Lazy the Pig

This story with illustration is from Daksh Prasad, 7, India. 

Once upon a time there were two pigs – the mother pig named Jenifer and her son named Lazy. 

They lived in a house.

One day, Lazy went to his friend Josh’s house for a play date in the afternoon. As they were playing they didn’t know that they had made a big  mess  by pulling all of the toys.

Suddenly, Josh’s mother came into the play room and was surprised. She asked them to clean the play room. But Lazy was too too lazy and didn’t help Josh.

Josh asked,

“Lazy, why are you so lazy?” 

Lazy answered, 

“Because I do the opposite  of whatever my mother tells me to do. If my mother tells me to clean the house, instead I make more mess. So my mother calls me Lazy”.

Josh said,

“I too was like you earlier, but we should listen to our parents and help doing at least little things, then we can have a happy family”. 

Lazy understood what Josh was trying to say.

Finally, Lazy helped Josh more and more and Josh said,

“You are my best friend”. 

Then Lazy rushed home to help his mother. 

The Missing Goat

One afternoon, two schoolboys had a crazy idea. 

They rounded up three goats from the neighbourhood and painted the numbers ‘1’, ‘2’, and ’4’ on their sides. 

In the evening, they abandoned the goats inside their school building. 

The next morning, when the headmaster and teachers entered the school, they could smell that something was wrong. Soon, they saw goat droppings on the stairs and near the entrance. They realised that some goats had entered the building. 

After searching, three goats were found. But the teachers were worried.

Where was Goat number 3?

They spent rest of the morning looking for it. There was panic and frustration.

The school declared classes off for the students for the rest of the day. 

The teachers, helpers, guards, and canteen staff were all busy looking for Goat number 3. 

It was never found because it did not exist. 

Art: Irene D'Cruz, 75, India

Note: Some people who have a good life do not feel fulfilled. They are looking for the missing Goat number 3. 

(Retold)

Party Time!

  Art: June D'Cruz, 17, India

The lady in white always wore white. When she was invited to a New Year’s Eve party, her new dress was not ready. 

She regretfully wore her second best white dress as there was a prize for the Best Dressed Lady. She proudly wore her new mother-of-pearl-glazed shoes. 

As she arrived at the venue that evening, the air was crisp and cool.
She noticed the mermaid sculpture in the corner, the enormous pool, the giant cake, and the pretty dresses of other ladies. 

“Hello! Welcome to the party!” said a little girl who was at the entrance handing out flowers to the guests as they arrived.
The lady gently tucked the flower into her hair while thanking the girl.

“Your dress is so pretty!” the girl exclaimed “It’s almost as pretty as the peacock-blue dress of the lady over there.”
The lady looked to where the girl was pointing and noticed the amazing azure dress of the lady who sat with her friends near the poolside. 

Catching the attention of the girl, the lady in white said, “I bet her shoes aren’t as good as mine.” So saying, she raised her dress and flung one foot up for the girl to see. Unfortunately, the shoe was loose and went flying in the air. 

It landed on the head of an important-looking gentleman who was having an early dinner. His head sank into his dinner plate. He slowly lifted up his curry-stained face and looked around to see where the shoe came from, only to stare right at the welcoming girl. She, in turn, caught a fright and ran away, screaming. 

She wasn’t looking where she was going and dashed right into the clay mermaid whose head broke away. Everybody looked up to see who was screaming so the little girl put her own face in place of the mermaid’s. The guests soon went about doing what they were doing as if nothing happened. 

The girl threw the head away and it landed on the electric switch button that controlled the lights at the party. Immediately there was darkness all around and women shrieked, 

“EEEEeee”.

A bald butler, wearing a wig, carried a ladder and a torch to climb up to the switch button to set it right. When he did so, the “EEEeee” shrieks become a relaxed “AHHhh”.

The butler liked this effect so much that he switched the button off and on a couple of times and the women went 

“EEEeee......AHHhh”

“EEEeee......AHHhh!”

The butler got so excited with the effect of the screams that he jumped off the ladder right into the big trampoline behind him. His wig bounced up and down on his head as he bounced up and down on the trampoline much to the amusement of the guests who stood around him and clapped.

Meanwhile, another butler was carefully carrying a cake with a candle outside. He bumped against the mermaid’s head and the burning candle fell on a lady’s peacock-blue dress. The lady was animatedly talking to a group of friends in lovely dresses near the pool. Her friends noticed the fire and pushed her into the pool immediately. The water that splashed out of the pool drenched the beautiful dresses of all her friends. 

In the dining room, the lady in white was limping around looking for her lost shoe. There were so many people in there that she found it difficult to get around without bumping into someone. “How I wish everybody would leave this room so I can find where my shoe has gone!” she said to herself. 

“FIRE!” someone outside shouted. There was a mad rush to leave the dining room. 

“Now that is wishful thinking, isn’t it?” the lady in white said to herself. 

Much to her relief, she found her shoe on a dinner plate on one of the tables. She wiped it on a napkin and walked out proudly to see what the fuss was all about. 

It was then that they announced that it was time to crown the Best Dressed Lady.
The lady in white grandiosely walked up to the stage only to find herself among water-drenched beauties with soggy hairstyles. 

Our lady in white won the competition with her unruffled hairdo, her second best dress, and her mother-of-pearl shoes.


(An original story by Aashoo and Anna. Protected by Copyright, 2015)

Madame Pristina's Pesky Pet

Madame Pristina was a good housekeeper. 

She was always busy. She never had the time to answer her phone or to meet friends. She woke up before the sun's tender rays touched her doorstep.

 

Every morning she washed clothes and put them out to dry using dainty clothes pins. She mopped the floor, cleaned the kitchen, and cooked breakfast. Then she went out into the garden and plucked flowers for the vase in the living room. After that she washed her car, dressed up, and went to get groceries. On coming home, she cooked lunch and also did some baking. Then she brought in the dry clothes, ironed them, and hung them onto hangers. 

Madame Pristina did not have any pets because she disliked the fur of cats and dogs on her carpet. She thought birds and fish smelled awful, and hamsters were simply out of question. Anything out of place in her house annoyed her and she liked to stick to her daily routine.

One day, when Madame Pristina went out into the garden, a little fly took a free ride on her bunch of flowers. It sat still while she arranged the flowers in a vase. 

Art: Irene D'Cruz, 75, India

Madame Pristina sang her favourite song as she went about her chores:

"On a wonderful day like today
I defy any cloud to appear in the sky 
Dare any raindrop to pop in my eye
On a wonderful day like today...."

The little fly sat still on its floral perch and listened with glee. 

Madame Pristina wandered into the kitchen to prepare batter for cookies. 

She merrily sang on loudly:

"On a wonderful morning like this
When the sun is as big as a yellow balloon
Even the sparrows are singing in tune
On a wonderful morning like this..."

The fly followed Madame Pristina and sat on top of her head. She was busy mixing the cookie batter when...

PLOP!

A drop of the batter fell on her apron. Madame Pristina made a mental note to wash her apron as soon as possible. Then she continued with her singing...

"On a wonderful day like .... EEEEEEK!!!!"

Something terrible happened. The fly flew down from Madame Pristina's head and settled on the drop of batter on her apron. It stood out dark and unsightly on her starched white apron. 

Madame Pristina did not like flies. Or insects. Or reptiles. Or any creature that made her house dirty. 

 "EEEEK! You pesky fly! How did you get into the house? OUT, OUT you go!" 

She took hold of a saucepan and tried to shoo the fly out of the kitchen. The fly  wanted to hear Madame Pristina's song and showed no signs of leaving. It stubbornly sat on the light bulb. When she tried to shoo it away from the bulb, she hit the bulb with her saucepan and it broke into a hundred pieces. The fly landed on the cookie batter in the bowl on the kitchen platform. Madame Pristina punched the bowl. It fell down and the batter ran out in a sticky mess on the floor. The fly then perched on the wastebasket. Madame Pristina kicked the wastebasket. It tumbled down, and the garbage spread all around. 

Madame Pristina was exhausted and exasperated. She pointed her long finger at the fly and said:

"You, you, pesky fly! Just wait till I get you!"

The fly flew from one place to another and soon Madame Pristina's house looked as if a hurricane had hammered through it. 

When night came, she was tired and sleepy. She determined to get rid of the fly the next day and got into bed. 

In the middle of the night, she felt someone tickle her nose. She woke up and saw that it was the fly. 

"Oh you pesky fly! Will you not give up? Just wait till I get you!" So saying she ran around the house chasing the fly once again. 

The next morning, Madame Pristina could not do any washing or cleaning up. She was too busy trying to get rid of the fly. 

When it was time to get the groceries, she got into the car, turned the key, and gave out a sigh of relief. She imagined how peaceful it would be to be away from the fly for a couple of hours.

As the car moved onto the main road, she noticed the fly on the windscreen. 

"Oh no, you pesky fly! Have you followed me into the car? Wait till I get you" she said shaking her fist. 

The fly followed her into the shop and back. Once again it settled on the bunch of flowers in the vase. It annoyed Madame Pristina all day and did not let her sleep. It simply refused to leave.

After a few days, Madame Pristina got used to the fly and just let it be. She went about her daily chores as before and sang loudly. The fly ate from the blobs of food spilled in the kitchen because Madame Pristina carefully kept all her food covered. 

As the days went by, she got used to the fly in her house. She called it 'Pesky' and talked to it while she went about her business. It became her pet. 

Every morning Madame Pristina sang her favourite song loudly:

"On a wonderful day like today...." 

Madame Pristina did not get annoyed anymore when things in her house were out of place or the laundry was not done. She sang more and more so her voice grew sweeter and sweeter. Pesky listened quietly in appreciation while perched on the bunch of fresh flowers. 

One day, while practising her singing, Madame Pristina heard a loud buzzing sound. She said,

"Shoo, Pesky, don't bother me!"

What really happened was that the radio in the house made the buzzing sound. Pesky decided to leave Madame Pristina and go out to meet old friends. 

When Madame Pristina realised that Pesky was nowhere to be found in the house, she went out in the garden all the while singing a soulful song urging him to come back.

"O come back, o come back, o come back dear Pesky to me! To me!" 

The neighbours heard her sing and gathered around her in a big group. They were so impressed with her singing that they pleaded with her to sing at the grand show at the Opera House in town. 

On the day of the grand show, Madame Pristina stood before a large audience. She missed her pet Pesky who had silently encouraged her to become a good singer. 

As she began to sing, a vibrating buzz of background music complimented her song and she found Pesky sitting on the microphone! 

With great joy, she sang, 

"On a wonderful day like today...
May I take this occasion to say
That all people should go down on their knees
Show that we are grateful for days like these
For the world's in a wonderful way
On a wonderful day like today..."  

 (An original story by Aashoo inspired by a fly that has entered the house this week and refuses to leave! The art is contributed by a young-at-heart grandmother from India. Protected by Copyright. 2016.)