Moon-elves.

But one evening the elves ran out of stories and songs. There was nothing left for them to tell and sing to each other. And the little elves grew sad; they stopped working in their gardens and tending the roses, and even gave up drinking flower dew. Day and night the Moon-folk sat and tried to think what to do. How could they be happy again, and where could they find new songs and stories?

Now on the Moon lived two elves called Ommi and Ofa who were the best of friends. They were unhappy too, and wanted to help themselves and all of the Moon-folk.