The rain tapped against the windowsill as evenly as if practising a song. Grandma Zosia's flat smelled of yeast dough and cinnamon. Figiel the cat was purring in the armchair and the radio was whispering something about the weather. Maja and Tymek sat on the carpet in the corridor and built a bridge out of blocks across an imaginary river. - Do you hear that? - Maja tilted her head. - This rain is making plim, plim. Just like on our blocks. - Plim! - repeated Tymek and put up the tallest tower. - But my tower says boom! The tower made exactly a 'boom' and broke into colourful pieces. The blocks rolled all the way to the wall, right under a small, old painting in a golden frame. Maja leaned over to pick up a red block, and that's when she saw something. There was a meadow in the painting. Ordinary, green, with clumps of daisies. But the grass... moved. Not as if drawn with a brush, but as if it were real when touched by the wind. The daisies nodded their white heads. A dragonfly flew through the painting and left behind a thin blue streak that floated over the glass and disappeared. - Tymek, look! - Maja touched the glass carefully with her fingertip. Instead of hard glass, she felt a coolness and a softness, as if in jelly. Tymek made big eyes. - The picture is bending! Or is it the jelly? - Kisiel in the frame? - giggled Maja, but immediately became serious. In the bottom right corner, right next to the golden frame, something was scrawled in small letters. - Wait, it says something here. Maja moved closer. The letters glittered like wet grains of sand: "When the rain plays, knock three times." - Grandma! - shouted Tymek towards the kitchen. - 'Can we play in the corridor? - You can, you treasures! Just don't run around," replied Granny Zosia, kneading the dough so that the table squeaked. Maja and Timek looked at each other. Tymek swallowed his saliva, Maja nodded. They placed their hands on the cold frame. - Ready? - Maja whispered. - Ready. But how do you knock on the painting? - Normally. They knocked: one, two, three. Knock, knock, knock. The glass vibrated like a thread in a stream. A whisper ran down the corridor, as if someone had shaken the leaves. A warmer breeze blew from the painting and brought with it the smell of wet grass and honey. The golden frame trembled, creaked softly and swung open like a small door. On the other side was the same meadow, but not painted. A real one, glistening with drops. There were paths of bright pebbles winding among the grasses. In the distance something buzzed like ten little bells. Above it all was a wide blue patch of sky, although there were clouds outside Grandma's window. - Phew... - Timothy blew, as a small paper aeroplane fell out from under the frame and smacked him on the cheek. On the wing it said: "Hello? - 'Hello,' whispered Maja into the open door, although she herself didn't know if that made sense. - 'Who's there? A soft "psssyt" answered them, as if someone was afraid to speak louder. Something blue flashed across the path. A dragonfly had flown by, the same one as a moment before. It hovered right in front of Maja. On its thin neck it had a tiny silver key that flashed like a drop of water in the sun. The dragonfly fluttered its wings and the key rang: ding-ding. - She has the key! - Tymek held out his hand. The dragonfly sat on his finger and slid the key onto his palm. The key was warm. - To what? - Maja wondered and immediately noticed that a tiny keyhole had appeared on the inside of the frame where there had previously only been a smooth edge. The dragonfly circled restlessly, as if to say, "Come on, come on!". A thin voice came from the meadow: - Hello? Is there anyone there? We need someone small, brave and kind! Maja felt her heart do a hop-hop faster than usual. She glanced down the corridor. Figiel had lifted his head and was looking as if he was watching the best TV series. From the kitchen came the clatter of a bowl and the whistling of her grandmother. - 'We'll just go a little way,' whispered Maja. - We'll leave a trail to come back. She untied the red ribbon from her ponytail and tied it on the outside handle of the golden frame. The ribbon flew like the tail of a comet. - What if it's ... is it raining? - asked Tymek quietly, peering over the threshold into the meadow where drops glistened like candy. - Then we have wellingtons," Maja reminded him. They were both wearing navy blue wellingtons with yellow stripes on their feet, as it was pouring outside the window. Tymek gently slid the silver key into the hole. Click! Something in the frame played, as if a tiny music box lived inside. The door opened wider. Warm air enveloped their faces. A paper pinwheel flew up from the meadow, flapped its leaves like wings and sat on the armrest of a chair. Letters appeared on its white petal: "Quick, before the cloud loses its button!". - The cloud's button? - Timothy giggled all the way. - Clouds have buttons? - Maybe everything in this world has one button each - replied Maja and smiled too, but she felt an unfamiliar tickle in her stomach. That feeling you get before a new adventure. The dragonfly beckoned again with its wings and then flew through the passage, spinning circles over the pebble path. A small flag with an arrow painted on it slid out of the grass. It pointed the way up the hump of a hill, behind which a quiet "plum, plum" could be heard, as if someone was lacing a cloud. - Grandma! - cried Maja again, just to be sure. - We're just looking at the painting! - OK, darling - came flying in from the kitchen. - In five minutes the buns will be rising like yeast! Five minutes is very little and very much at the same time. Maja squeezed Tymek's hand. - We will take two steps. Just two. Three... - she hesitated and smiled crookedly. - Okay, three. Because three is a lucky number. The floor in the corridor was stable and familiar, but right at the frame it was getting soft like springy grass. The edge of the passage glistened like a puddle. On the other side, on the path, someone had left leaf-shaped footprints leading over the hill. Suddenly the wind in the meadow hushed, and a sound like that of a very, very large music box came from far away. And then another, another - like the tinkling of something big and good that doesn't fit in an ordinary cupboard. - Maya... - Tymek lowered his voice. - Someone is waving at us? Behind the hill lights twinkled, like dozens of skylights. Something blue moved in the greenery, like the hem of a coat made of sky. A warm breeze pulled from the passage, and the golden frame whined warningly and began to slowly close. The dragonfly beeped nervously. - Quickly! - cried a thin voice, clearer now. - Before the morning snaps! Maja and Timek looked into each other's eyes. Maja drew in air so deeply that her nose tickled from the smell of honey. - On three - she whispered. - One... two... The frame twitched, the key flicked, and on the other side something blue rose above the path and began to glide straight towards them.