The Missing Notebook

From the very morning, Ilya felt a bit uneasy. The night before, he had diligently worked on his homework and then, he thought, left the notebook on the table. But now, when it was time to pack his backpack, the notebook had disappeared without a trace.

Ilya looked over the table, the cushions, under the bed, and even checked the closet. But the notebook was nowhere to be found. He started to panic because this notebook had all his assignments, and without it, he wouldn’t be able to turn in his homework.

— Mom, have you seen my notebook? — he asked, running into the kitchen where his mother was preparing breakfast.

Mom paused from cooking and looked at her son:

— Didn’t you leave it in your room?

— Yes, I put it on the table last night, but now it’s not there, — replied Ilya, his voice filled with desperation.

— Maybe you put it somewhere else and just forgot? Try checking everything carefully again, — his mother suggested.

Ilya nodded and returned to his room. He looked over the table again, moving around his textbooks and notebooks, searching underneath them. He checked his desk drawer, his bookshelf, and even his toy box, although he knew he likely hadn’t placed the notebook there.

A half-hour passed, and Ilya was completely disheartened. He didn’t want to go to school without his homework because he’d worked so hard and done it all well. But the notebook seemed to have vanished.

— Ilya, did you take it into another room last night, perhaps? — asked his mom as she noticed him searching around the house.

Ilya thought for a moment. Maybe he had brought it into the living room when he was interrupted by a call from his grandmother in the evening. He hurried to the living room and began looking there, checking under the couch, on the table, and even in the magazine holder.

But even here, the notebook was nowhere to be found. He went back to his room, feeling completely discouraged. “How is this possible? I clearly remember leaving it on the table!” — Ilya thought, sitting down on his bed.

Then an idea occurred to him — what if the notebook was on one of the upper shelves where he sometimes places things to avoid forgetting them in his backpack? He got up and carefully examined the top shelves in his closet, stretching and reaching up to remove books and folders one by one.

And finally, among old textbooks and notebooks, he spotted the familiar cover. It was his notebook! Seeing it filled Ilya with relief and joy. He couldn’t believe he had spent so long searching for something that had been so close, just a bit out of sight.

— Mom, I found it! — Ilya shouted, running into the kitchen. — It was on the top shelf. I must have put it there myself to remember it.

His mom smiled and said:

— You see, Ilya, sometimes you just need a bit of attention to find something you thought was lost.

Ilya realized that his mom was right. Attentiveness really is important. He promised himself to be more careful with his things from now on and to check every possible spot before assuming something is lost.

Feeling satisfied, Ilya packed his backpack and headed to school, relieved that he could turn in his homework on time. This experience was a small lesson he knew he would remember.