Introduction.
The story begins on New Year’s Eve. On her seventeenth birthday, charming and modest paintress Volira receives a gift card for New Year’s concert of her favorite rock band “Alfizika”. The ticket was given to her by her older sister Alina. Alina knows that Volira is secretly in love with the leader of the group whose stage name is Dragon.
Going to the concert, Volira takes a gift for Dragon with her. It is a painting that depicts a castle in the clouds with a flying dragon to the castle and Volira herself as an angel. At the concert Volira can hardly get through the crowd of fans and stretches the gift to the Dragon. The Musician is stunned – he had already seen this girl and this castle in his dreams several times.
In his dreams he tried to reach the fairy-tale castle floating in the clouds, where he waited for the girl with angel wings. But how could the stranger guess his dreams? Shocked leader of “Alfizika” disclaims his stage talisman – a silver dragon and puts it to the girl. Dragon asks for her name. “We must meet at any means!” he whispers to Volira.
After the concert, Volira waits for the Dragon on the street. Suddenly he is surrounded by fans. They are trying to take away the gift. Volira clings to his chest talisman, rips it off and runs across the road. She is hit by a car.

New Year’s Eve.
A year has passed. It was unfortunate for the Dragon. The Musician did not find Volira and more than that he no longer performs on stage. New songs of the Dragon are not deemed to be commercially usable by “Alfizika” members. Dragon left the band which broke up shortly thereafter.
Now he meets with Lika, a former fan. And for the past year it has been successful. She has become a famous photo model. She has many rich friends. Lika often became lost in photo sessions and in nightclub scene. She is addicted to alcohol. Dragon is very annoyed. They agreed to meet the New Year together and discuss their relationship.
In the last hours of the outgoing year dragon adorns a Christmas tree branch. He decorates it with Christmas toys: a fairytale castle, an angel, an owl and a cat. The clock strikes ten. Dragon waits for Lika. It is very late and her phone is not answered. Finally, she shows up and is very drunk. She gives a bottle of expensive cognac to Dragon and reports that she is invited to celebrate New Year in a prestigious company. Dragon gets angry. They curse and Lika runs out, slamming the door. Dragon drinks donated cognac in gulps, smashes the bottle against the wall and wipes everything off the table. He calls Lika and tells her that he decided to break up the relationship with her.
Dragon is tired. He falls onto the couch and turns on the TV. On screen, there is a New Year’s TV show. Unexpectedly the moderators, dressed up in three leading carnival costumes as angel, owl and cat start to talk to him. Dragon is shocked. “We are your guardian angels” – they say to him  – “Cat is an angel of forces, owl the angel of wisdom and the girl in a mask is the angel of love.” They ask the Dragon to make a fondest wish and will fulfill his promise before the New Year. Dragon thinks all this is just imagination. But unexpectedly for himself, he makes a wish – great love. Gradually alcohol takes effect and Dragon falls asleep.

House in the Clouds.
The clock strikes eleven at night. It is a dimly lit room with a sleeping dragon illuminated by bright light. Room walls become transparent  and floating clouds can be seen. Out of nowhere, there are three figures. It’s all the same leading TV show – a girl in a mask , a cat and an owl . Cat wakes the Dragon and says that Christmas has come to fulfill his  desire. Dragon does not understand what happened to him and where he is. He looks around and sees a bright sky, clouds floating around and far below. Owl says it’s “House in the Clouds”, a place between heaven and earth, between life and death, between reality and fantasy.
Cat brings the girl to the Dragon. The girl takes off her mask and surprised Dragon recognizes her as Volira. Not believing his luck the young man embraces the girl. He says he loves her, he was looking for her this whole year. They merge into a kiss. The girl tells how one day woke up in a cloud house, but without him she was very lonely. Dragon whispers to Volira that he was afraid to lose her again. He wants to stay with her forever. Cat interrupts the lovers. Dragon´s desire is fulfilled and it is time to return to the real world. Every second counts, because in the real world Dragon’s heart has stopped. But the young man already decided for himself. He does not need the real world, if there is no Volira in it. As forces of angel of wisdom and love did not any impact on the Dragon, the angel of force comes into play. Cat issues a lightning strike and the Dragon falls unconscious. Volira kisses goodbye to Dragon. The three angels dissolve into the air, the light fades.

New Year.
Dragon wakes up in his room again and again experiences an extraordinary dream. Suddenly the bell rings in the hallway. Lika is back. She changed her mind and returned. The clock strikes 12. Lika congratulates the Dragon a Happy New Year and offers a fresh start. But thoughts of the Dragon is still in the “House in the Clouds”. He tells Lika about his remarkable dream about the girl he was looking for the whole year and his lifetime. Lika is angry.
Dragon suddenly notices the owl and the cat in the room, which for some reason Lika is not able to see. They advise Dragon not to believe in the sincerity of Lika. ” True love is in your window ” – they say. Dragon goes to the window and sees a girl lying in the snow. ” Volira ” the Dragon shouts and runs out into the street. But the girl has disappeared. On the spot where she lied, he finds a medical alert bracelet with the inscription “Clinic Coma”.
Dragon realizes that this bracelet is a sign that Volira is somewhere nearby. Back at the apartment, he says Lika that he will search for the girl of his dreams. Lika is furious. Dragon quickly dresses and runs out of the apartment.

Clinic Dr. Komma.
Dragon finds Clinic of Dr. Komma. But it is closed. The musician persistently calls and knocks on the door. The guards chase him away. Then a furious dragon smashes the Clinic’s glass door and runs inside. There is a heavy fight. Dragon gets the discharge of an electric shocker and passes out. He has no feel-able pulse and frightened guards deliver him quickly to the emergency room.
Waking Dragon tells the doctor about the girl in the snow and shows him the medical alert bracelet. The doctor realizes that it is about a girl who is in a coma. She was delivered a year ago, but the money ran out for keeping up life-extending measures. Council of physicians concluded negligible probability of awakening and today, the first day of the new year, she will be disconnected from life-support machines.

Coma.
Dragon wants to immediately see the girl, but the doctor flatly forbids him to get up. Dragon waits in resuscitation care and goes in search of the girl. The Owl and the Cat reappear. They help the Dragon to find the girl in a coma. He recognizes her as Volira. On her chest is the talisman he had given to her. At the bedside of Volira sits Alina, who has decided to spend her time with her sister during her last hours.
Dragon is crushed by grief and curses those who want to make money to take the life of his beloved. He unsuccessfully tries to wake the sleeping girl. Alina asks Dragon to reconcile and prays to the Virgin Mary. In desperation, the dragon raises Volira on hands and cuddles her. He does not give her up.

Conclusion.
In this tale there is a happy ending. Volira – in the hands of the Dragon – suddenly opens her eyes and whispers softly: ” Dragon, I have dreamed of you …” – For some reason the stunned Dragon asks “Owl and the Cat too?”
“Sure” – she smiles – “They figured out how we will meet … ”

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Vladimir Chedzhemov, autor