One evening, while playing, Mayur and Akash decided to dress up as pirates and search for treasure in their house.

“Mayur! Akash! Why are you making so much noise?”  shouted their mother.

“Mom, we are pirates and are searching for hidden treasures. Pirates are always on the lookout for one,” replied Akash.

“There is no treasure here! Now stop making a ruckus. Why don’t you go outside and play?” suggested ma. 

The brothers decided to continue their search out in the garden. That’s when Mayur had an idea: “I have heard that there is a hoard of silver treasure on the moon. That’s

the reason why it’s always shining. Why don’t we steal the moon?”

“Don’t be silly! How will we reach the moon?” replied Akash.

“I have a plan. We join the two ladders that are lying in the shed to make one long ladder. That way we can easily climb and reach the moon,” explained Mayur.

“That’s a good plan. Let’s try it out tonight,” said Akash and the two got busy tying the ladders together.

Putting the plan in action 

Later that night, the brothers sneaked out into the garden. They then placed the ladder they had made against a tree.

“Mayur, climb up and quickly go steal the moon and come back. Don’t be too loud, else we may wake everyone,” whispered Akash.

Mayur slowly started the ladder. When he reached the top, he stretched his arm out to grab the moon, but to his dismay, the moon was still quite far away.

“What’s wrong, Mayur? Catch the moon and come down quickly,” Akash whispered.

“It’s still far beyond my reach,” replied his brother hanging out from the ladder.

“Stretch your hand a little more. I am quite sure you will reach it,” insisted Akash.

Mayur stretched his arm more, but lost his balance and fell down on the ground with a loud thud.

“Ow! My leg!” he cried in pain.

Akash helped him get up and said, “Shoo Shoo, don’t worry! I’ll call for help,” and quickly called his parents.

To The Doctor 

When their parents heard what had happened, they rushed Mayur to the hospital where Dr. Prakash examined his broken leg.

“Looks like you fell from quite a height. What happened?” he asked, bandaging his leg.

The brothers remained quiet.

“It’s all right. You can tell me anything,” assured Dr. Prakash.

“We were trying to steal the moon,” confessed Akash. “We had built a tall to reach the moon and while doing so, Mayur fell off the ladder and hurt himself,” explained Akash.

“But why did you want to steal the moon?” asked Dr. Prakash, surprised.

“Because we wanted to find the treasures hidden on it,” said Akash.

“Who told you that there are treasures on the moon?” asked their mother who was stunned by their explanation.

“I had read in a book that the moon shines because of all the silver treasures inside it,” pitched in Mayur.

Why the Moon Actually Shines 

The adults burst out laughing. Dr. Prakash explained, “There is no treasure on the moon. The moon reflects the light from the sun and hence it shines. Moreover, it is very far from us and

cannot be reached using a ladder. We need a spacecraft to reach it.”

Mayur and Akash were disappointed. Dr. Prakash then gave medicine to Mayur and advised him to take rest.

“The next time you pirates plan to go about looking for hidden treasures, tell me about it,” said their mother. “When Mayur is better, we will all go on a treasure hunt. Not to the moon, but to the beach, where you may find some silver.”