Golu elephant was enjoying his bananas when his friends Zebu zebra and Honey deer arrived and said, “Come Golu, let’s play.”
“Yes, let’s. What shall we play today?” asked Golu.
“The weather is pleasant and cloudy. Let’s play catch me if you can,” suggested Honey.
Just then, Sona duck and Casty tortoise arrived.
“This is not the time to play! We have just heard on the news that in the next one or two days, heavy rains and thunderstorms are expected in our forest,” said Sona.
“Golu, last year when it rained heavily, remember that the low lying areas of our forest were underwater. Trees also fell due to the storms, which led to big losses,” said Casty.
“Yes, you are right. We should do something so that we don’t face such loss again!” said Golu.
“Golu, your father is the king of the forest. Tell him and he will take care of everything,” suggested Zebu.
“That’s the problem. He has some work and is not in the forest for a few days,” Golu replied.
“Now what can we do?” asked Honey, worried.
“We will definitely do something,” said Golu. “Let’s go to Prime Minister Gingy Rhino.”
They all went immediately to Gingy. “Gingy uncle,” began Golu. “Heavy rains and thunderstorms are expected in our forest.”
“How do you know?” asked Gingy, looking at the clouds with a worried look.
“It was on the news a while ago,” Sona said.
Before Gingy could think of anything, Golu said, “Uncle, shall we set up relief camps in the upper areas of the forest and shift the residents of the lower areas there to safeguard them?”
“That’s a very good idea. I will get people working on it immediately,” Gingy said.
“We will also help you,” said the kids and joined Gingy.
In the next two days, the animals living in the lower areas were shifted to the relief camps in the upper areas.
Golu and his friends helped Gingy a lot. By the time the job was done, it had started to drizzle. Soon, the drizzle became a heavy shower. It rained heavily for two days. Right through that, Golu kept visiting the camps to check if the food and other arrangements were in place and that nobody had any troubles.
After two days, the rain stopped and the sky cleared. Golu’s friends were happy. “Come Golu. Let’s play today!”
“It’s still not time to play,” said Golu. “We have some work left.”
“Work? But everyone is safe. The sky is clear. What is left now?” asked Zebu.
“When I visited the relief camps, some of the animals told me that their friends were missing. But because of the rain, I couldn’t do anything. But now that the weather is good, we need to find them. Who knows where and in what condition they are in!” said Golu.
First, Golu asked the crows to help. “Fly in different directions. See if anyone is stuck anywhere and tell us,” he instructed them. Then he and his friends went to hunt for the missing people.
After walking for some distance, Golu came across a place filled with water. In the middle of that was a squirrel sitting on a stone, shivering. “Sona, in so much water, we don’t know where there could be stones and pits, so I can’t go there. Since you know how to swim, you go and bring the squirrel,” said Golu.
Sona immediately got into the water and reached the squirrel. The little creature was wet and shivering and seemed to have a fever. “Come, sit on my back and I will take you to safety,” said Sona, and the squirrel could barely climb on.
In no time, Sona was back to her friends with the squirrel. Golu picked up the squirrel with his trunk and placed her on his back. They went to Dr Babloo bear who was taking care of people in the relief camp.
Babloo immediately examined the squirrel. “There is no need to worry.
She has a fever because she got wet. And because she has had no food or water,
she is very weak. By tomorrow, with food, water, and medicine, she will be a lot better.”
Just then, Kaku crow flew in. “There are people stuck on the cliff near the old banyan tree,” he said. “They are wet and scared.”
“How many are stuck there?” asked Golu.
“Maybe 20 or 25,” replied Kaku.
“They may be in the same condition as a squirrel. Till the water settles, we will not be able to bring them here. So we will have to take food, water, medicines, and warm clothes to them,” said Golu.
Immediately, the eagles and crows took those items to the people on the cliff. That was a huge relief to those who were stuck. For the next three or four days, Golu made sure that food items were sent to the cliff regularly. Meanwhile, everyone was taken care of in the relief camp as well.
Finally, the water level went down and all the animals were rescued. Golu got the entire place cleaned. Dr Babloo made sure everyone was vaccinated against diseases spread by infected water. People started moving back to their homes and were advised to boil water before drinking.
King Gajraj also returned to the forest and heard about the entire incident. “Golu, I have heard about how, in my absence, you and your friends carried out the relief work during the floods. I am proud of you.” Golu smiled and hugged him
It’s a very interesting and motivated the children
Champak is a source learning English