Tag: Story

Trees the producers, the givers, the beneficial souls, and loyal ones and with no negative qualities.

Human, the loving creature, the innovator, the caretaker, and at the same time the greedy breed, the consumer and destroyer of nature.

Due to their greedy nature, humans kept destroying trees.

Then one day, the trees called a meeting.

“Humans are destroying us, we need to do something” said a young tree in a very worried voice, “l also want to see the beautiful world one day.”

“But we haven”t got anyone to protect us.” said another one.

“I know what we need to do. We need to rebel against them. We need to go on a strike for our sake. We will stop our production of fruits, vegetables, flowers. They will eventually understand. Are you all in favour of this plan?” said one of the oldest trees.

All the trees agreed to the plan. The next day humans got a shock. They did not find any fruits, flowers, or vegetables. The trees continued their rebellion.

And at last, after several days all the humans realised how they had been exploiting the nature selfishly. They begged the trees for forgiveness.

The kind trees agreed at once and made the humans promise that they will not cut trees heedlessly.

Finally, the trees could live happily ever after.

CHARACTERS-
Robin – a bird
Daniel – a bird
Mr. Tree – a tree
Mrs. Sitaji – a lady
Mr. Prithviraj – a man

It was a bright sunny day. Robin and Daniel, two birds, were roaming in the sky looking for a tree. They were unable to find any tree where they could build their nest. Some of them had dried up or some were cut. Soon, they found a lush, green tree with huge leaves. They thought that this tree would provide them all their needs. They flew towards that tree but heard a voice saying, ‘STOP!!!!.’ Who could have said so? Let’s see-
MR. TREE – Hey, please stop. I know that you are in need of a house but don’t choose me as your house.
ROBIN- (politely asked) Hello Mr. Tree. I respect your words. Till now, no tree ever told us to not make a house on them so why are you saying so? Every tree tells us that we will make good friends. Don’t you want us to be friends with you?
Mr. Tree said so because of a reason which was in favour of the birds. But he did not wish to tell them the reason. Soon a fight started between the tree and the birds. The tree did not wish to tell the reason to the pair of birds but on the other hand, Robin and Daniel were eager to know the reason. Mrs. Sitaji saw the birds and the tree fighting. She went near them to know the reason for their fight. Mrs. Sitaji worked in a company which protected the trees from getting cut. After retirement she had planted six hundred trees. In short, she was a tree lover.
MRS. SITAJI – Hello! What’s going on here? May I know the reason behind your fight? Can you sum up the whole story?

DANIEL – Hello lady! This tree is not letting us make our house on him. The Constitution of Birds says that no tree can stop any bird from making a house on them. So why is he stopping us? On asking the reason, he is quiet. Not uttering a single word. Isn’t it frustrating?
MRS. SITAJI – He is right. You can’t stop him. I’ve read the Constitution of Birds. And you should state the reason. It’s then up to the birds to decide whether to make a house or not. SPEAK…
MR. TREE – Ma’am, my reason is in favor of them. Yesterday, Mr. Prithviraj came with his two officers to cut the trees near me. They were going to cut me but it started raining. I heard them saying that they were going to cut me today. And of course, even the weather is sunny. Maybe it’s God’s wish that I should no longer live on this Earth.
ROBIN – (with a sad face) Oh, you sweet tree! I’m so thankful to you that you stopped us. Sitaji, it is now our duty to save this tree. Sitaji, you worked in the company which protects the trees. So, you must know all the procedures. Please save this tree.
MRS. SITAJI – That’s the spirit! Saving trees is not only my duty but is my work as a citizen of this Earth. I will try my best to save this tree. Don’t worry dear.
Soon, they heard the voice of large tractors which were used to cut trees.
MR. TREE – Daniel and Robin, please go away from here. If they see you, they will trap you and then everyone knows what they will do with you two. Let them only kill me.. FLY OFF…
(Mr. Prithviraj entered)
MR. PRITHVIRAJ – Aaj ek pe doosra free. Hey you! I am talking to you, the birds. Just fly off from here otherwise even you will die with this tree. I am warning you the very last time.
MRS. SITAJI – Shut up you fools! Neither will they fly away nor will you take this tree with you! Mark my words.
MR. PRITHVIRAJ – You old lady! My name is Prithviraj Solanki and according to my name, I rule this Earth. You are no one to stop me. People like you come in my way always but I know how to deal with such people. Ha Ha Ha…
MRS. SITAJI – That’s great! You take the meaning of your name in such a way. I thought that you are the one who is going to save this Prithvi. Mr, try to look at these trees and birds. Don’t you have a heart? How would you feel if your house was snatched from you? Sad, right? They feel the same. Why do you want to sin by taking the lives of these living creatures? Even they have loved ones. How will they feel about losing them? Of course, sad. Don’t do this. I am warning you for the last time otherwise the case may go into the court. The Constitution of India provides me that right. I, Mrs. Sita till now have closed forty eight such companies which cut the trees just for their advantages. Don’t challenge me!
MR. PRITHVIRAJ – I regret. Please forgive me.
MRS. SITAJI – Don’t say sorry to me. Say sorry to God for your sins. Say sorry to your soul. Say sorry to the soul of those trees who are not alive but have died because of you.
MR. PRITHVIRAJ – Dear lady, you have opened my eyes. I can’t bring the life of those trees back but I can plant one tree daily and fulfill my destiny, can’t I? I, today itself, will close all the companies which work under me and are involved in cutting trees. Now I am going to open a new company for planting trees and would like to make you the manager of the company. Will you join us? We really need such a person in our lives who can advise us.
MRS. SITAJI – Yeah, sure! So everyone, repeat after me-
“We won’t cut trees. We will plant more and more trees, starting today. This is our pledge. And we will follow these words in any situation.”
Everything ended well. It is said, “We can and we will win.” The same happened. The birds and Sitaji decided to stop Mr. Prithviraj from cutting the tree and they won. Never lose hope. A person can live without food for four weeks, without water for four days, without air for four minutes but without hope, a person can’t live even for four seconds. So never lose hope. Ups and downs are the nature of life. All the best! And please, a request to all the readers to plant a sapling at least once a week.

“Psst! Psst! Hey you! Human!”, said the bird in a clear tone. The man, named Henry, was obviously shocked, and said, “Wh-who is i-it?” in a stammering voice as he was frightened. The bird got annoyed and said, “Do the humans never look up or do they always have a neck sprain?”. Henry looked up and stood petrified, just like a statue with his mouth open.
He took 5 minutes to recover. Then he said, “C-can you ta-talk?”, still startled. The bird replied, “Of course I can talk but not that fluently as I am still learning English. But the source of my learning is none of your concern. I am here to tell you a safely guarded secret.” Henry asked, “Wh-what sec-secret?”
The bird replied, “Latience, my dear human. Oh sorry, is it patience? See, I told you, I am still learning English. Now, the secret is that there is an ancient ktepwall, no, ancient stepwell at the end of the forest. When you climb down the steps, you will see 9 temples of different gods like Lord Rama, Lord Ganesha etc. Also, there will be another room which is very extraordinary. Why, you ask. It is because it has water more valuable than immortal nectar that the gods use. If you take that water and share it with ALL living organisms, it would be beneficial and advantageous for all of us. But if you use that water only for your benefit then it could be disastrous.”
“Wh-where is the st-stepwell?”, Henry enquired. The bird said, “Start digging!” After digging for a long time, he finally found the stepwell and entered the special room. Then, he took the water pot and giggled cunningly. The bird asked,” Will you share it with us?”.
Karma moment: Will Henry share it or keep it only for himself?
“Of course I will use this precious water for myself alone”, Henry replied.
Bad action, bad action!
The bird said, “You greedy human! Now you will remain in that stepwell forever!”. The stepwell closed and Henry remained in the stepwell for several years.
One fine day, another man named Jack was passing through the same forest which contained the stepwell. Again the bird told the same story of the stepwell to Jack. Excited, Jack started digging and saw the enormous stepwell. The special room which had the water also had Henry who had become very weak because of the lack of food in the stepwell. Jack thought open-mindedly, and then told Henry, “Have you any forethought of how helpful and useful it would be to share this priceless water with other living organisms? The whole world would be full of happiness, and you would be proud to see the giggling children playing in the park as you have given the cheerfulness to them.” Henry knew now that Jack was absolutely correct and agreed to support the whole world. They came out of the stepwell and Henry apologized to the bird. While they were returning, the bird winked at Jack, who, in the form of a reply, winked back at the bird.
“Earth provides enough to satisfy every man’s needs, but not every man’s greed.” – Mahatma Gandhi

This is from the universe in which my earlier story *The Best Star in the Universe* is based.
One day, Kiwi, the only flying kiwi, noticed the Sun, crying ultraviolet tears.
“What’s wrong, Sun?”
“It’s nothing.”
“Please tell me, I would do anything to help.”
“It’s just that earlier today, the other stars teased me for my size.”
“You don’t need to be big to be important.”
“How so?”
“Well you are giving life to almost every living thing on Earth. We’re very grateful for you, you know? You cause the tides, the winds and the reason to steal ice cream from kids during the summers.” said Kiwi, laughing.
“Yeah, you’re right.” Said the Sun, with a strong resolve to win the best star in the universe competition.

The best astronauts – Darcy Smith and Claudia Brown were again trying to get to Mars. They had their oxygen cylinders and heavy suits on their body. “Are we really going to walk on Mars?” “Yes, a big yes, Darcy,” replied Claudia. The year was 2030.

For over 10 years both Darcy and Claudia had been researching about Mars. As they landed, they felt their dream had come true and both were ready for experiments and inspections. They were there looking for any clue they could find. 

“Look I have found something!” said Darcy. “What is it?” Claudia rushed inside a little cave and found Darcy staring at a human skeleton. She could also see a wall on which were inscribed four words….

“GIVE JUSTICE TO IT” 

That was just frightening. What justice, when justice, how justice. Couldn’t find that. The thing which was annoying was – ‘What are we going to do?’ They thought for a moment—Justice to a skeleton, why? Just then they saw a note written on an iron block in golden letters-

How to get back home:

First take the shining book from the cave and lay it on the ground. Open it to page 11 and write your love to me and mention the names of your beloved family. Then press your finger on the page and throw away all the pages out of the planet except the page on which you have written.

Your great-great grandfather.

This was highly mysterious. Whose great-great grandfather? Why did he want to get his grandchild home. Where was home? Now they were confused but not waiting a single minute, they took the shining book and turned to page 11 as given in the instructions. And to their astonishment, the page had been filled up! They also found a fingerprint, pressed in blue ink. They threw all the pages except the one on which something was written, maybe that would be love written to the grandfather and the mention of the names of someone’s family members. Whose family? “Maybe that person’s who was lying in the cave.” said Darcy. But what justice? OH! It was so confusing but just then a loud crackling sound came from a door which opened near them. 

An old man came out and said “Hello”. It was indeed shocking for the astronauts, to find an old man living on Mars.

It was like both Darcy and Claudia had been waiting for this moment but they didn’t actually know! They were welcomed into the magnificent house with some hot soup and creamy refros. Refros was a dish, as the old man informed them, a common food that they would make almost every day in the evening. “This would keep us warm and healthy and keep us fit”, the old man said. After refreshing themselves, they finally asked the old man’s name and how he lived on Mars. 

He replied, “My name’s Luis Williams and I live here because my ancestors, who lived billions of years ago, found some technology which could help us survive underground on Mars.”

“Sir Luis, was the person whose skeleton lay in the cave, your grandchild?” asked Claudia. “Dear girl, yes, she – Lauren was my granddaughter, she met with a storm from the sun and died. But it was written in our family book that if anyone in our family dies, we would have to wait for someone to come and give the skeleton to us, we couldn’t ourselves take the skeleton to revive our family member.” 

“Does that mean you can bring your granddaughter back to life?” asked both of them in union. “Yes, and now please give me the skeleton,” said Luis. As he revived the girl, the skeleton gleamed and her stylish hair, beautiful dress and overwhelming smile shone brightly. She came back to life.

But that moment soon disappeared and Darcy and Claudia were bought back to earth by some kind of strong force. Though numerous unanswered questions remained in Darcy and Claudia’s minds, they never ever forget this memorable moment in their lives!

My life story is different from that of the rest, as it didn’t start in the nest. I was in an oval egg in the nest made by my mother and father. But when lightning struck I fell into a deep burrow. In the burrow lived a hare family which was very kind. When they saw my egg, they decided to take me as their own. 

I hatched early from my egg, as the burrow was very warm and cozy. My mom, dad, aunt, uncle, grandma, and grandpa took good care of me. They thought that I would grow into a beautiful dove. But I thought that I belonged there, as we all were white. 

There were many incidents when I was happy, sad, angry, and excited, but I was very depressed when a wild cobra (snake) came inside the burrow. He killed my grandmom, ate her, and slithered away. My family could do nothing but weep.

When I was a baby dove, I was naughty too. Whenever my neighbors Mr.Zozo and Mrs. Zozo visited, I would bite them with my beak. As a baby, I never knew how to fly. My family kept a secret from me and my siblings. I would go to R.K.A.S which was the “Rabbit Kindergarten and School.” We would have lots of fun learning to do tricks and Rabath (maths). I grew up and one day time came for me to leave school. The weird thing was that I was still not named.

One day, when I went back home, my mom said that my birthday was the next day. I got excited but at the same time I was sad as it suddenly occurred to me that I was different. Then she decided to tell me the whole story; I was shocked and felt dizzy. I wondered how beautiful an animal I would be. Then she gave me motivation and told me to flap my wings and to go above the burrow to see the beautiful world…

I then flapped my wings and flew all over the Jungle…. My mother gave me the name Sky… And told me to search for my real mother, while saying that she started crying. I stopped her from crying and gave her a huge hug. The next day she took me to the nest where I was supposed to have lived. We did not find anyone there. But I am still looking. When I find my original family, I’ll tell mom and dad that I would live with them but I would like my chicks to stay in the burrow. 

I think my life is the most different and the most splendid ever!

The year is 2030. Humanity has made a lot of technological advancements in the past decade. For one, the first few astronauts have landed on Mars, achieving what was hitherto thought to be impossible. The landing was telecasted all over the world, with mission control on their toes. As the rocket touched down on mars, the whole world took a sigh of relief. The four astronauts, Elbert Riley, Ruth Barlow, Harry Parks and Simone Holt had landed safely! Once in their spacesuits, the astronauts stepped out on the rough terrain. Guided by a flashlight held by each of them, the astronauts made their way into a cave they could see at a distance. Once they were inside, Ruth let out a gasp. As the remaining three turned around, a horrifying sight met their eyes. A human skeleton lay there, with four words over it, written in blood. “Run. They are coming.” 

At that very moment, the astronauts heard a loud, thumping noise as it grew closer. All of them slowly turned around to the dark entrance to the deeper parts of the cave. A gigantic creature, almost 20 feet tall emerged. The creature had 3 eyes, and it looked quite furious. Four similar creatures emerged, making the astronauts fear for their lives. The gigantic creatures’ voices boomed in the cave like electronic thunder. ”Leave and don’t come back.” The inbuilt translators translated. The astronauts rushed out from the cave, and hid behind the wall of a gigantic crater. “We can’t immediately take off, we need to prepare the rocket”, said Simone. The astronauts slowly crept to the rocket, made the necessary preparations, climbed into the rocket and blasted off mars.

In the following few decades, multiple such excursions were sent to Venus and other planets. On every planet, the results were the same. The creatures turned out to be the guardians of each planet, and they chased the humans away every time as they didn’t want the humans to hurt and destroy their planet.

As time passed, Earth started becoming uninhabitable. We ran out of water, food was scarce and oxygen was rare. We urgently needed a new home. This home could be another planet. Due to this, humans signed an intergalactic treaty with all other life forms. The terms said that we could live on any habitable planet we wanted and no other life form than humans could visit the earth. But there was a catch. We could not hurt the planet in any way. If we did, we would have to leave immediately and find a new home planet.  Earth had now become a pilgrimage spot. Every few decades, humans would visit their mother planet with pure reverence in their heart. 

On one of these trips, the pilgrims got off the space shuttle and were flabbergasted to find a lush, green and thriving forest staring back at them! Long extinct birds, mammoths and other animals now roamed our once barren planet! Our dear Earth had recovered. Our civilization was now allowed to live on our home planet on the same terms as the intergalactic treaty: No harming the planet! If you do, you’re forced to leave! Good luck finding another welcoming alien species!

Our once planetary civilization was now an interstellar one. Space shuttles roamed around in space and, never thought I would say this, we had to come up with a galactic traffic management system!

The Mars landing in 2030 was indeed one step for man and a giant leap for mankind.

The sun is a demon. An absolute, evil demon. No, don’t worry, he doesn’t commit crimes or eat people, he’s just a bully at the school I go to, Galaxia High. Oh! I forgot to introduce myself. My name is Earth. I am just four and a half billion years old. I’m also an ideal student. My assignments are always on time, I’m a straight A’s student and I’m the favorite of all the teachers. Being the youngest student in my class, I am the main target for most bullies. Every time I am in the corridors, I get bullied for my outfit, the mold–like green patches all over my blue body etc. I don’t usually get affected by all this, but when insults are constantly flung at you, they do take a toll on your happiness. I never dawdle about in the corridors, I try to get to my classroom as swiftly as possible. But, Sun seems to have teleportation powers and always seems to catch up with me. Whenever I am bullied, I try to stand up for myself. But being a timid and shy person, speaking to someone is really hard, let alone standing up for yourself. This is the story of how I blossomed into my current self. 

My entire school revolves around Sun. He’s extremely popular, with people who would kill to be friends with him. (Not to be taken literally!!!) Sun has an extremely bad influence on anyone who becomes too close a friend of his. Take my classmate Mars for example.  He used to be best buddies with Sun at some point. But then, he failed all his classes, letting down all the teachers who thought he had a bright future. Now, poor Pluto, he was too hostile to Sun and the whole school shunned him. I tried to be nice to him whenever I could, but ultimately he had to leave the school due to the oppressive behavior. I don’t try to be hostile to Sun, but I’m never too friendly with him. You can never know about his true character! Being at the perfect distance from Sun, I never have been in a bad situation due to him. (Except for when he bullies me) And therefore, my life has a perfect equilibrium.

One day, (as usual) Sun popped out of thin air in front of me. I tried to ignore him and walk away but Sun created a big scene in front of the whole school. Everyone in the corridor looked at us. Insult after insult was flung at me, making me increasingly irritated and frustrated. Now, enough was enough. Gathering every ounce of confidence I could find, I spoke up for myself. Sun looked startled. I felt awesome. After all this time, I was letting my emotions loose. As insults and comebacks flew around, my fellow students stared on with eyes as wide as dinner plates. As I did this, I did not realize that tiny wisps of light, barely visible, started appearing around me. All the onlookers gasped in awe. These lights grew in size and became brighter. They were beautiful. These lights only appeared when I was ecstatically happy. All of the people around me started calling the lights ‘Aurora’. 

Sun slowly fell silent. When he finally stopped for good, many people from the crowds came up to me, wishing to talk to me. All of them wanted to be my friends. My shy, introverted-self was becoming popular! Sun looked on at me with contempt, for all his friends had just abandoned him and were flocking around me, the person they used to look down upon a few minutes back.

I was perplexed. Why did the Aurora lights only appear when I was happy? Finally, I understood. Whenever I was ecstatically happy, Aurora lights would appear all around me. This happened because I used to be bullied by Sun EVERY.SINGLE.DAY. But, I never let that stop me from being normal and happy. 

The fact that I never let Sun’s negative comments about me bring me down and never became sad was what made me special. It was what made me beautiful.

Moral: Struggles are what bring out your hidden beauty.