The way to spring

A horse called Loshadka and his hedgehog friend Jozhik were walking through a forest. It was winter, and the snow lay thick on the ground. So thick, that Jozhik couldn't see where he was going. But Loshadka guided him safely through the forest. It was a long journey, they would reach the end of the forest in spring.
Loshadka was helping Jozhik on his back, because the snow was getting thicker and thicker. It actually seemed like spring was getting further and further away. But suddenly Jozhik, sitting high on Loshadka, saw something that made him believe they were getting closer to spring: a small yellow flower.

Loshadka was surprised. He totally overlooked the flower. He walked to the flower to take a good look at it. What if it was a hallucination? But the flower was real, and Loshadka could smell it clearly now. It was such a nice smell, that he immediately felt like he could walk a 1000 miles more. He wanted to pick the flower, but Jozhik told him: "No, please, let it stay, we'll soon see more, I'm sure."
Loshadka was not easily persuaded, but finally agreed when Jozhik told him the flower would be a guide for everyone travelling to spring. So he walked on, and true enough, more flowers appeared on their way. Red ones, blue ones, white ones, but strangely enough, no more yellow ones.

"That yellow flower must have been something special, I really think I should have picked it and brought it along. It smelled so pretty," thought Loshadka. But he didn't speak his mind, because he knew what Jozhik would say. Jozhik was actually right about not picking the flower, because, being indeed a very special flower, only those who did NOT pick it, would find their way to spring.
As they walked on, the snow gradually grew less, and eventually Jozhik could walk himself again. Closer and closer they came to spring, and the flowers bloomed bigger and stronger the further they went. "We're almost there, I'm sure," said Jozhik. And so it was. The trees became less and less and the snow was almost gone. But they were not quite there yet.

They saw a big river blocking their way, and were starting to wonder if they ever would reach spring. But Loshadka said, "Well, we can't be far off. The river is not frozen."
"Yes, but how to cross this river, it runs too fast to cross." "We'll just have to find a bridge, but which way to go? Upstream or downstream?"
"Let me sit on your back again, so I can take a look." And so Jozhik climbed on Loshadka's back and looked upstream, and downstream, and upstream again, but nowhere did he see a bridge.
"Hello, what's this?" thought Jozhik suddenly. "Let's walk a bit upstream, Loshadka, I think I see something." "A bridge?" Loshadka asked. But no, it was a lot smaller. And as they walked to what Jozhik saw, it became clear that it was another flower, a yellow one! They both agreed immediately that this was a sign to walk upstream. "You were right, Jozhik, it is a guiding flower!"

So they walked upstream, but not before Loshadka took a good smell of the yellow flower. "That'll do me for another 1000 miles," he thought. But they did not have to walk that long, it soon became clear that they were on the right track, as they saw another yellow flower close to the river.
"What's this? Why is it standing so close to the water?" thought Jozhik. But Loshadka, already running towards the flower, came to the shore first and saw that the river was not nearly as deep here. "Jozhik, we can cross here!" he shouted back over his shoulder.

And indeed, the water was shallow enough for Jozhik to walk through. "Must be a dam or something much like it," he said. "Better get on my back then, the current is quite strong here," Loshadka said to Jozhik. And together they crossed the stream quite easily, although Loshadka had to concentrate not to slip on the smooth rock.
When they had crossed the river, they knew they were close to spring, for the smell of the yellow flower was stronger. There was just one hill left to climb. As they reached the top, Loshadka was the first to see a whole field of flowers. Red ones, blue ones, white ones, and thousands of yellow ones.

"We're there, we're there!!!" he shouted, and ran downhill towards the field. Jozhik took a bit longer to reach the top of the hill, but seeing the field rolled himself up to a ball and rolled downhill at increasing speed. Soon he passed Loshadka and was first to roll in the field of flowers.
As soon as Loshadka reached the field, they frolicked and played in the field all the rest of the day. They had finally reached spring.