Three Musketeers

 FAILED INTRODUCTION
               
- Mom, Misha is gone! - A ten-year-old girl flew into the room like a rocket. “I can't find him anywhere. Including his cage!   
“Honey, I let him fly, look in the living room,” Linda smiled at her daughter. Mia was always worried when it came to her beloved parrot. Misha lived with them for a couple of years and during this time became the girl's best friend. It was even named after her.  She tirelessly played and took pictures of him. She loved him so much that sometimes the bird began to get tired of her attention. In such cases, Misha flew somewhere higher and pretended not to hear Mia calling him.   
“Maria, give the poor parrot a little rest. Since you got a camera, Misha's quiet life has ended. Have pity on him, he's still not a fashion model.   
- Well, yes. Misha is much better,” the girl said confidently. “I’ll go visit the neighbors then, okay?” I'll play with Matti.   
The neighbor family lived next door: Parents were almost the same age and their six-year-old son Matti. Families were friends and often ran to each other for a small things or just to chat. Mother Olga liked to talk about her son's little successes. Several years ago Matti was diagnosed with autism. The first days Olga could not believe it and constantly tried to find another explanation for her son's oddities. She considered it a mistake by the doctors, a misunderstanding, and anything else. She did not want to believe that her beautiful child would never be like other children.  In those days, Linda and her husband spent a lot of time with their friends. They considered it their duty to support the family‘s situation. Linda studied mountains of literature and learned a lot about autism and ways to socialize children with this diagnosis. Being a schoolteacher, she perfectly understood how important it was to help Matti bring out his abilities in the best possible way.
She was also very pleased that her own daughter did not experience any discomfort when communicating with a special boy. Having worked at the school for many years, Linda knew that children can be very cruel, especially to those, who are different from them. Therefore, she always watched closely to see if Mia showed cruelty to her friend. Fortunately, the girl was not at all embarrassed by the fact that Matti rarely spoke, and sometimes simply repeated her words verbatim.   
Being a very cheerful and talkative child by nature, Mia constantly chirped about something, and Matti listened to her attentively. Like many autistic children, Matti avoided innovation in the usual course of life, but his friend often forced him to change habits. At first, this was a little scary for the parents, however, later it became clear that both children benefit from it. Mia learned responsibility, and Matti expanded his horizons. Olga only asked them to spent time in their house being afraid that in a new environment Matti might get scared. 
This day was different. Inspired by thoughts of her bird, Mia was determined to show it to her friend.   
- Can Matti and I play together in our house? I will introduce him to Misha. Matti is my friend and Misha too. I want them to become friends as well.   
Olga thought for a moment. She did not like the idea of her son being in an unfamiliar place, and besides, she did not know how he would react to a bird that he had never seen up close before. On the other hand, next to Mia, Matti always looked relaxed and satisfied, and sometimes even talked to her, which was completely atypical for him.   
- Matti, do you want to go with Mia and meet her bird?   
The child paused, looked at Mia, and then nodded uncertainly. This played a decisive role.   
-Okay, just let me go with you. Your mom and I will sit in the kitchen, and you will play with Misha, - Olga was still afraid to leave her child unattended.   
As soon as they entered the house, Mia pulled Matti by the hand.
- Let's go quickly. Misha is in his cage, in my room. He has his feeder and bathes there. Also he has a mirror and talks to it very funny, - Mia cheerfully told her friend about her favorite bird.   
They entered the room. The parrot got distracted from his activity and carefully looked at the children. Recognizing the hostess and assessing her companion, Misha suddenly spread his wings wide and began to clean them with his beak. Matti froze a couple of meters from the cage, with fear visible in his eyes. He had never seen animals so close before, and it must have frightened him. Matti froze in horror, and his friend immediately felt something was wrong.   
- Matti! Matti, what's wrong with you? You should not be afraid, Misha does not bite at all, - she was confused and did not think her little bird could frighten the boy. 
Matti flew out of the room with tears. The frightened mother found him next to the front door, which he tried in vain to open. The child was so afraid that he was ready to run wherever his eyes looked. Mia was no less frightened. She did not understand what was happening, and her helplessness oppressed her.   
In the evening, Linda spoke with her daughter for a long time and carefully explained that Matti was not like her, that he was special, but this did not mean that they cannot be friends. On the contrary, he really needed her support. Just that she, Mia, needs to be very careful not to offend or frighten him.   
- Okay, mommy. I think I got it. It's like with Misha, you need to touch him very carefully, because he is very fragile and you can hurt him. 
- Yes darling. It's very similar. Only Misha has fragile bones, and Matti has a fragile soul.   
-But I still want them to be friends,- Mia said thoughtfully.

 MATTI and MISHA BECOME FRIENDS
 
 From that day on, her parrot became a constant topic of her conversations with Matti. Mia told him about how funny the bird was behaving through the day, how it spilled water from his little bath, how it was asking for seeds, a favorite treat. She brought photographs of Misha and talked about what had happened to him lately. At first, looking at Misha, Matti frowned and looked at Mia with fear and incomprehension. But she was patient, she did not insist on a personal acquaintance, but continued to simply talk about the bird. So day after day passed, and one day the parrot became part of Matti's world.   
Once Mia told Matti about what a small mirror Misha had in his cage and how funny he was spinning around it, trying to examine himself. When Linda and her daughter came to visit the neighbors next time , Matti brought them a mirror. It was much larger than the one he saw in the photo in the parrot's cage. He put it on the table and said: "Bird Misha." His mother and Linda did not immediately understand what the boy meant. Unlike Mia, who immediately exclaimed:   
-Is this for Misha? Matti, how cool! Misha will be very happy with a new mirror, thank you!   
On his next visit, Matti went straight to the Mia’s room. He cautiously opened the door and peered inside. Both mothers froze. They looked at one another but decided not to interfere just yet. 
-Hi Misha! –said Matti with timid voice. Unlike them, Mia felt much more confident. She went up to her friend and, smiling asked him:
- Do you want to talk to Misha? ,-She took the boy by the hand. –Come with me. Misha will tell you how he like your mirror.   
The children went into the room. Mia’s mom looked at her nervous friend and said:   
- Calm down. Your son is a big boy. Just let him do what he sees fit. It's time for you to learn to trust him. Everything will be fine.   
After a couple of minutes, children's laughter came from the room. The mothers cautiously peered into the room. Matti was sitting very close to the cage. –
-Hello, Misha. Hello bird!,- he said, looking at the parrot.   
It became clear that their acquaintance with Misha had taken place. Thanks to the patience of his friend, Matti got used to the thought of the bird and realized that there was no any threat to him.   
Even more amazing was that he began to show real concern for the Mia’s pet. When they went to supermarket, his mother suggested to go to the department for pickled cucumbers, which Matti loved very much. However, the boy confidently moved to a completely different direction. Olga followed him and was surprised to see how he put a bag of seeds into the basket.   
“Misha,” he explained, and went busily to the department where cucumbers were sold. 
In the evening, Olga enthusiastically told her friend about this situation:   
“You see, Linda, this is the first time he has shown concern for another being. After all, he didn’t just buy seeds for Misha, he put the bird’s interests higher than his own. It seems to me very important; this is a manifestation of consciousness and responsibility!   
- Of course,I am glad that now they are all friends together, - Linda smiled, - and it also seems to me that they could work together on some projects. Mia has recently taken a great interest in photography. We gave her a camera, and she photographs everything that comes to her hand. Mostly, of course, Misha. The poor parrot is already tired of her. I think that if you give them an idea, they can make a real photo project. I've read that making photobooks is used to bring out the abilities of autistic children, so Matti can benefit from that too. Maybe Mia can even teach him how to take photos. 
 
CREATING PHOTOBOOKS

Mia, of course, was very inspired by her mother's idea. She approached the matter seriously and arranged a real photo shoot for Misha and Matti. She told Matti in detail what she was going to do and what a beautiful photobook they would make. At first, the boy simply posed for a photo, but when it came to decorating pasting printed photos and decorating pages, he began to show much more initiative and began to help Mia.   
Olga read the book "The Three Musketeers" to her son. Matti really liked the story about brave friends, and he picked up applications and stickers in the spirit of that story. They spent several exciting days decorating their book. Mia's dad, looking at them, called them the three musketeers. 
They also called their book The Three Musketeers MMM. Of course, they themselves were those three musketeers: Mia, Matti and Misha. One day, dad brought them a musketeer hat, and they took pictures in it. Mia pasted stickers with musketeer hats on some of the photos. And Misha got a top hat, in which he looked breathtakingly.   
It was noticeable that Matti was deeply fascinated by this creative process. He completely forgot that only a few weeks ago he had run away from a small parrot in horror. He was very fond of watching Mia feed Misha with seeds, although he himself could not yet decide on this. Every time he came to visit, he approached Misha's cage and greeted him. And sometimes even bought small gifts for the parrot. Olga even thought about getting her own parrot for her son. They went to the pet store a couple of times, and Matti really liked looking at the huge cages with different birds of all colors.   
Meanwhile, Mia had an idea for a new photobook. Only now she wanted to dedicate it to the pet birds that people keep at home, and Misha in particular. She wanted to describe both the birds themselves and how they should be properly cared for.   
Mia and Matti chose different themes for the photos of the parrot. They had Misha's toys, a mirror that Matti gave him, any Misha's food and much more. Matti posed for many photos, but could not do it for a photo called "How to feed Misha with seeds." He was still a little afraid. Mia realized that this was a great opportunity to teach him how to use the camera. She invited a friend to take a photo "Mia feeds Misha with seeds", and, taking advantage of this, Mia taught him how to use the camera. Matti liked taking pictures, and now Mia posed. They took pictures of some of the birds that were in the local pet store and put the pictures in a photo book. 

GREAT TEAM

Mia, Matti and Misha turned out to be a great team. Mia was a generator of ideas, Matti was a thoughtful listener and performer, and Misha was their inspirer and leader. As the children sat at the table and worked on the project, he looked at them with obvious approval.  He observed when Mia's friends came to visit, they were happy to look at photobooks and discuss birds. 
Matti's father, an avid fisherman, suggested the children make a book about fishing. The parents rejoiced more than once, seeing daily creations of their children becoming more meaningful and creative. An ordinary camera and a little imagination formed a union, which, despite the young age of the participants, bore fruit. However, more importantly, the friendship between Mia and Matti had become stronger. Communicating with each other and taking care of Misha, taught the children responsibility and they got to know the world better. This gives hope they will maintain their friendship for years to come.