Storieo

Category: Inspiration

Collection of Best Inspirational Short Stories

  • My Dog Kane

    My Dog Kane

     

    I love my dog,

    She’s a German Shepherd.

    Her eyes are small and brown and sad.

    When she’s done something wrong

    her ears flop down,

    she puts her head down on the ground

    and she seems to say

    “I’m sorry … I will not do it again.”

    When my friend, Tom comes over

    She jumps all over him

    and licks him in the face-

    sloppy, gooey, drooly and smelly!

    She never bites and

    she always loves to meet people.

    When she’s good.

    She does as she’s told.

    She sits,

    Stays,

    Retrieves,

    and comes when you call her.

    She learned of things at Dog’s School.

    Every morning she came into my room

    and licks my nose to wake me up

    And I cuddle her.

    Kane is three years old.

    Dad says she will live till she’s twelve.

    I hope she never dies!

  • The War

    The War

    Fights night and day,

    it must be awful;

    Losing friends, relatives, parents,

    Not going to school,

    Not being able to laugh.

    This is not a dream.

    I do not want it to be the reality.

    Stop this cruel fight.

    Let there be peace.

    Let everybody return home.

    Let everybody be happy.

    Let everybody be good to each other.

  • Stop Abusing Yourself

    Stop Abusing Yourself

        When was the last time you stopped and noticed your thoughts? What do you think about more often? What do you think about yourself when you make a small mistake? How do you treat yourself when you embarrass yourself in public? Do you let it go and realize that you’re just human and you’re bound to making silly mistakes and embarrassment at some point in your life or do you beat yourself up and think you’re just not good enough and an idiot to even have ended up in a situation like that?

    Many of us, including myself, are victims of negative thinking. We often beat ourselves up for small errors and make it a big deal, we exaggerate our weaknesses so much that we actually end up believing that we’re not good enough, not strong enough and that we don’t deserve good things. And, why do we do this? You’d be surprised to know that we have no reason at all to do any of this. It’s just become a habit now, a bad, bad habit. A habit that is so addictive that once you become used to it, it doesn’t leave you alone. And it doesn’t make you feel good, does it? It makes you feel horrible and it makes you believe that good things aren’t meant for you. It makes you feel like someone else is always going to be better at something, so why should you even try? Don’t get me wrong, I’ve been there and I sometimes still go there. I’m not a self actualized human who is above all the negativity. I get trapped too. The last time I made myself feel bad for a tiny little mistake wasn’t that long ago.

    A few months back, I was presenting a lesson on Stanford Binet Intelligence Tests in my class and I was covering the topic of Reliability and Validity. So, I said, “I hope we all know that the definition of Reliability is that the test measures what it is supposed to measure,” which was obviously incorrect and was the definition of Validity. At this point, everyone except for my friends and my teacher was laughing at me. I mean… how stupid was I? I did not even bother to check the definition before saying it out loud and I was so nervous that I ended up saying the opposite definition. After a few minutes, everyone calmed down and I finished explaining the entire standardization of the test quite well for someone who read it for the first time, the class came to an end. All my friends and other classmates told me that I was good and too cute, some told me I had a good sense of humor and they actually understood such a boring part of the chapter. But, me being me, I was upset about the goof up. I sulked for days and I thought I was so stupid and just the most embarrassing person to even be here. I thought I was no good and I shouldn’t have even taken the responsibility of teaching something in front the whole class. I completely ignored the fact that everyone else had forgotten about the incident and nobody ever brought it up again. I felt horrible and my confidence went down.

    You see what I was doing? I was simply abusing myself for something so silly and small. I made myself feel so horrible and as if I’m worthless. I exaggerated a small event into a huge glorified mistake. This is abuse. Beating yourself up time and time again is abuse. I realized that. I realized that if someone else was doing this to me, if someone else treated me the way I treat myself and if they spoke to me the way I speak to myself, I’d have left them long back. You know you would have too. Or you would have wanted to leave them, at least. So why was I doing this to myself? What had I done to feel so negative about myself that I was out there to literally contradict any compliment anyone ever gave me? Why was I criticizing myself for no reason at all?

    So I stopped. I stopped abusing myself, I stopped being ashamed of myself. I can’t say that I don’t give myself a hard time when I make mistakes, because I still do, but it is not as glorified as it used to be. I’m not as harsh as I used to be. The first thing I did was that I understood that thoughts are just thoughts and they have no power until you attach an emotion to it. So, whenever I used to get negative thoughts before, I’d attach a negative emotion of being helpless and feeling guilty. However, when I started treating my thoughts as just THOUGHTS, and nothing else, I let them go away easily. One way you can do this is by asking the thought its origin, its purpose, if the thought is really necessary, if the thought is 100% true… When you start doing this, you realize that the thought originated out of nowhere and it’s easy for it to just pass by. The thought, alone, has no power over you until you give it a meaning. When you start asking yourself these questions, you will realize that the original thought makes so sense and then you’re ready to let it go into space, forever. Another technique I used is by replacing a negative thought into a positive one. Or by re-framing the negative thought. For instance, if I have at thought about how I am so fat, I actively replace it by saying, “my body needs more exercise and I will get to my desired body soon,” and trust me, it works. It takes time but it is possible.

    And, I am not stopping until I get there. I’m not stopping till I treat myself as I want others to treat me and I hope, I sincerely hope you get there as well.

  • Fury In My Home

    Fury In My Home

    Fury was a pup

    When I was crawling about

    She’s coming and lick my face

    and happily jump around.

    But Fury was smarter,

    She grew faster than me.

    Mom says I learned to stand up

    by holding her tail!

    She never let me walk straight,

    but would wag her tail hard

    and make me fall, and say, “WOOF-WOOF

    as if she was laughing!

  • Mother’s Sky

    Mother’s Sky

    Mother Sky looked neat dressed in blue and white,

    Her smile assured the day would be nice and bright.

    Higher and higher into her arms flew a naughty kite

    Birds big and small flew with their feathers might,

    Suddenly be barged in a plane on its mom’s flight.

    Scattering the clouds which shrieked in fright,

    Mother hurriedly hugged them all so tight.

    Stroking each cloud with a true right,

    Mother Sky you are beautiful.

    Every day and even at night.

  • The Positivity in Nakshatra

    The Positivity in Nakshatra

    Nakshatra had a dream to pursue her favorite subject Psychology from Delhi University. Her parents and her grandfather totally supported her choice.

    She would go around telling people that she would get to visit Delhi from her native place Almora. Since her +1 when she decided to pursue Psychology and that too from the reputed University, she was very excited as well as anxious about living in Delhi, about her college life and endless memories to collect from the capital city, which is quite obvious for a girl coming from small town.

    Nakshatra had given her Board exams and she awaited the day when the Board results came. On D-Day, she took blessings from the Almighty and also from her Grandpa.

    “My star, my Nakshatra will get whatever she wants!” Her grandfather said with a smile.

     She switched on the computer and logged on to the education board’s website. After a lot of hassle as the site got hanged she got her result. She had got less marks in English and her favorite subject, Psychology: 83 and 85 respectively and 95 in History and Political science. She had got a 98 in her optional subject. So in her main subjects she had only got around 89%. You may call me an idiot for saying, only 89 but it is a harsh and an unfortunate reality in terms of admission in DU, in a subject like Psychology wherein the requirement is above 93%.

    “Woah Nakshatra! You have done so well! Congratulations, my child.” Her grandfather was happy and he kissed his grand-daughter. But Nakshatra’s mother had something else going on in her head and she was staring at Nakshatra with a grumpy face.

    “Tell me, how will you get your.. what did you say, ah yes, “your first love”, with these marks.” She said in a wicked tone.

    Nakshatra’s head was hung with shame.

    “Why are you talking to the child like that? She has done so well. The marks Nakshatra has got is not bad. It is rather very good.”

    “Papa ji, she cannot get anywhere in DU with these marks!” Her mother growled and went away.

    Nakshatra sat still.

    “So what if you would not get the college you desired, life does not end here. Maybe you will get something much better. Don’t get bogged down with these marks. You have got this beautiful thing called Internet. Search for alternatives then and have that smile and never-say-die spirit in you.”

    Nakshatra nodded. She searched the other colleges in India which offer the subject. Till she came across a course known as B.A. Programme in DU itself which is actually for those like her who could not get admission in a particular subject due to sky high requirement. She could study two subjects like Psychology and Philosophy or Psychology and English.

    Nakshatra’s mother came with her phone. Her father who was posted in Vadodara had called to keep her spirits up. She excitedly told about her recent discovery.

    “Are you sure about this choice? I mean, you would not get proper knowledge of the subject, is what I reckon.”

    “Don’t worry Papa, it will be no less than the specialised course. I’ll work hard for the Masters entrance and I assure you, I will come out with flying colors.” Nakshatra happily replied.

    “I am proud of you, my child. Do what makes you happy. I am always ready for your help.”

    The call ended.

    A week after that, Nakshatra was called at her school as she stood second in her stream.

    “No need to go there! You have not got marks which are grand enough for this felicitation!” Her mother ranted.

    Nakshatra’s grandfather was witnessing the scene.

    “Manjari! Enough of you! Always cursing your own child because the examiner gave her less marks. Nakshatra is already so disappointed by this behaviour of yours. Do you ever realise this?  Don’t you dare reprimand her like that again!” then he turned to Nakshatra,” Go and get your reward. I know very well that you have worked hard for it.”

    Nakshatra went to school the other day and brought home a trophy. Her mother, who did not even come to attend the award function, overlooked the trophy. Her grandfather had kept it in his room at the cabinet.

    After a month, Nakshatra had got admission in a B.A. Programme course in a South Campus college. She was happy that she was getting to study her desired subject along with her second preference English. She had got the college hostel as well. But she was dismayed by her mother’s attitude towards her result. She did not send a single congratulatory message on her admission.

    Her mother sent a long message to her after her college started explaining as to how she was disappointed that her daughter could no enter into the 95% category which could have landed her up where she actually wanted to. But it was Nakshatra’s positive mindset which changed her attitude towards the whole situation and she blessed Nakshatra.

    When her mid-semester break started, her grandfather passed away due to heart problem. Nakshatra was crying when she got the news. Her grandfather trusted her like no one else.

    After the funeral was over, she was sitting on her grandfather’s bed and looking at the photos of him, Grandma, her parents and of herself. Below that was the cabinet where her trophy was standing. She recollected the day when he congratulated her and lifted her spirits that day. Then she decided she will always live up to her grandfather’s positivity and do well.

    She realized that how we are so afraid of failires as they come and go but people get so threatened by it. It gives us some kind of experience.

  • The Little Squirrel

    The Little Squirrel

    Once there was a sweet little girl named Sofia. She lived near a beach which was filled with palm and coconut trees all over the beach. She used to live on a coconut tree which was far away from the beach and was very tall. The leaves were very heavy and green. The bark of the coconut tree was very flexible and strong. The bark was also waterproof so she decided to make her house with the bark of the tree and thought to cover it with the palm tree leaves so that she could get protection from the sunlight, rainfall for any other season.

    She was poor and she lived in a tiny hut made out of coconut leaves. Now Sofia was a kind girl, so she went to it and stroked its head. “Dear squirrel,” she said when she noticed that it was hurt, come with me, I’ll make you feel better. “She took it home and fed it well.” Then she bandaged the wound and she told it to go back to the woods if it wanted to.She said this expecting it to leave but it stayed with her. Sofiya was surprised. Anyway, she always kept the squirrel with her. She loved it and it loved her. They were together for the first three years. They had fought in between which only made their love stronger and deeper. They took care of each other, their needs and lived for each other happiness. It has been 5 years now that they both have been living together.

    One day, Sofia went out to get some nuts for the squirrel. The sky was completely dark and was filled with clouds. The clouds were roaring as something is going to happen. The wind was blowing at a very high speed. She somehow managed to get out of her home. And it started raining like cats and dogs. The rain was so heavy along with the wind blowing that she could evenly walk.

    Suddenly something happened. The lightning struck a nearby tree and a voice came from her house. It was Harry, he was the most notorious one in the place where she lived. A naughty little boy called Harry, who had been having a walk in the forest, kidnapped it. The boy took her to the jungle where he tied her with ropes and mistreated her. The boy was very unkind to the squirrel. He did not feed the poor thing. One day when Harry went to school, he ran away to find his little mistress. Meanwhile, Sofia was worried about her little pet. She looked everywhere for it. She was very sad.

    One day, as Sofia was making some honey juice, she heard a nibble at the door. When she went and looked, there was the little squirrel, all worn out. So he brought it. The squirrel thought that it was very lucky to have such a good mistress and was very grateful. The squirrel was extremely happy and delighted. After that, they lived happily ever after.

  • The Bighorns

    The Bighorns

    Millions and millions of year ago there was a dinosaur called Bighorns who had a long neck, short body, a long tail and a pair of wings. He was very tall. You know, he came from space, so he was special. But the most important thing to say about him is that he had an ugly face and body but a, very nice and kind heart.

    Bighorn was a dinosaur who didn’t know that he was going to live the most exciting adventure you could ever imagine. The story started when Bighorns came out of his egg and realized he was in the water but … there was a big problem. He could not float and he did not know what to do. He even doesn’t know how to swim. Just after he was born it looked like that he was going to die because he was in the water and wasn’t able to swim. He got so much scared that he lost all his hopes to move forward. He gave up.

    Fortunately, he saw a wrecked ship near him so he decided to go and live there. Now he had some base and shelter with him so that he could relax more and now at this time, he doesn’t have to worry about because he was not in water. Everything went alright until he was hungry. He had to go out to look for some food.

    When he jumped out of the ship he saw lots of dinosaurs playing together. Bighorn was sad because he wanted to play with them but he was too shy to ask. He used to play alone always. No one talked to him because he was so giant. Everyone was afraid of him. They all thought that he should kill them or he would create a nuisance among the children. So bighorn decided to live all by himself. He was so shy. He searched for the food all by himself. He would play games or visit different places all alone.

    The other dinosaurs did not want Bighorns to play with them because he was different. Bighorn everytime tried to the group of children playing but they would ignore him and he would always be lying in a corner.

    Bighorn’s parents died in an calamity. He was not at all happy anymore. His all happiness vanished. His life began to be dull and boring. He was struck because he had no one to share his feelings. He had no one to play. He had no one to have

    Bighorns went sadly back to the wrecked ship but … Wait! He suddenly saw a beautiful girl Dinosaur sunbathing near the ship He silently slowly towards her He was really happy when he realized that she was … from space like him!! They would play together, dance together, bathe together and had all the fun together.

    They immediately fell in love with each other, and lived together, happily, for the rest of their lives.

    Someone told me that sometimes you hear two voices talking, laughing and singing in the sky, you can be sure that is Bighorns and his wife remembering the fantastic moment when they met.

  • The Unsung Heroes

    The Unsung Heroes

    This is a story of the unsung heroes of our society that many of us are still unaware of. These heroes work day and night to make our lives better. Still not clear who these are?

    These heroes are the sewer cleaners of the city. These workers are poorly paid who get no benefits as other people in a government job gets. They work all day cleaning a sewer that is full of stinking decomposing materials. Their health deteriorates but they do not complain to anybody and quietly continue the work. According to an article in the LA times, these workers even work on the holidays that is when all others are relaxing they are busy cleaning the s**t spread by other.

    Such is the story of a manhole sewage cleaner worker Raju. Raju is now forty years old and has spent the last twenty – four years cleaning sewers. The death of his father who worked in the same line forced him to quit his education and work for the family. He was recently transferred to the manhole cleaning squad, manhole cleaning is considered as the most dangerous in this profession, there have been multiple reports every year of people dying thin the manhole due to harmful gases. Basically, when the sewage decomposes it releases many dangerous gases like Carbon monoxide and other gases which can be really harmful to the body.

    The person whom Raju replaced in the work was found dead inside the same manhole when he was thirty – four and the reason was the gases. Nevertheless, Raju decided to join the work as it was paying a little high though he knew that his life is now at a much larger risk than before. The average life span of a sewage worker is only 60 years, many die at a very young age that is before forty years.

    After a month of continuous work in the manhole, Raju felt nauseous and was admitted to the hospital where he stayed for at least two months before he lost his battle to the death. He was just 45 years old. Lack of regulations and safety equipment for everyone really results in this kind of disasters. Does human life have no more value? Are these workers destined to die for us? Are some of the millions of questions that are raised in the court every single day by activists to which answers have not been found till date.

    Many say that majority of these workers are Dalits and they are assigned to do this their entire life, this has been the tradition of the caste system and all, But ask yourself, do we really believe in all this after so so many years of its abolition. Is their caste the reason they work there or is it the lack of opportunities, education that forces them to do so. This is a matter of debate which should ake place soon, otherwise many honest and hardworking workers like Raju will lose their lives.

  • Pilot: Achievable Dream

    Pilot: Achievable Dream

    Anaya is weaving a dream on her tenth birthday party, which is happening on her tree house with her dear family. Everyone is gifting her Barbie dolls to build a Barbie dollhouse like her tree house. A six year old has a dream, which is not an ordinary one. As her cake arrives, her grand father asks her to make a wish and blow the candles. She, with innocence says, “I wish I become a pilot one day” and blows the candle and everyone around. Her father with an astounding voice asks, “Why do you want to become a pilot.”

    Her reply is quite surprising to come from a ten-year-old girl’s mouth. She says, “I want to fly high, building a house for people who will leave me because a man will want to marry me. I will love to stay up in the sky and play with nature rather than leaving my parents for a boy.” Her mother has tears in her eyes as the other day she was sharing her wedding story with Anaya. Her mother’s family lives in another state and she does not get to meet them much. Her mother is an only child like Anaya and she promised her parents to look after them even after marriage. Sometimes she feels helpless and wanting to leave everything, run to them and stay with them. Ten years old is able to understand such deep emotions and is overwhelmed.

    Seven years passes by and Anaya starts preparing to become a pilot. She is stubborn and determined on her decision to fly an aeroplane. Each day she is devoting more than two-three hours to prepare for her pilot entrance exam. Nothing can come in her way to become a pilot,not even her parents. Every month her father tries to manipulate her not to pursue her dream, as it will create distance between him and Anaya. Each time he fails to succeed, as she is willing to achieve her dream with all her will. Aside from studying, she is working to stay fit as it says “the survival of the fittest”.

    A year passes in the preparation of the entrance exam for becoming a pilot. Each day starts with new hopes and excitement to learn and prepare new things. She is preparing to take one-step towards her dream, but becoming a pilot is more than a dream to Anaya. She is yearning for this since past eight years. These eight years means a lot to her as she lives a world where people changes eight career options in eight minutes. She is extremely serious about becoming a pilot.

    The day has come, she is moving towards her future and suddenly something crashes. Immediately her parents come and see that Anaya is lying on the floor there is blood on the floor. She has been longing for this day since eight years and her dreams are lying on the floor with blood. Her father who wanted her to stay with him is crying and carrying her in his arms, taking her to the hospitals. After waiting to hours in hospital, doctor comes out and says, “Please come to my cabin.” Her parent’s heart is beating faster than the speed of an airplane with hush. They enter the room with a sober face and controlling their tears in front of the doctor.

    As the doctor proceeded to inform why Anaya fell off, her parents lost the track and goes into blues after hearing two words from doctor’s mouth. It is more than hard and complicated for a parent to know that their child suffering from a non-curable disease. Such a disease will eat the person eventually and can only die with the person. They come out of the room and everyone from their family asks them, what the doctor said. They are still in that zone where they are unable to understand even one word coming out of other’s mouth. Both of them hugs each other and cries. Her father then tells the whole family while sobbing that Anaya is suffering from Breast Cancer, also it has reached to other body parts as well. Yes, it is harsh for everyone to believe those words.

    Anaya becomes conscious and sees that she is lying on a bed, which is not an ordinary bed. She then feels a lot of pain her hand and sees drip on her hand. She is figuring out that she is inside a hospital lying on a bed instead of sitting inside the examination hall. She shouts but unfortunately, her voice cannot even reach to the other side of the bed. She is screaming, crying, yelping and trying her best to get up from the bed however, unable to get up from the bed. Her father comes in running towards her and hugs her with a helping cry.

    She is trying to understand what is going on and why her father is crying, but that is hard to unravel for her. Her mother joins them too and cries with her husband. Anaya gather the courage to ask her parents about their trying faces and mood. Her mother initiates to start a conversation with her, however fails in doing so. Her parents hold their hands, tell her, and by that time Anaya get a little hold about the ongoing situation. Both of them tells her about condition and as always Anaya blows her parents off. She handles herself with grace and utmost maturity.

    She says, “What if I have fewer days to live with you both. We will live to the fullest in these few days and will make each day count.” Her parents look into each other’s eyes with proud, as they have raised their daughter in the right ways. As soon as they leave the room as they cannot say with her for long. Anaya starts crying and wishing that she did not want to fly in the sky to meet the god rather wants to stay on the ground to fly her gods into the sky as a pilot.

    She never gets to leave the hospital, as her condition gets a bit critical and impossible to cure. Her last words made everyone cry as she says,”I am flying to heaven and Ma, Pa I will take care of you from their. Always miss me as a fighter plane’s pilot as I am fighting hard to stay alive. However, I am always alive in your hearts, I love you.”