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Ricky Wins a Friend

Every year during the summer holidays, various events for children would be organised at Sunshine Woods. All the children eagerly looked forward to them.

Every year, Tito, the little turtle would participate in several events and would win many prizes. Everyone loved Tito because he was humble and always ready to help. His favourite competition was the spelling bee contest. Curled up in his shell amid stacks of books, Tito would learn the spellings of various words every day.

Ricky, a young rabbit, often came second to Tito in the spelling bee contest. He would become upset whenever Tito beat him.

This year, before the events began, Tito had an announcement to make. “I will not be participating in any of the competitions,” he said.

Everyone was shocked.

“But why? You are so good in all the events,” said one of his friends.

“I feel it’s about time I let someone else win. Others should also get a chance to win and develop their talents,” explained Tito.

But they still wanted Tito to be a part of the event.

“How about I train the other participants?” he offered.

“That is a good idea! You will be the best person for the job and other kids can learn a lot from you,” his friends agreed.

Tito was excited about his new role as a mentor. Weeks before the event, he chalked out a detailed plan, organised the training materials and sorted kids into different age groups and began training them. All the kids enrolled for the training except Ricky.

Ricky was happy to learn that Tito would not be participating in any of the competitions this year. He knew he would finally be able to win the spelling bee contest.

Soon, it was the day of the competition. Tito’s students were all excited to take part and so was Ricky. As the competition began, Tito sat on a chair close to the stage. He watched and cheered all the participants enthusiastically. At the end of the competition, the names of the winners were announced.

Ricky had won the spelling bee contest! As he walked up on the stage to receive his prize, everyone clapped for him. From the stage, he saw Tito also clapping for him with a big smile on his face.

Just then it struck Ricky that winning alone did not make one popular with others. It was one’s talent and personality that made one liked by all.

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Ricky felt ashamed of having been jealous of Tito. He had always considered Tito as a competitor and not as a friend. He also had a new found respect for Tito, who instead of just winning and collecting trophies, wanted to share his knowledge and skill with others.

From that day on, Ricky became good friends with Tito, and even offered to help him with his training sessions.

Jumbo finds new friends

Jumbo Giraffe was a cute little giraffe. He had recently shifted to Amarvan with his parents.

But Jumbo Giraffe wasn’t very happy in Amarvan, and he often wondered if he would ever be happy.

Well, the reason was that Jumbo Giraffe hadn’t made any new friends as yet, and he felt lonely since he stayed at home all day long.

One day, when Jumbo Giraffe’s parents went out of the house, he decided that he would go out and explore the forest. And so, he went for a long walk. A cool breeze was blowing, and Jumbo Giraffe looked around at the lush green trees that were growing all over. “I don’t know why Mum and Dad still think of me as a baby,” he said with a sigh. “They don’t let me go out by myself. I am so big and tall that even Khemu Uncle looks tiny in comparison,” Jumbo Giraffe muttered when he saw Khemu Rabbit who was his neighbour, gnawing on a big red carrot.

Soon, he spotted some baby tortoises. They were flying a kite together. Jumbo Giraffe really wanted to make new friends and have fun playing games with them, just like he did with his friends in the forest where he lived before. And so, he walked towards the baby tortoises.

“Hello! I’m Jumbo!” he said with a friendly smile. “I’m new to Amarvan. Can I play with you all?” The baby tortoises looked at Jumbo Giraffe and shook their heads.

“Oh no!” one of the tortoises said. “You are so big and tall! We cannot play with you!”

They then turned their backs towards Jumbo Giraffe and continued flying their kite.

Jumbo Giraffe shrugged and sighed. “Well, Mum and Dad think of me as small. And these tortoises think of me as big!” he thought to himself and quietly walked away.

He walked further into the forest, wishing that he had at least a friend or two to talk to, when something suddenly hit his leg.

“Hey!” he then heard some voices call.

“Please throw our football back to us.”

Jumbo Giraffe looked up and saw a herd of elephants calling out to him. They were playing in the forest playground, and the football obviously belonged to them.

He picked up the football and walked towards the elephants.

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“Hi! Will you let me play with you? I’m new to the forest!” he said hopefully.

“No,” the elephants said firmly. “You cannot play with us. You are very small and you might get hurt if you play with us. If that happens, your parents will be very upset with us. So, we cannot allow you to join our games!” The elephants took their football from Jumbo Giraffe and went back to their game.

Jumbo Giraffe sighed. He felt very disappointed but didn’t say a word. He sat on a nearby rock and watched the elephants quietly.

“I really cannot figure out whether I am big or small,” he said to himself. “Some of the animals insist that I am too big to play with them. And there are others who refuse to let me join them saying I am too small! Sigh!”

Tears welled in Jumbo Giraffe’s eyes. He had never felt so sad or lonely ever before. He heard the sound of chattering and looked up only to see a baby monkey hanging from the branch of a nearby tree. The monkey seemed to be enjoying himself thoroughly.

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“This monkey is far better off than I am,” Jumbo Giraffe thought to himself. “He can amuse himself with his own antics. I can’t even hang like him. Hey! Maybe I can ask him to play with me. He might just agree.”

But before Jumbo Giraffe could say a word, the baby monkey jumped on to another tree and disappeared deep into the forest.

“Oh!” Jumbo Giraffe said, feeling quite left out once again. He decided to return home since he could not find anyone to play with. He started to walk away when he saw the elephants’ football fall into a swamp.

“Oh no!” the elephants said, sounding very disappointed. Jumbo Giraffe watched as the elephants tried their level best to take the football out of the swamp with the help of their trunks.

He realised that they couldn’t go very close to the swamp since they had heavy bodies and were likely to get stuck in the swamp. Unfortunately, the elephants’ trunks were not long enough to pull the ball out of the swamp either.

Jumbo Giraffe felt very sorry for the elephants. They had been having so much fun just a few minutes ago. They looked very disappointed now. “May I try taking the football out of the swamp?” he asked politely. The elephants looked at him hesitatingly.

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One of them then said, “We would be highly obliged if you could do that. But please, do take care of yourself and don’t go very close to the swamp. We do not want you to get into any trouble.”

Jumbo Giraffe nodded and went closer to the swamp. He tried pulling the football out with his legs, but wasn’t successful. “I am unable to reach the football on my own,” he told the elephants. “Can somebody hold me from behind please? I will be more relaxed when I try to reach it then.”

One of the elephants then held Jumbo Giraffe tightly from behind as per his suggestion. Jumbo found that he could reach the football easily now. In no time, he retrieved it from the swamp and smartly kicked it towards the elephants.

“Hurray!” the elephants cheered as they picked up and hugged their football. All the elephants then thanked Jumbo for his help and invited him to play with them.

Jumbo Giraffe accepted the elephants’ invitation graciously.

He played with them till it was time him for him to go home. He then left the playground, promising that he would come back the next day, and started walking towards his house.

On the way, he saw the baby tortoises he had met earlier. They were looking at a tree and seemed very worried. “Why are you looking so worried?” Jumbo Giraffe asked the baby tortoises. “And why are you looking at that tree?”

“Our kite is stuck there,” one of the tortoises said and pointed towards a high branch of the tree. “Is that so?” Jumbo said. “Wait, I’ll get it down for you.” Jumbo was quite tall since he was a giraffe. And so, all he had to do was stand on his toes and stretch to be able to reach up to the branch of the tree. In no time, he took the kite out of the tree and gave it to the baby tortoises.

“Thanks a lot!” the baby tortoises said, feeling thrilled now that they had their kite back. “And sorry about the way we behaved earlier. We will be your friends now on. Come, fly the kite with us.”

Jumbo smiled. He was glad that the baby tortoises wanted him to be their friend and join their games. “Thank you,” he said politely. “But I will join you tomorrow. It is time for me to go home now.”

“OK,” the baby tortoises said. “But please promise us that you will come back tomorrow!”

“I promise!” Jumbo said and waved. He then walked back home, feeling quite happy. He was sure that he would be happy in Amarvan too, just like he had been in the forest where he lived before, now that he had so many friends.

 

Superstitious Terry

Terry, the tiger, was passing by the monkey colony when he met Mandy, the monkey.

“Hi, Terry! Where are you going? And why do you look so weak?” asked Mandy.

“Well, Mandy, I’ve had a fever for the last two days. I’ve tried several home remedies but my fever isn’t going down,” said Terry.

“Why don’t you come with me to Dr. Benny, the bear’s hospital then? I’m a nurse there. Dr. Benny will examine you and prescribe proper medicines,” said Mandy.

“But I don’t want to go to a hospital. I want…” said Terry, becoming quiet midway. Mandy felt Terry’s forehead and said, “Terry, you’re running a high fever. What if you have malaria?” Terry shook his head and said, “No, I don’t think I have malaria. I think someone has turned their evil eye on me.”

“There’s no such thing as an evil eye. We fall sick because of mosquito bites, our unhealthy diet, lifestyle, and changes in the weather,” said Mandy.

“But the holy fox, who has just arrived in our forest, told me that we fall sick because of the evil eye. But he also has a solution for it. We can recover quickly by wearing a talisman specially made and blessed by him,” said Terry.

Mandy laughed and said, “I can’t believe you. You have fallen into the trap of that sly fox? I thought you were a sensible tiger.”

“No, no, believe me. Even I didn’t trust the holy fox in the beginning. But then I saw the truth with my own eyes! Gina, the jackal and Kalu, the hyena, were in terrible pain, but as soon as they wore the talisman, they were cured instantly. It was magical! They started jumping and dancing around,” said Terry.

“Look, Terry! You can’t cure people with magic. Please visit the doctor with me. If you keep listening to your holy fox, your condition will worsen,” said Mandy, trying to reason with Terry.

“No Mandy. I’ll leave now. I’ll come and visit you this evening. By then, I’ll be fully cured because of the holy fox’s blessing and the talisman,” said Terry, and went to the ashram of the holy fox.

When Terry reached the holy fox’s ashram, he saw a long line of animals. Terry joined in and waited for his turn.

When Terry entered the room, he saw some burning incense sticks. In the middle of the room, the holy fox sat on the throne.

Terry bowed down to the holy fox and told him about his illness. The holy fox closed his eyes and started chanting.

The holy fox opened his eyes and asked, “Is there a weak animal living near your house?”

Terry thought about it for some time and said, “Yes, dear fox.  Drake, the deer stay near my house. He is  much weaker than me and often asks me for help.”

“That’s it! That deer is the reason for your illness,” said the fox in a booming voice.

Terry was surprised. He asked, “How is that, dear fox?”

“Didn’t I tell you yesterday that the cause of your illness is an evil eye? Drake is jealous of your tall and broad build, and your strength. He is the one who laid an evil eye on you. Till he is around you, you will keep getting weaker day by day,” said the fox.

“But Drake is a good friend and neighbour of mine,” said Terry.

The holy fox said, “Sometimes your closest friends are your real enemies. You should stop talking to Drake completely. Give me a thousand rupees. I’ll make a special talisman for you. Wear it at night before you go to bed. In a few days, you will feel good again.”

Terry paid the holy fox and got a talisman made. He also stopped talking to Drake. Despite this, Terry’s condition worsened. He neither visited a doctor nor took any medicines.

One day, as Terry was taking a walk in his garden, and he fainted and fell on the ground. His neighbour, Drake happened to notice him lying on the ground. He immediately started screaming out for help.

“Why would you want to help him? He doesn’t even talk to you. He’d rather believe some fake fox than trust you,” said Nona, the goat.

“It doesn’t matter whether he thinks I’m his friend or not. I still think of him as a friend. And a friend in need is a friend indeed,” said Drake, smiling.

Terry woke up, to find himself in Dr. Benny’s hospital. Mandy and Drake were standing beside his bed.

“How are you feeling, Terry?” asked Mandy.

“I feel a little better now. But who brought me here?” asked Terry.

“Your true friend brought you here, the one whom you had stopped talking to because of the words of a cunning fox,” said Mandy. “If you still believe the fox’s words, then have a look at the bed beside yours.”

“Oh! It’s Gina, the jackal!” said Terry, surprised.

“Now you tell me, if she too had worn the talisman given by the holy fox, how is she still unwell and admitted in this hospital with you?” asked Mandy.

“The fox paid her to act in front of the people who came to visit him. Whenever he had a new visitor, Gina and Kalu would pretend to be unwell and the fox would pretend to cure them magically,” said Mandy, explaining the plan.

“But how did you find out about their plan?” asked Terry.

“That’s easy! Gina has typhoid. She came to the hospital wearing the talisman which clearly failed to prevent her from falling ill. So, I asked her and learned the whole truth,” said Mandy, smiling.

Terry felt stupid for being so superstitious. He hugged Drake and apologised for his behaviour. Gina, too, confessed to the police and got the fox arrested for spreading superstitions.