Postman Shiny Deer rang the bell and stood at the door. He had a letter for Bholuram Bear. When Bholuram opened the door and saw Shiny on the other side, his face broke into a . He was very happy to see Shiny.

Shiny reached into his bag and pulled out an envelope. It was for Bholuram and he handed it over to him. Bholuram took one look at the envelope and the smile disappeared from his face. He thanked Shiny politely and closed the door.

The envelope was a rejection letter. His story had been rejected. A bear who loved to read, Bholuram was inspired to write stories for children after reading a few children’s magazines. He was so inspired that he had spent every day of the previous week writing stories. He sent the stories to all the magazines in the HjungleH, but sadly, one by one, the stories were returned with a rejection letter.

This was Bholuram’s final story and seeing it returned, he felt immensely dejected. He spent some time trying to take his mind off it, but didn’t have much success. Instead, he decided to go to the park for a walk.

At the park, Bholuram sat down on a bench as thoughts began filling his mind. After all, it’s no surprise that my story got rejected. I’m sure there was something wrong with it. It was probably not very good and I’m sure I’ll never become a writer someday, thought Bholuram to himself.

Just then, Bholuram’s nephew, Tony Bear, came and sat down next to him.

“What’s the matter uncle? Is something bothering you?” 

Tony asked.

“Oh no, nothing’s bothering me, Tony,” replied Bholuram.

“When are your stories going to be published, uncle?”asked Tony.

“They’re never going to be published. Every single story that I wrote has been rejected. I have given up my dream of becoming a writer and I have thrown away all the stories in the dustbin,” said Bholuram.

Tony felt bad for his uncle. He knew how much effort Bholuram had put into writing the stories. Tony sat with his uncle for a while, consoling him, after which, he got up and said, “All right uncle, I have to go now. I just remembered that I had promised mom that I’d do something for her. I’ll see you later.”

Bholuram bid Tony farewell and spent some more time at the park. In the meantime, Tony went straight to Bholuram’s house. Across the house, there was a huge garbage bin. Tony held his nose and peeped inside and saw four balled-up envelopes.

Picking them up. Tony straightened them and read that they were the letters of rejection from various magazines and all envelopes had stories inside. Tony took them home and read them. Tony realised that all the stories his uncle had written were exactly about what kids wanted to read—Adventure, Space Travel & Picnics.

Reading them, Tony immediately understood why they had all been rejected. 

His uncle’s handwriting had always been rather shabby and as a result, the editors at the magazines had rejected them maybe without reading them.

Tony knew what to do. He was certain that one magazine, Champak, to which his uncle hadn’t sent his stories would certainly publish the stories. Sitting at his computer, Tony began to type out the stories one by one and sent them to Champak’s email address.

Two months had passed since Bholuram had given up any thoughts of becoming a writer, when the doorbell rang. Bholuram opened the door and saw Postman Shiny on theother side.

“I’ve got a letter for you,”said Shiny.

“A letter for me?”asked Bholuram.

“Yes and it’s from Champak,” said Shiny.

Bholuram accepted the letter and closed the door behind him. He was surprised to see a letter from Champak. “I don’t remember sending any of my stories to Champak,” he said to himself and opened the envelope.

Inside was a cheque and a letter. It was from the editor and it said that two of Bholuram’s stories had been published and that the cheque was the payment for them. Bholuram was at a loss for words and very confused.

“Who could have sent my stories?” he asked himself and immediately realised that the only person who knew about his stories being rejected was Tony and that he was definitely the one who had sent the stories to Champak.

Bholuram needed to thank Tony and set out for his house. 

Picking up sweets from Gajjumal Elephant’s shop, Bholuram knocked at Tony’s door. When the door opened, Bholuram picked up his nephew and gave him a big bear hug.

“Thank you, Tony,” said Bholuram, putting him down. “My stories have finally been published and I owe it all to you.”

“How could they not be published! They were excellent after all,” said Tony. “Just promise me that the next time you decide to write a new story, you will give it to me first. I will type them out on the computer and send them to the magazine.”

In exactly 15 days, the latest issue of Champak was out and in it were Bholuram’s stories. Bholuram purchased every copy from the bookstall and gave the first one to Tony. He distributed the rest among the kids in the neighbourhood and has never stopped writing since.