Storieo

Category: Children’s

  • A Helping Hand

    A Helping Hand

    The Story of Kirti and Neha. 

     

    Kirti always came first in class.  She was the star student from the first day she joined this primary school. She usually kept to herself. The other students in her class didn’t exactly like her because she was better in studies. They talked to her rudely and ignored her when she tried to make new friends.

    Kirti felt sad. She didn’t care who was better.

    She just wanted a friend. But because all of the other kids treated her badly, she refused to help them when the teacher would ask her to do so.

    Miss. Lata had tried to explain to her numerous times that just because some of them were rude to her, didn’t mean that everyone disliked her. But she just refused to listen. She was bitter due to their behaviour.

    One day, Miss Lata called Kirti to her desk. She called another girl named Neha as well. She knew Neha. She was a bubbly girl who had lots of friends. She had a brother named Aryan who was a year elder to them. She had never talked to Neha before, but Neha had always smiled at her when their eyes would meet occasionally. But she never returned the gesture.

    Miss. Lata proceeded to tell her that Neha was facing some difficulty with her math lessons and that it would be wonderful if Kirti could help her. When Miss. Lata asked her at the end “Will you do it Kirti?” Kirti wanted to scream out a no. But because Neha looked at her with a genuine expectant smile she replied with a feeble “yes.” Miss. Lata was ecstatic and Neha looked at her thankfully, but Kirti decided in her mind, that she would not help Neha properly.

    They had a test the coming week and she had just one week to help Neha. The first few days, Kirti taught her incorrect sums. She hated how Neha had so many friends without even trying and she had none. She wanted Neha to suffer like she did. But three days before the test, Kirti’s guilty conscience struck her. It was wrong of her to hurt someone like that.

    Neha had trusted Kirti fully and wanted to get better at math. She had never treated Kirti badly and had always talked to her nicely and listened to all Kirti’s instructions carefully. She decided that enough was enough. She couldn’t break her trust. So for the last three days, Kirti taught Neha everything she knew and made sure she was prepared for the upcoming test.

    The test was an easy one and Kirti was satisfied with her work.

    When the next day rolled in and it was time for the results, Neha was at the edge of her seat with worry. Seeing her in such a position Kirti went over and sat beside her.

    She comforted Neha by holding her hand while Miss. Lata distributed the tests.

    While Kirti stood first as usual, everyone was surprised to find that Neha had come second. Neha almost fell off her chair in shock while Miss. Lata clapped loudly. Kirti was proud that she had helped her friend so much. Neha having recovered from the shock got up and went to the front of the class.  She smiled looking at Kirti and said to everyone “Thank you Kirti for helping me so much. You are my best friend in the whole wide world. I couldn’t have done this without you. Thank you for lending me a helping hand.”

    Everyone looked at Kirti with admiration while she looked at Neha with happiness etched across her face. That day, not only did Kirti make her first friend, but also learnt the importance of a helping hand.

     

  • A Friend

    A Friend

    Your first friend is always special. 

     

    “Bye Aryan! Bye Neha! Have a Nice day at School!” said their mother waving enthusiastically from her car. While Neha smiled and waved back, Aryan just turned around and marched into the school building.

    Aryan started primary school a year back. He was now a proud six year old who could brag about how much he was learning at school. He loved it when his mother would ask him to help his younger sister Neha with her homework, who had just started elementary school two months back. She was a year younger to him. The feeling of being treated as a grown up was something Aryan loved. It made him feel responsible and he realised it was his duty to look after his sister. He loved going to school.

    But there was just one little problem. Aryan hadn’t been able to make any friends yet He was the shy quiet one in class, who would sit in a corner and study attentively. But his shy nature forbade him to try and talk to other people. The only other person in school he talked to was his teacher. Neha on the other hand had made many new friends just within the first few months of school. Sometimes, he wished he could be like his bubbly sister. He wished he could go and talk to people. He wished he could make a friend.

    It was just another normal day at school as Aryan sat writing number names on his worksheet. Suddenly the door of the class room opened and in walked a girl who wore a pink dress and carried a bag that had too many butterflies drawn on it. She had a smile on her face as she walked confidently towards the teacher. She handed Ms. Anita a small slip of paper. Ms. Anita smiled at her and after reading the paper, turned towards the class.

    “Children, this is Ananya Singh. She is new to this school. I hope you will make her comfortable in class” she finished with a smile. Then she turned to Ananya and asked her, “Where would like to sit Ananya?” Ananya looked around the room. There were many empty seats. Some of the kids in the room were pointing eagerly at the empty chairs beside them, but she ignored them all. She spotted this shy looking boy sitting at the far corner of the room. He was the only one not looking at her.

    He looked lonely. So she made up her mind and turned back to Miss Anita. “I want to sit beside him, Ma’am” she said pointing at Aryan. Aryan looked up to see all their gazes directed at him. His eyes widened when he realised what was happening and quickly looked back down towards his worksheet. She wanted to sit beside him? But why? He didn’t ask her to. He became worried. She would soon find out how shy he was and would give up on him and make other friends as everyone else had. 

    Meanwhile Ananya marched towards Aryan determinedly and plopped on the seat next to him loudly. When Aryan said nothing she tapped him on the shoulder and said, “Hi! I am Ananya. What’s your name?” she asked him with and expectant smile. He kept quiet. But after a long pause he answered “A-Aryan” and that was it. She grew a bit disappointed at his odd behaviour but didn’t lose hope. The day proceeded normally and then came lunch. Ananya had tried all day to make Aryan talk, but he had answered her question with monosyllables and never looked her in the eye. But she was determined to make him her friend.

    As the week passed Ananya became more and more persistent and Aryan slowly started to relax around her. He would now sometimes give her small smiles and his answers had also increased from one to three or four words. But he was still guarded. But that did nothing for Ananya. She continued her efforts tirelessly. Two weeks had passed since Ananya’s arrival to this school and today was Friendship’s day. People had to talk about their best friends in class.

    To Aryan’s surprise and Miss. Anita’s amusement, Ananya chose to talk about Aryan. His eyes grew as wide as saucers when she said that he was helpful and nice and was a great friend. He felt guilty when he realised that she was lying. He had never treated her nicely. All he had done was rudely avoid her whenever he could. When Miss. Anita asked him to talk about his best friend, he disappointed Ananya by saying he didn’t have any friend. The hurt expression on her face increased his guilt even more.

    Lunch rolled in and Aryan found himself a seat at the corner of the garden. He thought about Ananya and felt sad that he had hurt her. Suddenly he heard a commotion a little away from him and got up to investigate. To his astonishment, he found Ananya and another girl standing in the middle of the circle of other kids and it looked as if Ananya was crying at something the other girl said. He ran forward to know why she was crying. He heard the girl say, “You cannot sit in my seat. This is my favourite place to sit in the garden! New girls are not allowed.” He felt extremely sad to see his only friend being bullied by someone else. He suddenly realised that he had admitted to himself that he did consider her as his friend. Having come to this conclusion, he marched straight to the girl and stood between her and Ananya. He put a hand on Ananya’s shoulder and turned to the girl angrily, “She can sit wherever she wants. You cannot stop her. Now stop bullying my friend and go do something else” All the kids stared at him with surprise and admiration while Ananya’s jaw dropped open. He took her by the hand and dragged her away from the mean girl.

    He turned to her and wiped her tears. “You can sit with me if you want” he said to her softly. Ananya immediately stopped crying. She asked him with a hopeful expression “So you want to be my friend then?” Aryan smiled at her properly for the first time and said “But we are already friends, aren’t we?” She beamed at his statement and linked her hand with his. Together they went to where Aryan’s belongings lay, and chattered all throughout lunch.

    That was the day Aryan made his first best friend for life.                 

     

     

     

  • Flight of the unicorn

    Flight of the unicorn

    Why are we made?

    Is it only for the fun of little children?

    Or only to sit as show pieces?

    Why are we made?…

    For the last six months I have stayed cramped in this narrow cupboard waiting for someone to notice me and use me for what I have been made. It’s so stuffy that I cannot even move my wings anymore. A crystal globe beside me cracked just a while ago, and I fear that if I’m not released fast from here then my wings would also perish. It all started from a factory. The first thing that I remember is when my head was made.

    Slowly as I went through the sometimes humming and at time thumping machinery, I got my legs one by one and then a single horn. The last thing that I got were a set of beautiful purple wings. I was packed in a box with others like me who were born in the factory and was shipped to a store far, far away from the factory.

    We all almost felt like we had been forgotten for it had been so long since we last saw the daylight but one day suddenly the box opened and we were placed neatly on wooden shelves. Each one of us were given a tag and price and so my nightmare began.

    I was one of those toys that were supposed to be popular, but people would come, look at me, try to make me fly by turning the key, but nothing would happen. Only once in a while my wings would flutter very fast scaring of the children and getting me rejected, but that is all that would happen.

    Soon the store owner noticed these events and decided that I was no longer needed and as a result here I am now stacked up in the cupboard of useless junk.

    This was not what I had been made for. I had been made to fly and make children happy, yet, here I was struggling just to keep myself from breaking. On thinking about it a lot I finally resigned to the situation.

    Maybe I was actually, really, indeed useless. I had been made with so much care in the factory. I could tell just by how they had held me. I had been placed so lovingly on the start shelves of the shop, I could tell just by how skeptically the shop owner decided my position. I had been given everything yet I failed to pass as a good toy. Maybe I was indeed not needed in this world.

    TING TING

    The bell on the shop’s door jingled as a little girl walked in quietly.

    “Is the new unicorn figure still available?” she asked the shopkeeper while stretching herself out soon her toes so that she could get a look at his face from behind the desk.

    “Sorry sweet-heart but all of them got sold real fast”

    “Oh… but I really wanted one…” The little girl lowered her head in disappointment.

    ‘I am sorry I am useless’ I apologized to the little girl silently. If only I could do what I was made for then I could make her happy.

    “Well… there is just one figure left but that one doesn’t actually work properly. You want to take a look?” the shopkeeper beckoned the girl towards the small cramped up cupboard I was in.

    The shopkeeper opened the cupboard and pulled me out. Oh no! This was bad! If the little girl saw her favorite toy was broken then I would make her sadder. But honestly, even if she found out that I was broken, I was happy that ii got to get out of that cupboard once again, at least once.

    Maybe if I don’t work again then the shopkeeper would through me away in the dustbin and I would be trashed beyond repair. So right now, as the little girl is holding on to me, I cannot help but feel happy.

    This is probably the last chance I’ll get to prove myself and even if I fail I am glad I could get this single chance once again.

    After all no one can understand how it feels to not be able to do the sole thing that you had been made for.

    The little girl gently turned the key and put me on the ground for a test run. As I feared I stayed put. My wings remained frozen in place.

    “I guess it is totally broken. Sorry dear. I’ll get the new stock by next week. You can come by then and bye whatever you want. There will be new unicorns” the shopkeeper started bending down to pick me up but the girl kept looking at me intently.

    “Uncle, I think something is wrong here. Look the tag is stuck!”

    The girl got up and went up to the front desk and returned with a sharp pair of scissors.

    “What tag?” the shopkeeper adjusted his old round spectacles to get a closer look of what the girl was talking about. She used the scissors swiftly to cut-off the price tag between my leg and left wing and suddenly my wings started fluttering uncontrollably. I couldn’t believe it. This was the first time my wings had moved so… so effortlessly. Maybe it was a former stalking up of key movements, my wings kept fluttering for quite some time.

    “Wow looks like it is making up for all the times it couldn’t make the flight” laughed the shopkeeper and the girl joined him. You know what I laughed to in my heart. He was right! I felt like I could go on forever!

    I wish someone would have noticed my obstacle before but then I might not have realized the actual worth of my wings.

     

    Moral

    Everyone is special and equal. One just needs the right opportunity. Some souls need their own time to fly off the runway. Don’t de-moralize people who are having a tough time proving themselves. Everyone is desperately trying to fit in so it is our duty to cut off their obstacles and help them move forward with us.

    Spread the love.

  • Savings

    Savings

    How much will be enough? 

     

    This is the story of a girl who since she was little, had a habit of saving money. It’s almost rare nowadays to find kids who understand the value of money don’t you think? I mean it’s the parents who are earning the sack painstakingly and the children blow off the notes like water bubbles. There is no end to their wants.

    The first job I had gave me just Rs.50 per piece and that won’t even fetch me a Burger King pizza and growing children would not understand that, I mean most of them. Rina, however was different. She knew that her parents were working hard and that every penny they spent on her was a penny that they would not be spending on themselves. So she started saving up. At first she cut down on canteen food from her school.

    She loved eating the Chole Bhature that the canteen served every Friday but she resisted. Next she cut down on stationary. She would use her notebooks till the very last page and sometimes would even write on the back cover. These steps did not end here. As Rina grew, her savings grew. She understood that small money was not going to be enough to lead her life.

    The most important thing was that Rina wanted to pay back her parents for all that they had done for her. For that she needed a little more money. She started working for long hours to collect over-time money.

    I mean like, life is short right? If you want to do something then you got to do it fast. Rina was working hard just for the same reason. She understood the value of money and life and did not want to leave out on anything. One day her mother said,

    “Rina, I need to talk to you about something”

    “What is it mom?”

    “You’re father and I are growing old dear and we want to live in a little peaceful place for some time so we were thinking of moving to the outskirts of this city. What do you think about it?”

    “That’s great ma! You know what let me buy a house for you!” Rina felt super excited at the thought of this grand present. Finally the time had come. But when she checked her bank account, she felt that buying a house would leave her almost bankrupt. So she decided to save on a little more before buying house. Her parents moved out anyway and rented a place with what money was left with them and thankfully it was enough for them.

    After a year or two, Rina got married to someone she viewed as a perfect man. He was rich, handsome, sweet, smart the most importantly, he was caring. They had a daughter and it was a picture perfect family. Things were going good till one day both of Rina’s parents passed away in an accident. It was hard to digest but then this is what life is. Rina felt distressed that even though she had saved so much, she was not able to do anything for her parents. But she was not going to lose hope.

     

    Soon Rina’s daughter grew up and crossed from teen life to her twenties. Rina would sometimes have fights with her daughter. It seemed that unlike her, her little girl did not understand the value of money as much and this disheartened her. But kids are kids, they don’t listen until they experience things on their own.

    “Mom! Can I talk to you?” Rina’s daughter came running all excited “I passed the test!” She had been taking driving lessons and now she finally had a driver’s license. It was a happy moment for everyone in the family.

    “I am so proud of you!” Rina hugged her daughter tightly but soon realized that this is not what her daughter’s main news was. “Do you have to say something else?”

    “Yes… actually I was thinking that now that I am not a threat on the road so can I have a car of my own?” her daughter asked part anxiously and part excitedly.

    “Oh dear I want to buy you a car! But I don’t have enough savings. Just give me some time and I will buy you one.”

    “That’s not needed” Rina’s husband came from behind them with new keys in his hand and their daughter jumped with a scream. She got a car just like that! Being unable to wait she took out the car for a drive.

    “Don’t you think you are wasting money a lot? Shouldn’t we be saving for the future?” His husband just laughed and told her that it was okay. Years passed by and Rina grew old and ill.

    Finally her time was almost up and her daughter sat beside her holding her hands.

    “What are you thinking?” the daughter whispered softly to her mother.

    “I was thinking about how you would be living from now on. Promise me that you will spend less and save more.” Hearing this from her paranoid mother was not a new thing.

    “Will you tell me just one thing?” her daughter asked

    “Yes”

    “Why did you save all this money?”

    Rina looked thoughtful for a moment as of to build together a nice speech that would do well for her parting words and then spoke.

    “I wanted to repay my parents who had taken care of me. I wanted to buy you everything that you wanted. I wanted to travel a lot and eat many things. And I wanted to be satisfied in life” Rina looked proudly at her daughter.

    “So… now that the end is near, which one of these have you done?”

    Rina’s expression completely flipped. She suddenly realized with a heavy heart what a cruel truth her daughter had pointed out. She had sacrificed so much to save money all her life, and even though she had the basic amount needed to live her life in luxury, she had chosen in virtual poverty.

    Moral

    The money you are earning is not for what you’ll do 50 years later. It is for what you want to do today. Don’t let the end be filled with regrets. We don’t know when our time will be up so let us enjoy while we can.

  • Pick-me-too

    Pick-me-too

    2 booths, 2 stuffed animals; rabbits, fall in love. 

     

    Once there were two pick-up-game’s booth stalls in a carnival. One coin, one chance was the deal. One booth had blue colored stuffed rabbits and the other had pink rabbits. Among the blue rabbits there was one who was really sweet and sensitive. He would always sit up looking at the pink booth where there was a beautiful rabbit.

    Although she mainly kept to herself only but sometimes when she would spot the blue rabbit staring at her from across the booth, she would blush and shy away.

    The rabbits used to play all day long in their booths till someone came to pick them up. The pink rabbit had many friends and played a lot to and the blue rabbit was content on just watching her until the last day of the carnival arrived. Finally the blue rabbit gathered up all his courage and decided to confess his feelings to her.

    The blue rabbit waved both his hands and ears to get the attention of the pink rabbit and when she noticed, they quickly moved to the end of the booth. But no matter how hard the blue rabbit tried, his voice could not reach the pink rabbit through the glass walls. They kept trying till they suddenly noticed the pick-up hook hovering over the pink rabbit.

    The blue rabbit watched helplessly as the hook took her and a little girl outside the booth jumped with joy and started hugging the pink rabbit. The blue rabbit’s ears hung low as started giving up hope, he had lost her and now she was gone forever. The worst part; he didn’t get to say what he wanted to say.

    “Mommy I want a blue one too!” the little girl outside was shrieking with joy.

    “Ok” her mother replied and gave her a coin, “Just one more”

    “Ok!”

    Seeing this as a chance, the blue rabbit wasted no time and stationed himself at the best possible position and waited to get picked-up. As expected the hook came for him and he caught on effortlessly.

    The pink rabbit outside closed her eyes and prayed that his efforts be fruitful. Just when hope started growing back, the hook shook and he slipped out from between it.

    “Mommy mommy once more!” the little girl started pleading her mother but her mother’s decision was firm. Maybe this was the end of the line thought the blue rabbit and crawled in a corner as he watched the pink rabbit in the little girl’s hand.

    The other blue rabbits who had been seeing and observing everything for a long time now fel bad for the two and came with a plan. One of them knocked on the glass to attract the kid’s attention while the others started lining up. One on top of the other, soon they formed a staircase of rabbits which the little girl and the other rabbits watched with awe.

    The last rabbit in the staircase caught on to the opening from where the toys are taken out and all the rabbits looked over to our little blue rabbit, who couldn’t believe his eyes,  and signaled him to climb over and run out. Even if his eyes were made up of just buttons, he couldn’t stop a tear from appearing at the edge. But he wasted no more time and quickly climbed up and jumped.

    The little girl who had been watching everything picked him up and stared at him for a while and then hugged him as tight as she could. It seemed like she a two new friends.

    As the turned around and starting walking away with her mother, the two rabbits looked over from her shoulders and thanked the other rabbits who were bidding them a happy farewell.

    “So what I wanted to say back there-“ The blue rabbit started but got interrupted.

    “Was probably what I wanted to say too” the pink rabbit ended.

    Both the rabbits smiled and lived happily ever after.

  • Lonely Paws

    Lonely Paws

    This is a story for all dog lovers. Don’t leave them alone for hours inside empty homes, don’t refuse to play with them. Don’t ever say no to them because they never say no to you. 

     

    In the winter of 2010 I left home. Oh no I didn’t run away! I just joined my school’s hostel due to various reasons. I was starting my 10th class that semester so it was probably the best things that happened to me. I grew socially, mentally and emotionally but what I couldn’t noticed was that someone else broke down equally.

                                                                                                    . . .         

    “Mom I am leaving are you coming?” I stood at the door patting my dog’s head. “hooj a gooood boy huh? Hooooj a gooooood boy” I stood there baby talking to my best friend as my mom closed the bathroom doors and hurried towards me.

    “Come on let’s go!” she almost swept me up the ground and out of the door. It was always like this. She would be the one running late and I would be the getting pulled around.

    “Bye Cash” we both waved to him as we made our way down the stairs. Cash just stood there silently as the wagging of his tail slowed down gently. We got into the car that my father had been waiting in and drove out of our apartment fast. The hostel wasn’t much far so we were there in about twenty minutes. It was already around 5 pm when they dropped me so there was not much time to exchange hugs and kisses, not that we would have anyways. Ours was an oddly cold family. We never felt the same emotions together. So this time as they looked like they would probably miss me for not being at home, I could not react much. It might seem like I was a cold person, but well I guess I learned it from them. Anyways I was now going to be staying out of the home forever now. After school there was collage and then getting a job; holidays were the only times I would be home now and there was someone I was missing. Cash. But I would meet him on specific weekends so I stood strong. It was soon past dinner time and I had to call home. Having cell phones was not allowed in the hostel so I silently crept back in my room, closed the lights and took out my phone from its hiding place.

    Calling…connected…

    “Hi how are you?” my mom asked in a heavy voice.

    “I am good. It’s quite fun actually. How’s he?” I asked what I had been dying to know since I left home.

    “He’s… fine, maybe not so”

    “What do you mean?”

    “He has been crying in front of the gate like an opera singer since we came back. I think he knows that you have moved.” She sighed as if it was something we had to hide and weren’t able to.

    “Hmm… well I’ll talk tomorrow got to go before the warden comes. Bye.” I hung up abruptly before she could say bye in return and a tear tricked down. I was the one who had asked for a dog and now I was the one who deserted it. At least that is what I felt.

    As the night grew darker and the hostel chatter subsided I heard a familiar bark outside my window. At first I thought it was a dream but when as I listened intently I concluded that it indeed sounded oddly familiar. I rushed to the window and moved the curtains to one side. At first I couldn’t see anything but after a few seconds of staring into the dark I spotted two glittery eyes staring right back at me. Cash being a black cross Labrador, was hard to spot in dark places.

    “What the hell are you doing here!” I hissed in a loud whisper and my roommate mumbled in her sleep. Thankfully my room was at the ground floor not like my house where we were at the third floor, so I slowly unlocked the window and stepped out of the building.

    As soon as I was on my two feet Cash lurched himself at me throwing me on the ground and started licking my face.

    “Oi Oi stop” I whisperd but couldn’t help laughing out. He was so cute when he acted like this.

    “What are you doing here you naughty doggy?” I asked him while holding his big face in my hands and kissing on his nose. “You are so cold! Wait” All he did in return was huff softly and wag his tail.

    I got up and went inside the room to get my cell to call mom and picked up a blanket for the air at this time felt quite chilly and I didn’t want him to catch a cold. Again I got out of the window and sat down beside him, pulling the blanket over us. Cash licked my cheek once more and then rested his body my lap.

    I started patting him lightly with one hand and went through my call logs with the other. Before I could hit the green phone icon my cell rang instead. It read mom calling.

    “Well looks like a certain someone is in trouble” I teased Cash as I played with his ears. “They must have noticed you are missing.”

    “Hello-?” I picked up the call but wasn’t given a chance to say anything. On the other side of the phone my mother went on and on about a long story which I pretty much lost track of somewhere in the middle.

    “I see” was all I could say and hanged up the phone.

    “It looks like they are having a fight Cashu, they’ll be here in the morning to take you” I told him and continued patting him till we both fell asleep on the pavement. When the first streak of dawn hit my face I opened my eyes with a little difficulty. As expected, sleeping outside like this made my whole body ache. When I looked around Cash was nowhere and the blanket was wrapped around me untidily. I got up shakily and entered my room. Closed the windows and curtains and sat down on my bed recalling last night’s call. Mom was crying.

                                                                                    ———————–

    “I am so sorry dear. I am so sorry! It is all my fault. I should have paid more attention to him. He had been acting restless the whole time but I thought it was only for tonight. He somehow got out from the back window, you know that the latch was broken right, so he had no problems sneaking out silently. I don’t know when he did this but suddenly we heard a loud noise and horrible yelping sounds. I got up and ran down the stairs as fast as I could but… when I got there… Cash was already…” she drifted off sobbing uncontrollably.

    “I see”

                                                                                        ——————

     

    Cash was already no more when he came to me wagging his tail. He fallen between spiked metal wires and strangled to death… while trying to get close to me. Was I a horrible owner? No. Was he a stupid dog? No. Were the ones who separated us at fault? Maybe not.

    MORAL: Dogs contain twice the amount of love we have for them. Getting a friend home and them leaving them behind is cruel. Though sometimes our hands are tied and we get separated due to others, but if you are a dog owner or a dog lover or both, I request you to take care of them with all your might because they are doing the same for you.

    Don’t leave them alone for hours inside empty homes, don’t refuse to play with them. Don’t ever say no to them because they never say no to you.

  • Don, Jenny and a loose tooth

    Don, Jenny and a loose tooth

    Don and Jenny were lounging in Don’s room, reading the comics of Crazy Craig. Don was laughing madly at a certain scene in which Craig is captured by some cannibals who want to eat him but are, unfortunately, out of salt and sauce.

    Don looked up when Jenny huffed. “What?”

    Jenny sighed. “It’s my loose tooth. It isn’t coming out,” she replied irritably. “I want it to come out!”

    Don sat up and looked at his seven-year-old sister gravely. “This is bad news, Jenny. Your tooth has to come out,” he said.

    “I know,” Jenny whispered conspiratorially. “Tooth Fairy, right?”

    Don nodded seriously, and then rubbed his hands together as if getting ready to go on an adventure. “I have an idea,” he announced.

    Fifteen minutes later, Don stood looking down at his little sister, who was tied to the bed with a weathered rope which he had nicked from their father’s garage. Looking rather confident and pleased with himself, he grinned at Jenny.

    “Comfortable?”

    Jenny lay quite still, then grumbled, “The knot is too tight. It hurts.”

    Don did not need to ask her what she meant. He knew she was referring to the string he had tied to her loose tooth, with the other end tied firmly at the headboard of his bed.

    “It has to be that way, Jenny, I promise. Now wait here. I’ll get the candle.”

    Little Jenny waited till Don returned with the candle. He lit it and shot Jenny a triumphant smile. Jenny rolled her eyes and waited for him to proceed with his plan. She had no idea what he was going to do to her. But tying her up like that seemed a dark ritual from a witch’s spell book. She had read about such things in comics and fairytales. Maybe Don was going to summon the Tooth Fairy directly into their house and ask her to remove Jenny’s tooth.

    But when Don, suddenly, brought the candle really close to her face, Jenny shrieked and jerked her head away from the flame.

    “Why did you do that, Donnie? I thought we were friends!” Jenny screamed, tears rolling down her cheeks. Her own brother had tried to burn her!

    But Don just grinned at her, looking as smug as ever. “Do you feel the pain?” he asked.

    Jenny scowled. “What pai- oh!”

    She touched her tongue to the empty space where her tooth should have been and giggled. “Why didn’t you just tell me?” she said, making a face when she saw the fallen tooth on the pillow. She picked it up and released it of the string knotted around it. “How much do you think we’ll get for this tooth?” she asked, looking up at Don in giddiness.

    “It is a rather big tooth,” her brother agreed. He looked thoughtful for a second, then said, “A dollar maybe?”

    Jenny rolled her eyes as if Don was being a child. “Don’t be silly,” she said.

    Don shrugged. “Fifty cents then. Whatever it is, you’ll still get ice cream for your bravery and in honour of your fallen tooth.” He took the tooth from Jenny’s hand to inspect it. “What if we break it in half and put one half under your pillow and one half under mine?”

    A frown marred Jenny’s pretty features. “That’s cheating, Don,” she said disapprovingly.

    “Yes but we’ll get double the money,” Don argued excitedly. Jenny could see that he was beginning to like this idea more and more.

    She thought about how to tell him that she was not happy with his idea. She didn’t want him to get angry with her. Whenever Don got angry, he wouldn’t speak to her for days. Jenny always hated that. She liked it when they were friends. But she did not want to be a cheating cheater either. So she said, “But what if the Tooth Fairy finds out? You know, from the broken shape of the tooth?”

    Don opened his mouth to counter her but then shut his mouth and seemed to give her concern a serious thought. She was right. The Tooth Fairy was smart, she would totally find out. His shoulders slumped and his face fell. “I think you’re right,” he said, handing her back the tooth. “You can put it under your pillow tonight.”

    Jenny stared at him with big eager eyes. “Whatever I get, I’ll share it with you, Don,” she said.

    Don smiled. “I know.”

    And he went back to reading his Crazy Craig comic.

    Jenny stuffed the tooth under her pillow, grabbed a paper pencil from her drawer and wrote a note to the Tooth Fairy. Then she folded the note and placed it under her pillow along with the precious tooth. Her note read –

    Dear Tooth Fairy,

    My brother, Don, was the one who helped me get my loose tooth out. He’s my best friend. Please give him half the tooth prize. Oh, and please take care of my tooth.

    Love,
    Jenny


     

  • The Unforgiving Monkey

    The Unforgiving Monkey

    Once there lived a king named Chandra. His sons were fond of monkeys so they have a number of monkeys as their pets. These monkeys were lived in the royal palace and were treated as royal pets. They ate the food which they liked and they looked after by royal servants with the best care. The monkeys ate all the time and have nothing to did, so they got fatter and fatter.
    The king of the monkeys was very wise and he was great philosopher and a learned monkey which have knowledge about many fields of science. He wanted to teach the other monkeys and whenever he tried to do so, he failed as they completely absorbed in their royal lives and did not want to learn anything.
    The princes also had two well built rams (Billy goats), which were used by the princes to carry the carriage used by the princes. One of the rams was fond of food and whenever he got chance, he creeped into the kitchen and ate whatever he liked. This all made the cooks very angry even they kept a watch on him, he reached into the kitchen and destroyed all the food. The cooks would through anything they had in their hands to harm the ram whenever he would be near the kitchen.
    On day the king of the monkey noticed the cooks who were trying to hit the ram with sticks, earthen pots, pans and anything else which they had in their hand. He began to thought, “Such type of behaviour of the cooks May leads to accidents one day and the entire palace may suffer for this. What if they threw some dangerous thing one day?
    Thus the king of the monkeys immediately called the other monkeys and said, “Dears, the behaviour of the cooks towards the ram can lead to something bad one day and we may lose anything. So we have to find a way to get rid from such type of accident.”
    He continued, “Let us leave this place as soon as possible, otherwise we have to face some accident.”
    But the other monkeys did not want to go back to the jungle as they were enjoying the royal services there. So they refused to go away to the jungle and decided to stay there. They thought that the king was getting old and so he having all types of stupid thoughts in his mind.
    But the king of the monkeys decided to leave alone. He said to them, “Stupids, you are all fools that you not predict the approaching danger. But I cannot stay there as I value my life more than the foods served here. I shall leave this place at this time.”
    Thus the king of the monkeys had left to the jungle alone. After few days the ram entered into the kitchen and started to eat some food that was prepared for the king. When the cook saw him he got very angry and he threw a half burnt log from the oven in hurry. The log hit the ram and as the body of ram was covered with wool, it immediately caught fire. The ram cried in pain and wandered here and there. He reached the stable and within few moments the dry grass of stable caught fire and then the whole stable was caught fire.
    A state of extreme confusion and disorder created there and by the time the fire was blow out by the workers the horses suffered great burnings. Within few moments when the news reached the king, he felt very disappointed as such thing had happened with his favourite horses. He immediately called the surgeons to prescribe him remedy.
    As the veterinary surgeons approached there, they consulted many scriptures and said to the king, “Highness, the wounds of the horses were very serious and they recover fast if they applied with monkey’s fat.” 
    Thus the king ordered his servants to catch all the pet monkeys and killed at once. Then the fat from their bodies were used to treat the horse’s wounds.
    Within few days this news reached the king of the monkeys and as he heard the news he became very disappointed. He thought, “I know the monkeys were stupid not to pay attention to the warning but the king is heinous for doing this to his pets. It is totally wrong and I will make him pay for his evil actions.”
    The king of the monkeys then left the food and water for many days as he was very disappointed. One day as he was moving in the jungle, he unknowingly reached a lake full of beautiful lotus. As he was very thirsty he decided to drink some water from the lake. As he approached near the lake, he noticed the footprints of both men and animals led to the lake but not a single footprint led away from the lake.
    Thus he became very attentive and concluded there must be something wrong in this beautiful lake. He brought some hollow stem of the lotus and then used them as a pipe to drink water from a distance. While he was doing so, a monster appeared from the lake. He had a beautiful necklace around his neck. He warned, “I am a monster and I live in this lake. Whoever enters into this lake either to bath or drink water, ends up finally. But so many years, I have not seen anybody as wise as you. You drink the water from a distance where I cannot reach and touch you. I am very delighted with you and want to give you something whatever you want.”
    Immediately the king of the monkey remembered that he wanted to take revenge. He said, “Tell me, how many can you eat? I have a king as my enemy and I want to take revenge from him. If you give me your necklace, I shall use it to convince the king and his servants to enter the lake.”
    The monster agreed with him and said, “If they enter the lake I can eat all of them. Take this necklace and go ahead and bring as many you can.” Then the king of the monkey took the necklace from the monster and wore in his neck. He jumped tree to tree as fast as he can and reached the palace. He then went straight into the king’s court.
    As soon as the king and the others saw the monkey wearing a beautiful necklace in his neck they became curious to know about it. They asked the king of the monkeys different types of questions.
    The king of the monkeys said to the king, “O highness, while moving in the jungle, I reached near a large treasure that Kuber (God of treasures) has hidden. It is hidden inside the lake. And the positive thing is that when anyone take bath in the lake on a Sunday, can get the treasure as much as he want. I got this necklace from there and this is nothing as compare to the others present there. The diamonds and pearls are beyond the beauty.”
    When the king heard this, he said, “Hey King of monkeys, if such lake really exist and please lead us to it. I want to see it with my own eyes and even take everybody in the palace with me.”
    The king of monkeys agreed with the king and it was decided that they travel to the lake early morning of the next Sunday. As the day reached the king and the king of monkeys started to travel to the jungle and they were followed by ministers, servants, queens, princes and everybody else in the palace.
    After some time as they reached the lake, everybody fascinated to see the beauty of the lake that was full of beautiful lotus. Then the king of the monkeys said, “Everybody should enter the lake at the same time to get the blessings if you do not do so then only the first few will receive the blessings. My king, you should wait for some time, till they all entered the lake. Then I will show you a special place to enter the lake.”
    The king and everybody agreed with him and followed the instructions as he instructed. They started to enter into the lake and then one by one started to disappear. The king kept waiting outside for them to return with the treasures.
    After a long time when the peoples did not return from the lake, the king get worried and asked the monkey, “O king of monkeys, why do they not return from the lake? What happening there? Why is it they take too much time?
    Suddenly the king of the monkeys climbed up to the top of a tree and replied, “O evil king, the reality is that a monster lives in this lake that has eaten all your person. I have now killed all your family, as you have killed all my monkeys. Now I take revenge from you and the holy books say, it is not a crime to return evil for evil deeds.”
    The king of the monkeys continued, “O king, I saved you from the monster. Now you may return the palace empty-handed and all alone.
    As the king heard this he got very disappointed but he could not do anything now, so he returned to his palace after losing all his family and all people. And the king of the monkeys had his revenge.


    The wise indeed say:

    Greed surely brings disaster and destruction in the end.
     

  • The Four Treasure- Seekers

    The Four Treasure- Seekers

    Once there lived four Brahmins in a town. They were very good friends but all were very poor. They always passed their time with each other and discussed the solution of their problem.
    One day as they were discussing their problem they reached a conclusion. They concluded, “We should leave this place, where we are suffering from poverty and have nothing else. Let us seek some other place to prosper in life.”
    As they all agreed, they meet their friends and relatives and started on their journeys. After sometime they reached a town and they decided to stay there for some time. There was a temple of Lord Shiva near the bank of a river. First they bath in the river and then worshipped the God in the temple. In the temple they meet Yogi and then they went along with him to his hermitage.
    The Yogi asked them, “Who are you? Where do you come from? Why did you come in this town? And what do you want from me? Immediately the Brahmins explained their condition to him, “Sir, we are suffering from poverty in our town and if we did not leave our town we would die there. So we come on this journey to earn money. You are a skilful Yogi, and we believe that you must have wonderful powers. Please guide us to the path of earning money for our livelihood.”
    They continued, “We devote ourselves to you and we are ready to follow whatever path you guide us to follow. Please help us. We need you.”
    Yogi took pity on their condition and agreed with them. He then took out four cotton wicks and gave each of them a wick. He said to them, “Sons, I gave you a wick in your hand, with this wick you go to path that takes you all to the Himalayas. Listen carefully, keep walking till one of the wick of you drop accidently. Then locate the place where the wick drops accidently from you, that location is the place where you find a hidden treasure. Dig the place and take the treasure and then return home with the collected treasure.”
    Then the four Brahmins took the blessings from the Yogi and then they started their journey towards the Himalayas. They travelled for many days and one day the wick of one of them dropped accidently. They reached the place and dug that place where the cotton wicked had fallen. He found there a treasure filled with copper. Then the Brahmin whose wick had fallen said to the others, “Come on My Friends, there is too much treasure for even four of us to carry it. Let us collect it and return to our homes. We are now rich men and we need not to go further to earn money now.”
    The other three Brahmins discussed and then said, “Dear, you found this copper treasure which is in your destiny. We may be destined to some richer treasure. You collect all your copper treasure and return home. We will continue our journey till we reached our goal.”
    Thus the Brahmin collected all his treasure and then started travelling to his home. All the other three Brahmins continued their journey with their wicks in their hands. They continued travelling for many days and one day accidently one of them dropped his wick. Then he reached the place and dug the place where the cotton wick had fallen. He uncovered a treasure filled with silver. He said to his friends, “Dear friends, come here, there is too much treasure here and even much more than three of us to carry. Wes should collect it and go home. We are now rich and you need not go further to earn money.”
    Then the two other Brahmins discussed and said, “Dear, you found this silver treasure which is in your destiny. We may be destined to some richer treasure. You collect all your silver treasure and return home. We will continue our journey till we reached our goal.”
    Thus the Brahmin collected all his treasure and then started travelling to his home, while the other two Brahmins continued their journey with their wicks in their hands.
    They travelled for many days and one day the wick of one of the Brahmins dropped accidently from his hand. He reached the place and dug the place where the wicked had fallen. He uncovered a treasure filled with Gold, he got surprised and said to his friends, “Dear friends, come here, there is too much treasure here and even much more than to carry by both. Wes should collect it and go home. We are now rich and you need not go further to earn money.”
    Then the fourth Brahmin replied to him, “O stupid, don’t you understand what is all happening. First copper then silver and now it is gold. You all get the treasure which is in your destiny. I will sure now that next time I will find a costlier treasure of like diamonds or something else. You may collect all your treasure and return home but I will continue my journey. I am sure I will found a costlier treasure which is in my destiny.”
    The other Brahmin said, “If you want to continue your journey then you definitely do but I will return home only with you. I will stay here and guard this treasure of Gold till you not find your treasure. After that we will return home together when you return with your treasure here.”
    Therefore the fourth Brahmin started his the rest journey with his wick in his hand. He travelled for many days and one day he felt very restless. He was very thirsty and felt very hot. Within few moments he missed his way and then started moving in circles. While he was trying to find the right direction, a man came there with a spinning wheel around his head. His body was messy with blood. As the fourth Brahmin was felt so tired and thirsty so instead of helping him, he asked the man, “Sir, can you please tell me where I can get some water, as I feel very thirsty. Whoever you are I don’t want to know but please tell me quickly.”
    As the man heard these words within few moments, the wheel moved from the other man to the fourth Brahmin. Then the wheel started spinning around the Brahmin’s head and it gave so much pain to him which he cannot bear. Thus he cried in pain, “What nonsense is this? What is the meaning of all this? How the wheel shifted itself from your head to mine? Please help me to get rid of this.”
    The man replied him, “Dear, when someone carrying a miraculous cotton wick in his hand is come here, and speak to you as you came here. Only then you will get rid from this wheel, and this wheel attaches itself to him.”
    The Brahmin did not understand him and told him to explain. The man explained to him, “I do not remember how long I have been here. It was during the reign of king Rama, that I got a magical wick from a Yogi to get rid from my poor condition. But out of my greed I continued my journey even after I got treasure many times. I wanted the most costly treasure. Thus in this way I met a man here under the same circumstances as you found me. And in this way I got this wheel around my head from his head. You will be free from hunger, thirst, aging or death but you have to bear this pain.”
    He continued, “I know it was the Kuber (God of wealth) who made this wheel so that no one can approach this place and steal the treasure. And only a man with a magical wick in his hand can reach this place.”
    As the other man finished himself, went away from there and the forth Brahmin was left alone. On the other hand the other Brahmin was worried about his friend as his friend was not return still. So he decided to search his friend. As he followed the path and reached the place where his friend was suffering from pain due to a spinning wheel around his head. His body was messy with blood.
    The third Brahmin immediately asked him, “Dear, what happened to you? What is all this? How can I help you?
    The forth Brahmin was in very pain and tears were in his eyes. He replied, “Dear, I understand that I was destined for this. This is in my fate”. And then he explained the whole story of the wheel to his friend.
    When the forth Brahmin heard all this, there was nothing which he could do for him. So he started to leave and said, “Dear, even being a intellectual person, you lacked the sense to control your greed. You did not satisfy with Gold as you want pearls or diamonds or something more costly things. Now there is no point to in giving you company, as no one can help you. I should leave this place and return home.”
    Thus the forth Brahmin started his journey to his home and the forth Brahmin was left all alone there in pain.
     
    The wise indeed say:

    Greed only brings misery.
     

  • The Four Learned Fools

    The Four Learned Fools

    Once there lived four Brahmins, in a certain town. They were good friends and always lived together. As they were naive Brahmins, so they decided to study hard and gain knowledge. After which they would be able to earn money by using their knowledge. It was decided that they would go to a different town to gain knowledge. 
    As decided they all started travel to a new town. When they reached the new town, they joined a saint to study further and acquire knowledge. They studied hard for twelve years and acquired knowledge. They learned in many fields of knowledge and mastered in that fields.
    One day, they discussed, “Dears, now we have acquired sufficient knowledge in many fields of sciences. So it is the right time to start to earn money by using our knowledge. Let us ask our teacher’s permission to leave this place.” As decided they reached their teacher and asked for permission to them to leave that place. Their Guru gave them permission and blessed them for success.
    They started their journey with all the holy books (shastras) they have with them. After travelling for some time they came across an intersection point, where the path was divided into two different directions. They began to think which path they should select to go further.
    At the same time, a merchant’s son had died in a nearby town. While they stood in the path considering which path was right, a huge funeral procession came across them. The procession ha several people and they all were going to the cremation ground.
    Conferring the scriptures of the shastras, one of the Brahmins said, “The right path which we have to follow is the path taken by these great men.” They all agreed with him and thus they decided to take the same path as that of the funeral procession. After some time the people reached the cremation place and then they all stopped there. They started the funeral proceedings further. Then they started discussing what course of action they should take next.
    While they all were discussing they saw a donkey nearby. Consulting the scriptures of the shastras, a Brahmin said, “Dears, a true friend is one who stands beside you on all occasions. Be the occasion jolly or sad does not matter.”
    Thus they decided to accept the donkey as their true friend. They washed his hoofs with water first and then hug the donkey and kissed him.
    At the very same time, they saw a camel coming towards them from a long distance. Immediately by consulting their scriptures of the shastras, one of the Brahmins said, “virtues walk rapidly.” And then they agreed that the camel which coming towards them must be virtue in the flesh and nothing else.
    At the same time another Brahmin on consulting his scriptures, said, “A good friend should always lead his friend to path of virtue.”
    Thus they immediately stopped the camel and introduced it with the donkey. So they tied the donkey with the camel in order to lead their friend to path of virtue. Then the camel started dragging the donkey, while continuing his journey.
    At the same time the donkey’s master who was a washerman saw the four Brahmins tied his donkey to the camel. He got very angry by seeing this and then chased them with a stick. On being chased, the four Brahmins ran way for their lives and they reached a river. As they reached the river they saw that a leaf of holy tree was floating on the water of the river.
    Immediately one of the Brahmins said, "Holiness carries one across the river of life!" and then he jumped into the river on the holy leaf to cross the river. But he was unable to swim and then immediately began to drown.
    When another Brahmins saw him being dragged away by the river, he jumped into the river to save him. He caught him by the neck but the flow of the currents were very strong, so he was not able to bring his friend to the bank of the river. At the same time he immediately began to think and remembered that, “When a intelligent man knows that he could not succeed in his work while completing the whole at the same time, he would sacrifice half and then work with the rest.”
    Then he immediately took out his sword and cut his friend into two parts. Then he drag him to the bank of the river but at that time he had already died. When they came to know that they lost his friend they regretted for that and then the remaining three Brahmins continued their journey.
    After sometime they reached a village. As the villagers saw them they welcomed them in a very friendly manner and offered them place to stay. Then the villagers decided that three different families will serve them food to eat.
    One of the Brahmins was served with sweet food. He thought, “Long tactics will surely take a man to destruction!" Thus he refused to eat the food and remained hungry throughout the night.
    Another Brahmin was served with a bowl foamy soup. He began to think that he learned from the scriptures, “Whatever is foamy and distended does not stay for long time.” So he refused to eat and remained hungry all over the night, too.
    The third family serves the Brahmin a tasty food with a hole in the middle. He began to think, “Defects are an impending sign of approaching danger!" Thus he refused to eat the food and remained hungry all over the night, too.
    In the morning when the villagers came to know that they did not have the dinner served for them, they laughed at them and mocked them.
    The Brahmins got very angry and they decided to leave the village. As they began to start their journey, the villagers went with them up to a long distance. They all mocking and laughing at them all the time on their journey.

    The wise indeed say:

    Empty knowledge brings ridicule.