That morning the rain tapped on the windowsill like little fingers. The fourth-floor flat smelled of toast and raspberry jam. Lena, in red socks with white dots, sat at the kitchen table and blew on steaming tea. Next to her, Almond, a brindle cat with a tail like a soft paintbrush, curled up on a chair. - 'Watch out, hot,' said Mum, stirring the tea with a silver spoon that was as smooth as a mirror. And then something very strange happened. The teaspoon spun a circle, and a picture appeared on the surface of the tea. First a streak of steam shimmered, and a bench with a crooked leg - exactly the one from the courtyard - was drawn on the brown surface. Then a thin bright line flowed from the edge of the teacup like a path, curved by a puddle, passed the arbor and stopped under an old oak tree, which grew in the middle of the square. Lena leaned over so that her nose almost touched the steam. - Mum, look! - she whispered. - Tea is drawing a map! Mum smiled warmly and touched her forehead with her finger. - Maybe the couple just like to dance - she winked. - Eat a sandwich before it gets soggy. But the spoon twitched again. It made two or three quiet 'ticks', as if playing tic-tac-toe. An oak leaf shimmered on the tea, all in drops like little mirrors. The almond lifted its head and murmured so loudly that the teaspoon chimed. - Hear that? - Lena scratched the cat under the chin. - Maybe it's talking to us? Almond jumped down to the floor and tapped his paw on the cupboard, as if pointing in the direction. At the same moment, a single drop of tea dripped from the spoon. It spilled on the tablecloth and formed the shape of a tiny door with a round eye in the middle. Lena held her breath. - Can I go out in the courtyard for a while? - She asked, slipping the spoon into the pocket of her jumper. - I'll just check something by the oak tree. I'll be by the window. - Wellingtons, jacket and umbrella,' Mum reminded her. - 'And you're back for cocoa. The hallway smelled of laundry. The rug by the front door whispered 'good morning' to everyone who walked past it. Lena pulled on her wellies, opened her yellow polka dot umbrella and ran out into the stairwell. Almond flitted silently behind her like a shadow. In the courtyard, the rain was no longer falling, but puddles held the sky within them. In one you could even see three white clouds and a piece of window with a curtain. Twinkling snails stood between the puddles, and the arbor looked like a huge kite skeleton. Lena took three steps, then five more, counting out loud to give herself courage. The teaspoon in her pocket suddenly became warm, as if it held a tiny sun. - 'Come on, Almond,' she said, and the cat jumped from the kerb onto the grass as lightly as if its paws were made of rubber. Under the old oak tree, the ground was soft and smelled of wet bark. The trunk had wrinkles like grandpa's hands, and the roots entwined the ground like braids. Lena knelt down, pushed back a handful of leaves and saw something she had never seen before. Between two roots, just above the moss, outlined a small door. They were the size of a notebook, wooden, with an engraved leaf pattern. Instead of a handle, they had an opening in the shape of... a teaspoon. - Ooo... - snapped Lena out. - This is the real thing. Almond sat down next to her, curled his tail around his paws and squinted. He looked like he was waiting for a play at the theatre. Above the courtyard, the pigeons fell silent. The drops from the leaves stopped dripping. The world fell silent, as if it had held its breath along with Lena. The girl took the spoon out of her pocket. It was brighter now, as if it was glowing from within. As she brought it closer to the door, tiny luminous lines ran across the wood, forming the shape of the same leaf she had seen in the tea. Somewhere deep in the trunk there was a quiet 'clatter', like a drop falling into a well. - Can you hear it? - Lena almost didn't move her lips. - As if someone was... waiting. A small inscription appeared on the door, emerging from the knots: "Knock three times". The letters shimmered like slug marks in the sunlight. Lena looked at the windows of her house. Mum was hanging a cloth in the kitchen. When Lena saw her mum waving at her, she herself also waved in a guaranteed way. She felt warm and brave in her heart. - Once... - she tapped her spoon gently. The sound was like a bell hidden in a pocket. - Two... - she tapped again, and the air under the oak rustled like a whisper of many leaves. At the third knock, the spoon trembled, as if someone from the other side had touched it with a finger. A thin streak of bright light lit up in the opening, like a strip of morning slipping through a crack in the curtains. The almond put up its ears and its tail suddenly became as straight as an exclamation mark. Somewhere underground, a quiet 'click' sounded, the door vibrated and something that sounded like a soft, inviting breath came from behind it. Lena tightened her fingers on the spoon, lifted it to the lock... and then, right next to her ear, someone very quietly knocked from inside.