JOHNIANS FABLES- SJPS 2020 CHILDREN'S DAY RELEASE

HAPPY TIME WITH FAMILY

In a forest, there lived a family of birds with the father, mother, and a baby
bird. The baby is loved by both the parents very much. They were living very
happily. As days passed by, father and mother birds started fighting for simple
reasons. The fighting continued for days and even for months. Baby bird was so
sad by seeing her parents fighting. She begged both of them not to fight and be
happy, but they did not listen to her words. It made her very sad. The baby bird
consoles her mother whenever the fighting was over. For the sake of the baby
bird, mother gets convinced and returned to normal. When years passed by the
mother could not cooperate with the father bird for a long time. So she decided
to leave him, but thinking of the baby she stays back always.

One day the father bird went out in search of prey. At that time the mother bird
flew away with her baby bird from the nest to another place. When the father
bird returned, he could not find his family. He felt so bad and realized his mistake.
He told himself “if I would have listened to my baby, it would not have happened”.

He searched for them here and there. After searching for months, he found them
in a deep forest living alone in a small nest. He went near the mother bird and
asked for forgiveness for his mistake. He also said sorry to the baby bird for the
happenings. Thereafter, without blaming each other and fighting they lived with
their baby bird happily.

By Mridula . R

VII - C

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THE LOST JOURNEY

In India, there were eight children named Eshwar, Arun, Senthil, Huthaifa, Jason,
Vedheshwar, Kaushiek and Dharsith. They were great friends and lived happily. They
were great believers of God and frequently worshipped him. In Greece, two men dug a
great hole near the Parthenon, an ancient building. They found a silver box. They opened
the box after a few moments. The box shone brightly and many sprits came out of the
box. The next second the spirits killed the two persons and began spreading everywhere.
The world was in danger. The sprits from Greece went throughout the world and started
killing everyone. The humans couldn’t kill the evil spirits. They killed many people in the
world. The friends went to a mountain to seek help from the Gods. The Gods came and
said,” You are the future heroes, I will give each of you a unique power.” After saying
this God gave them superpowers. Eshwar got fire, Arun got water, Senthil got wind,
Huthaifa got rain, Jason got the power of making things, Vedheshwar got the power of
plants, Kaushiek got experience and martial arts and finally Dharsith got snow.

They went to the port. There Jason made a huge ship. They boarded the ship and set
sail to Greece where the spirits arose. All the friends were thrilled to be in a journey
and to duel with the spirits. They were about to go to Greece. The spirits were waiting
for the friends and started fighting with the friends. The friends were fighting
furiously with their superpowers. The sprits summoned a charm on the friends and
vanished them into different parts of the world. All the friends were sad. Jason made
an airplane to find his friends. The remaining friends defeated the spirits in their land.

After a few days Jason found Eshwar in India. They were happy because they both have

been found. Eshwar made the plane fly faster with his superpower .After a month they
were thrilled because all the friends were united to fight against the spirits. They went

to Greece secretly to defeat the spirits. There they prayed to the Gods to help find a
solution to get rid of the spirits. God said there is only one way to get rid of the spirits,

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that is to go to Guru Mahadeva in the colosseum. The friends immediately went to the
colosseum to see the guru. Near the colosseum they were surprised to see many spirits
guarding the colosseum. Seven friends were battling and Kaushiek went to Guru
Mahadeva to seek help. He said the only way to get rid of the spirits is by closing the
silver box which is under the Parthenon. They immediately went to the Parthenon.
Vedheshwar made the plants take the silver box. All others were fighting and everyone
was seriously injured. Then Eshwar came with his injured hand and closed and buried
the box. And the children defeated the spirits. The children did what a man could not
do.

By, Eshwar. K

VIII C

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A JOURNEY TO SPACE

There was a clever boy named Jack and his ambition was to go to space. He designed a
rocket in which 5 people can sit and all having 1 bedroom each. So, he called 4 of his
friends named Vishwa, Glen, Sumitha and Srinitha and all agreed to go to space except
Glen. Jack asked “Glen is there any problem?” and Glen replied, “yes bro, we can’t return
in a day and hence my mother will scold”. Jack said “no problem Glen, I have a time
machine with me ,with that we can come here at the time we left” and Glen readily
agreed. They all wore space dress and settled in the rocket. Jack checked the petrol
and the condition of the rocket and said “3,2,1 and let’s go”. Everyone in the rocket was
excited about the trip to space and rocket started its journey. There was pin drop
silence in the rocket and all started flying after entering the space. Vishwa asked “Wow!
How am I flying? And Sumitha replied “Vishwa don’t you know that when we are in space
we will fly because there is no gravity on space?”. Everyone laughed at Vishwa and
started admiring their stay in space. They were traveling for miles and miles and saw a
planet outside our solar system and that planet was yellow in color and looked like a big
lemon and when they were getting closer to the planet, Srinitha pressed a wrong button
in the rocket and the rocket crash landed into the planet. Luckily all of them landed on
the planet safely. While Jack was trying to repair the rocket, others went to discover
the planet. Amazingly they saw an animal which had the face of a lion, legs of a Tiger
and an elephant’s body which scared them and they rushed to their rocket. Meanwhile
Jack completed the work of repairing the rocket and they started their journey back
to the Earth. Vishwa explained their experience to Jack and they all were excited to
get back to earth. Earth looked very beautiful from the space and everyone started
admiring it as you are now.

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As discussed earlier they adjusted their clocks with the time machine to the day they
started their journey and returned happily to their homes. They cherished every bit of
this journey and started to plan for their next adventure.

Moral: Life is a Travel and you find your path

By, Lingesh. M
VIII D

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MY DREAM PROJECT

Hi I am Tealia, Tealia Morgan. My three best friends are Scarlett Noah, Lily
Robertson and Kate Anderson, we are besties for life. Lily is basically my cousin
but she’s still one of my best friends. It was my last day of first semester in
school, and the class was a bustling commotion. It was about nine o’clock and Mrs.
Jones started her class. Mrs. Jones was our history teacher for the past two
years; we loved her, she was the best. Today she gave us a research project about
mythical creatures, it was a group project and we decided that Lily, Kate, Scarlett
and I would form a group. The rest of the day was relatively free, few chit chats
in between classes about our newly assigned project.

We were excited to do this project and Kate once had read about the town of
Wilchester where there is frequent reporting of mythical creatures and
unexplained mysterious happenings. In Wilchester, all the strange happenings
happened in the town’s museum. We were leaving for Wilchester bright and early
on the following day in the morning, it was an hour ride from my house hence, we
were assembling at my house. We decided to stay in our family friends house in
Wilchester, my parents said they had some work so they would drop us at their
house. We will complete our research and return on Sunday afternoon.

It was early Saturday morning; the temperature was quite nice and warm. We left
for Wilchester first thing in the morning. We got on to the car and buckled
ourselves in. We were quickly leaving the town behind us and the forest was thick
on both sides of the road in no time. We knew we arrived at Wilchester when the
forest started to thin and buildings were flashing on both sides of the window.
We reached our family friends house and got ready to go investigate regarding
the strange happenings and mythical creatures.

The Local Daily on the Dining table reported about some missing idols in the town’s
museum. To know more on what happened in the museum, we decided to intercede.
We got a cab to the museum. The old museum looked a lot like the ones in movies
from the outside but it was in a pretty bad shape inside with police crime tapes all
over the place and within them a lot of its historic pieces missing. The last case on

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Friday night was that there was a sudden disappearance of the statue of the local
ruler and in its place there was a scratched wall scribbling which said “Find me if u
CAn” .We were able to spot out footprints on the dusted floor and we followed the
prints and it led to the beach just behind the museum and disappeared near the
coast lines.

Suddenly we found a piece of paper buried lightly into the sand, we quickly took
the paper out and it had a map of an island so we decided we would take a boat from
the nearby dock to find the island. We found the island pretty quick; we got down
from the boat and started on foot. We found a castle. The castle was black and
murky with one of its turrets broken and its fragments blowing off in the wind
sending your system into nerve racking fear. Scarlett the most daring of us all
opened the door we very quickly able to spot out the historic pieces missing from
the museum. In the center of the hall away from us sat a fairly short eerie looking
creature, I felt a shiver run down my spine.

For a second, my leg disconnected from my body I was not able to move. All I was
able to do was scream which triggered the creature and it started to chase us, we
were running swiftly and we closed the doors behind us. It was banging the door
loudly and all of a sudden, I felt something shake my arm, my heartbeat
accelerated and I blinked, trying to make sense of my surroundings and realized
it was all just a dream. I was in my bedroom and my mom was waking me up since I
was running late to school. I thought to myself “Well that was an experience” and
quickly rushed to school for my last day of the semester.

-By Tejasviya.R IX C

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CLEVER BOYS

It was a pleasant evening in Ahmedabad. Jack was playing cricket in the street

with his friends. It was a normal evening when something out of the ordinary happened.
The normal hustle of the bat hitting the ball and the kids yelling “catch!” was interrupted
by a high-pitched, ear tingling scream. Jack and all his friends froze up like time
stopped. He couldn't identify the voice but it was shrill and loud. Jack asked Billy, his
close friend to accompany him in order to investigate. They made for the street the
scream came from.

They neared Grizzly Street. The air seemed to grow thick around them. The
clouds grew darker. It was his mind playing tricks. They turned a corner and saw a woman
in her late 60’s standing on the side of the road crying.

“What's wrong auntie?” asked Jack. “A man stole my groceries” cried the woman.
“Describe the man auntie” said Billy. “H-He wore a mask and woolen gloves. He
threatened me with his fists and told me to give him my grocery bag. I hesitated an-and
he grabbed it from my arm. He was about your height” stuttered the old lady.

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Ok auntie we’ll take you home” said Billy. After
walking the lady home,

Billy said ”Wow, that lady was lucky that the
thief didn’t take her purse.”
“Yeah, I guess” said Jack who was taking down
the old lady’s address and phone number in his
handy pocket book. ”Anyway” said Billy, “I’m
gonna tell my dad”.
“Don’t do that Billy. Your dad may call the police
and the thief will never dare to step here again.”
“So? What are we gonna do?” asked a quite
puzzled Billy.

“We are going to record the thief in action.” exclaimed Jack.
“W-we……….h-how? ”stammered Billy.
“First of all, this is a closed enclave. There's only one road in and out of here and the
gates are all--”
“Guarded by Security!!” Exclaimed Billy.

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“Yes this means that we can easily hide a few cameras here and there in order to spy on
the criminal”
“Alright, “said Billy ”but where are we going to
get cameras to hide?”
“I’ve got a few Go-Pro’s. We could hide them in
the bushes” said Jack promptly.

The next morning, Jack, Billy and all their
friends started their work.
Jack explained what had happened to all their
friends and the procedure they were supposed
to follow.
The boys were willing to do what it takes in
order for the thief to be caught.
So, they hid three Go-Pro’s overlooking the
road and waited that evening for the results.
Today there were no screams or shouts for help. The boys went back to playing their
routine game of cricket in the evening.
Nothing.
Jack took the cameras from their hiding spots and carried them home that night.
He watched his daily episode of Tom-and-Jerry during dinner. It struck him just then.
“What if the cheese was what attracted the thief just like in Tom-and-Jerry?”
He was set to try out this new task tomorrow.
He called the auntie who got robbed that night and asked her to go and again buy
groceries tomorrow. “I’ve almost caught him auntie. This last trick will make him come
back for more.”

After reassuring the Lady, Jack went to bed with excitement pumping in his chest.

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The next morning, he told his friends to start playing cricket as they usually did and not
bother about the thief. They agreed. Jack set up the cameras again
and turned them on to record.

He was determined to catch the thief.

As the old lady was walking the same day, she was attacked and her
grocery bag was stolen again.

She yelled for help and the boys ran towards her. This time, Jack’s Father was standing
on the patio and rushed toward the lady and making sure she was alright.

When Jack arrived, he told his father that he had caught the thief.

His dad was puzzled. “How? Where is he?” asked Jack’s dad.

“I’ve Recorded it on camera, Dad. And placed cameras on the turns of the street as
well.”

Once Jack’s dad saw the video, He called the police. They tracked the thief and found
out he was the gardener of the enclave.

The Police Officers congratulated the Boys for this smart act.

“Very wise children. We wouldn't have thought about that”

“Clever Boys indeed”

The End

By:Joshua Alwinking
Class:XII ’A’

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HOW JARRING A DAY CAN BE

I walked down the school hallway as my usual self. Jeans, t-shirt, running shoes – all in
theme with my blue glasses. But today I’d felt…different. I wasn’t sure why. I looked
down at myself for the millionth time and still felt weird. Maybe it was the atmosphere.
It felt particularly dull today. I wondered, why?

How had I even got to school? I didn’t remember. I didn’t remember waking up or eating
breakfast or saying bye to mom and Hannah…

Ah...maybe it's today’s math test that’s been bugging me all week. Mr. Kelleher always
conducted super hard tests…which I, not-so-surprisingly, always failed at. I reached
Kari’s and my usual spot, near the fountain. We always met there before class.

I kept my math textbook and water bottle down and sat on the bench. Why was she late
today? I waited for a few more minutes. Ah there she was, she looked like she’d just
woken up, her eyes were puffy and tired and her clothes wrinkled. Not complaining…I
always look like that.

Standing up, I asked her “Kari! Why’re you late today? It’s weird. I’m usually the late
one. Except maybe-” I stopped talking. She was completely ignoring me, like I wasn't
even there. “Kari?” I ask. I also waved my hand in front of her face.

She still ignored me.

Well, that was rude! I thought.

I frowned and started shouting at her after calling her a few more times. “Kari! If you’re
going to ignore me like that…if you hate me or something, you better be straight up with
it.” She still ignored me.

Now she’d crossed her limit.

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Still frowning, I followed a group of kids from my grade to our first period. Fine! Let
her ignore me! I thought, another one followed up - Why though?

I try to talk to some of my “friends”. Like Kari, they ignored me. What? Was this a
prank or something? Cause this really wasn’t funny.

I tried asking them.

No reply.

I didn’t care now. I just stormed into class and walked to my bench. But I halted, noticing
Drew was sitting there...in my seat!

I snapped at him to get out of my place. I was really angry then because he too didn’t
respond. Scowling, I reluctantly took another seat.

Mrs. Scott, our first subject teacher, started taking our attendance. To make the day
worse, she skipped my name or maybe she just missed it.

Why was this happening to me?

I raised my hand and started talking without waiting for her to look up. “Um...Excuse
me? Mrs. Scott? You missed my name. Jules Ranver.”

She didn’t even look up, which just added to my rage. That was it. The day couldn’t get
any worse. Hoping someone would stop me and tell me this was all a bad dream, I picked
up my book and bottle and trudged out of the class. No one stopped me.

In a dilemma, I decided to go straight to Principal Gupta’s office. I couldn’t handle it
anymore.

Not bothering to knock, I barged into her office where I came face to face with a
massive life size painting of two words – Delilah Gupta.

Talk about show-off.

As soon as I entered, a door on the far wall opened and the Principal walked in. With
her green suit, matching lipstick and tomboy cut hair she resembled a Rockstar worthy
of Green Day.

“Ma’am?” I asked, shutting the door behind me. To my surprise she screamed when I
shut the door and clutching her chest, she stumbled backward. “Oh my gosh! Ahh!” she
choked.

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“I-I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to barge in like that…I just wanted to-” I stopped, she too
ignored me. With her eyes fixed on the door, she walked around her desk slowly and sat
down in her chair.

Letting out a shuddering breath, she gave a last glance to the door and turned to the
stack of papers on her desk.

“Ma’am?” I waved in front of her face. I was so close to her that I could smell her
signature perfume.

Wait…I couldn’t smell it now. I remember dreading the times when she used to walk into
our class for inspections. We could smell it a classroom away.

Had my nose stopped working? It was scary.

A few seconds later, her secretary – Miss Lane, walked through the same door she’d
come through. Miss Lane handed Mrs. Gupta a file and after giving her a small nod,
returned to her door.

“Wait. Miss Lane. Have you ever heard of any hauntings in this school?” Principal Gupta
asked. It was typical of her to have asked so. She was the most superstitious teacher
in our school.

“No Ma’am, I have not. But perhaps-” Miss Lane started.

“Do not speak of her, Miss Lane. It will only provoke my thoughts further on ghosts. And
speaking of which, have you arranged for the new counsellor this week? I don’t think the
students can handle the death.” Principal said.

I had no clue what they’re talking about.

But I knew I had had enough of people pretending like I didn’t exist. A tear made its
way down my cheek as I turned, opened the door and ran out. The last thing I heard
before running down the stairs was a terrified Principal Gupta screaming, “THE DOOR!
I KNEW IT WAS HAUNTED! AHH! CALL THE GHOSTBUSTERS, THE POLICE,
ANYONE!!”

A little laugh came out of me as I heard her screaming ‘Call the ghostbusters!’ does she
not know they don’t exist?

Soon I was out of the building and crying. I stopped at the gate and even the guard
didn’t notice me.

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I didn’t understand what was happening.
My eyes stopped at the little church opposite our school. I didn’t think, just ran across
the road and to the church. What I saw there surprised me, my mom and sister were
standing in the graveyard and…crying?
I rushed to them screaming, “MOM! HAN-” I halt when I see they don’t turn.

Everybody was ignoring me. Even my family?
I walked up to them, they were in front of a gravestone. I was beside them, and they
didn't even look at me.
I wasn’t sweating or out of breath…which was weird considering I’d just run. It hadn’t
felt like running though…more like gliding?
Realization struck me just as I saw what was written on the stone –
JULES RANVER
2005 – 2020
Our little angel who came into this world on the 3rd of January.
We will always love you, and miss you.
RIP.

- Rachel Antony [IX – A]

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A CHAPTER FROM MY LIFE

I shut the door behind me and sat on my table looking outside the window. I
started thinking how I started the journey of my life. I received results of my
exam this morning and as expected the reaction of my parents was the same. They
were again not annoyed but they were disappointed. My parents are that kind of
people who can tell you what they feel only through the expressions of their eyes.
I could tell that, yet another time I have not performed well my behaviour has
still been constant. Fifteen years ago, on the same date I stepped first into this
house. I was very pleased and I felt blessed, for the first time in my life to feel
a sense of belonging to someone. This fact is an inspiration for me. As a young child
I was always up to something or the other. I was one of those people who weren’t
into that much study, also I always scored only average grades at school. At that
point of time I was very focused, stubborn and highly over active. I used to spend
hours and hours doing different things.

My dad used to go out of town quite often so I spent most of my time in childhood
with my mother. She never let me sit doing nothing, she would either give me some
work to do or rather let me do something new on my own. This might very well
explain the fact that how the 5-year-old me was able to speak five languages, know
how to play piano and had already read the classic reads of Amar Premchand and
BiruBhai. When I was in seventh grade my dad got posted to Kashmir border. My
brother was appearing for his twelfth-class boards and my mother was stuck alone
in the new town of Roorkee in Haryana with her two children.

As soon as dad went to Kashmir troubles started rolling in our lives. There is always
one stage in every family when troubles come with great difficulties which affect
the coordination. Maybe this was the stage in our family at that time. My dad
broke his arm as soon as he left for Kashmir. Due to the terror attack in that area
that day, medication was not easily available. My mother here at Roorkee was

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unable to help in any way as my brother had been infected with dengue fever that
time and I was staying alone at our house.

My mother was also faced with severe unbearable back pain. During the same time,
I was selected to lead the Independence Day parade. This was the first time when
a girl would lead the parade in that area. I was too stressed at that point because
I wanted to help my family members but I couldn’t do anything. Soon things
started getting back to normal. My brother was cured, my mother was relieved
from the back pain. I was a bit discouraged that none of my family members
witnessed this. But as they say there is always light at the end of the tunnel, that
year I won the title of “Best Female Athlete of the Year”.

Looking back to all those memories now, I feel teenage may have affected me but
my childhood has taught me a lot. Fighting today on this day, trying to get good
grades in my class eleventh exams, I feel that life still has much to offer me.
This is not the end of my life after all. Maybe, all this while somebody up there
was trying to teach me something. Maybe, I can still dream of joining civil services
for bringing wealth to my country. I can still dream of running an NGO for children
and Women safety. I can still dream of being the judge of the supreme court. My
dreams are endless! Whatever it may be, I feel I’m now ready to proceed to my
studies for next test. Wish me luck!

BY: Roopakshi Shukla
Class 11: Allen

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A VOYAGE TO HEAVEN

It was 11:45 A.M in the morning, our teacher was teaching about planets
and solar system in the class. One girl was curious and asked the teacher if there
is only one planet in our solar system named Mars, in which we are living. The
teacher corrected her by saying that there are totally 8 planets. In this Mars
only has life on it and no other planet has life. All the students were interested
in this topic and were keenly listening to their teacher. Then a girl named Sara,
went home and searched about the planets and was amazed to see about the
third planet ‘EARTH’. She asked her teacher if she could share more information
about it. Then the teacher started explaining about Earth, its prosperity, Beauty
and the way the people’s lifestyle was and also about how it was damaged. Finally,
she said around thousand centuries ago the people who were living on the earth
misused and spoiled the earth so badly and there was a need for them to shift
to another planet. The planet they chose was Mars, on which life is available now.
She then concluded by saying that this is the story behind life on Mars and said
that Mars is not our home planet rather Earth is our home planet. Sara was
astonished on listening to this scientific history, so she thought of researching
about Earth.

One fine day Sara developed a ‘TIME TRAVELLING MACHINE ‘.

It could travel to the past as well as to the future. She time travelled for a
thousand centuries ago to Earth, where people were living happily. When she
landed on Earth, she felt very pleasant, happy and peaceful. It was a new
experience for her to walk on ground casually instead of living on Floating gas
balloons which has risks and if one wanted to go outside they should carry an
oxygen cylinder and wear a space suit which weighs about 20 kg. She was
surprised to see that there were no storms, acid rains as in Mars where
sandstorms are a quite common thing which takes place regularly. She was also
anxious to see what people eat. It was curious for her to see fire being used to
cook and bake food. She was wondering that we were eating some sort of flat

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round, brown food, which is nothing but chapattis, instead people on Mars just
drank a drop of chemical for their breakfast, lunch as well as for dinner. It
started to drizzle which she feared if it is acid rain, but people were enjoying
the drizzle, she then started pulling the people near to a covered area, for which
she got scolding. She didn’t know what rain was and was wandering how come the
skin didn’t burn when rains falls on them, because there is nothing called as rain
on Mars but often acid rain takes place. She saw some trees nearby, then saw
something hanging on it, which people ate, when she tasted it, she loved it, as
she hasn’t eaten any food except the tablets that replace the food. She admired
the rivers and the huge appearance of the mountains and the waves of the sea
water. She then visited Taj Mahal, one of the seven wonders of the world and
she stood still.

Then she spent some days on Earth and the while she thought of
going back to Mars, the time machine got damaged……….

Suddenly she heard of someone shouting her name, who was
none other than her mom, waking her up from sleep. Sara got up and realised
that she is still living on Earth only and it was her dream living on Mars then time
travelling to earth. Sara then understood the importance of our Earth and from
then on Sara became very conscious about nature and protecting our only home
‘EARTH’.

BY: M.HEMASHREE
IX-C

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THOSE GOLDEN DAYS

The child in her was unique. Ambitious, shy, naughty and always
ready for fun adventures. Maybe Janhvi’s character was highly impacted by the
kind of environment where she lived. A small town in the Kollam district of Kerala,
‘God’s Own Country’. Surrounded by a home touched by nature’s warmth, different
kinds of trees with fruits across seasons, mornings filled with the chirping of
birds, and lots of multi-coloured flowers manifesting their true beauty. Frankly
speaking, it were those days that she referred to as the ‘Golden days of her life’.

Everyday she would wake up to the call of her mother, whom she adored the most.
The mother would make delicious pancakes for her topped with honey and fresh
bananas picked from their garden. Followed by it would be the hustle for getting
her ready for school. Her mother would pack her bag stuffing it with books, lunch
and a water bottle, while her storyteller grandma would braid her golden hair with
ribbons while telling the child stories from her college days. Then the grandfather
would pick the child, and run in order to catch the school bus which used to arrive
at the junction.

In the evenings, she would run into the verandah, excited, to the noise of her dad’s
Royal Enfield, as he returned from his work. Her dad would buy her favourite
chocolate and the child would hug him as a sign of showing her gaiety. Then would
the family sit together for dinner which would be no less than a grand fiesta. Then,
at night, she would sleep in her grandma’s arms listening to her sweet voice
humming old tunes from the black and white days. It was from those days that she
remembers every tiny detail which still rules her memory.

Years passed by. The little girl now grew up to be a teenager. A pretty girl, with
sparkling brown eyes, long stranded hair and a sweet voice. She was no longer fed
breakfast by her mother, no longer taken in her grandpa’s arms to the bus stop,
but she still listened to the songs and stories of her grandmother who was now
wrapped in the hands of old age with silver hair, a weak voice and a slightly bent
body. It was with her grandma with whom she shared the strongest bond.

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One fine evening, her dad returned from his office as usual, but this time he had
a box of chocolates and a warm smile on his face. He called all the family members
to the common room stating that he had a big announcement. The family gathered
and the father continued, “I have to share a very happy news with all of you’ll. The
company has granted me a high promotion along with a good salary appraisal”. The
family was overcome with happiness and they all clapped their hands. He continued,
“The company was overwhelmed by my contribution in the new project and as a
result they gave me a placement in their new company in Dubai, UAE. So, me, Janhvi
and her mom will have to shift there within a month’s time.”

Hearing this, the smiles in grandma and grandpa’s faces slowly started fading away.
They came forward, hugged their son and congratulated him. Soon after, they left
towards their room, without saying a word further. Little Janhvi sat still there,
confused as she could not decide whether she should be happy or sad. Dubai was
always her dream destination but the thought of leaving her beloved grandma and
grandpa was at once miserable. She knew that it was not her time to decide and
that she would have to accompany her father and mother to Dubai.

A month passed by. Finally, the dreaded day came when grandma and grandpa
had to bid farewell to their children. The two of them accompanied their
children towards the airport. The announcement was made and soon they
realized it was only moments before their children would leave. Grandma took
Janhvi in her arms and kissed her on her forehead and gave her an old tape
recorder and whispered, “Whenever you miss granny, place this in your arms and
listen to it. And magic! Your granny would be sitting right next to you.” Janhvi
kissed her granny and grandpa. Moments later, they left for the flight and
Janhvi realized that it was the memories of those good olden days that she was
carrying with her to Dubai.

- POOJA PRAVEEN
CLASS 11, COMMERCE (C)

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A TALE OF LIBERALITY

It was a cold dark and rainy night when suddenly, around four kids secretly
sneaked out of a room, looking right and left as if they were up to some big task.
The warden, Mr. Hamilton, was a very strict man who always wanted the hostel
students to maintain discipline, his punishments were so terrifying, he would often
make students run three laps around the hostel campus. The children used to hang
out with each other on the hostel campus after school. Ellen was the smartest in
the group and led it, she was 12 years old. Arthur was the most violent in the group,
he would get into a lot of fights and would get into a lot of trouble with Mr.
Hamilton, he was 12 years old as well. Thomas, thirteen, was the oldest and the
calmest in the group, he would only talk when spoken to and Noah, twelve, the
youngest in the group was also most clever in the group, he would fool Mr. Hamilton
whenever he was about to get into trouble.

One day, they were being taught about poverty, all the students in the class
became quiet and listened carefully, thinking about how lucky they were to be able
to study, eat properly and live a comfortable life meanwhile there were kids like
them who couldn't afford to have proper meals, had to work hard to earn very
little money and often slept without a roof over their head. The teacher announced
the upcoming Children's Day celebrations which will be held in the hostel campus.
Everyone seemed to be happy about the Children's Day event except for the four
of them.

The group, after school, went to their rooms, thinking about it all day. None of
them could sleep properly last night, they were all thinking about the poor children,

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who probably don't even know what "Children's Day" means. The next morning,
Ellen came up with an idea, what if the group could talk to the hostel staff to
invite the poor children to the event? The group seemed to like the idea and went
to the head of the event. The head of the event seemed very busy and wasn't
paying attention to what the group was saying.

Ellen and the group angrily left the place. Noah, the cleverest guy in the group
came up with a plan, very exciting but dangerous. The day they were waiting for,
finally came, there were various stalls set up on the hostel campus, there was a lot
of noise. The group ate and enjoyed and finally bought some more snacks and
books. Ellen told the plan to everyone, how they would sneak out and where they
would go, it was a street, where a lot of poor children slept. The group looked out
of their window, making sure no one was there to see them sneak out. They slowly
opened the door and Ellen lead the group. They were headed towards the stairs
when suddenly a door opened and Mr. Hamilton walked out. Mr. Hamilton went to
check where the noise came from, the group quickly hid behind the door of a
classroom. Mr. Hamilton saw a box with some snacks inside them and thought it
was some kid being mischievous. He walked inside the classroom and started
checking whether someone was in, the group walked out of the door slowly, as Mr.
Hamilton was looking the other way.

The group went down the stairs and climbed up the wall. They had finally escaped
the hostel and followed behind Ellen. They reached the street and quietly took out
the boxes with snacks and placed them there, Noah, sadly couldn't place any box
as he had dropped it back in the hostel. The group felt satisfied and could now
sleep peacefully. Mr. Hamilton was standing there and smiling, the group was
scared, they thought they would face serious punishment now, but Mr. Hamilton
seemed rather happy. He told them to follow him back to the hostel, when they
finally reached the hostel, he praised the group for their act of generosity and
promised them that he would talk to the hostel Dean to allow poor children at the
school events and made them promise that they would never pull up such a stunt
ever again.

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The group went back to their room and had a good night's sleep, after so many
days. The next day, they went to school and were feeling very proud of themselves,
nobody knew about their act of generosity except one person, they saw a change
now, Mr. Hamilton was very friendly to kids now and stopped giving punishments,
all the credit can be given to the group.

By Shivansh Thapliyal
X-B

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THE BLACK BOX.

"But why? Can’t I stay at home?” I plead with my mother.

"Absolutely not Leah. Today is the first day and you are going to school."
my mom replies with a sigh. She looks angry. This fight happens almost
every first day. I say no. She says yes.

"Ok fine.” I throw my hands up in frustration and go back to my room to
get my bag. But when I return her expression is different than before.
She looks apologetic and smiles at me.

"Since this is the first day of high school, I have
something for you," she says smiling.
"For me?"

"Yes, for you”. She takes out something from her pocket
and hands it over to me. As she takes it, I realize that
it is asmall box. A black box to be precise.

"A box? Why?” I ask, raising my eyebrows. The
frustration is clear in my voice.

She seems a little hurt by my tone. So, I walk up to her and hug

her. But as I hug her, I ask the question again. She laughs a little and says.
"I saw this at a garage sale somewhere. My mom used to say small things
bring good luck. I don't know why but she says that. So, when I saw this I
thought of you."

"Is this box is for good luck?” I ask her.

"Yes, it is. So good luck" she says, pulling me in for another hug.
I throw it inside my bag and leave after waving to her. I usually walk to

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school alone because it is close by. I decide to put my mints in the small
box. I rummage inside my bag while walking and take it out. The box is too
tight for me to open. With much effort, I finally open, it.

But something like a gas comes out of it. It settles in front of me and forms
a person. A boy.

I scream. I scream so much that the others stare at me on the road.
Heather, the girl I hate most in my school seems to have noticed my little
freak out. She laughs and points at me and walks away. But I don’t have time
for her now.

Because something like a ghost stands in front of me. He seems to be
stretching like he has been in a small place for a long time.

“What are you?” I ask confidently because I don’t want to be scared. Being
scared doesn’t help people in ghost movies.

“I am a genie” the boy-ghost replies
smiling. “Genie? Like in Aladdin?”
“Well, that was my great grandfather. But yes, That’s the idea.”

“But I thought Genies are blue and don’t have feet. I thought they lived in a
kettle or something” I ask

“Well, humans evolved. So did we. I am Jon” He extends his hand for a
handshake. I shake expecting my hand to go through his but it stays firm.
Solid.
“Leah.” I reply. “So, you give me three wishes?”

“Yes. Have some time to think about it. You won’t have a chance to change."

I nod. Somehow I don’t feel scared. We walk to school together. He looks
everywhere and touches everything like he is seeing everything for the first
time. “So others can't see you?” I ask

“Nope. Only the person I grant wishes to,” he replies.
When I enter school, I bump into Heather. She rolls her eyes
at me. “Check your phone,” she says smirking.
I take it out of my phone but there is no charge. She laughs and shows me a
video on her phone titled ‘Freak’s Freak out” It’s a video of me jumping at

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the sight of Jon.

“Shut up” I reply angrily and shove the phone into her hand and walk away.
Jon runs and catches up to me. I turn to him.

“I want a new phone. My first wish. A new
phone.” “Are you sure?’’

“Yes. Hurry up.”

He closes his hand and when he opens it a new iPhone sits
there. “Cool,” I say smiling. “Thank you”

“No problem.” he replies smiling. “You have two more left.”

The rest of the day he follows me around school. He throws things here and
there. But my classmates don't understand why things fall all of a sudden.
But they just assume it’s the wind.
“We could have been friends if you weren’t a genie and a human.” I say to
him while eating lunch. “We are alike.”

“That’s nice,” He replies smiling.
Just then something falls on my head. Water???I turn to see Heather
standing behind me. She laughs and throws her hair behind.

“Sorry” She laughs and walks away.
“Second wish. Make her trip and fall on her face.” I tell him

“Seriously. Of all the things you could wish for- world peace, gender
equality. Do you want to make a high school student trip? You want to cause
pain to someone?’’ He asks, raising his eyebrows shocked.

“Yes”

He snaps his fingers and I hear a thud. I turn to see Heather lying on the
ground. Laughter echoes through the hall. It includes mine. But Jon walks
away. I throw my things in my bag and run after him.
“Stop. What’s wrong?” I
ask him. “Nothing”

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“You are judging me, right?
“No”. He doesn’t talk to me the entire day. When we return home, he shuts
himself inside the box. Before I go to sleep, I knock on his box. He comes
out and sits in front of me.

“What’s wrong? Please talk to me. Are you mad at me?” I
ask him. His expression changes and he looks at me
apologetically.
“No. Of course not. I was just shocked you wanted to do that.”

“You don’t understand how difficult it is to be a teenager. The pressure to
be popular, to be perfect. We have to decide what we want to do for the
rest of our lives during this time. I want to do something different during
this time. But I am not allowed. Sometimes it’s too much to bear.” I say
shaking my head.
“I understand.” He says.” Even I was a teenager. I am still. I went through
this whole rebel phase where I painted myself blue in respect to my
ancestors.” he says laughing a little.

“I got fed up with living in a box. But when I saw the world, how people
lived, and how some people don’t have the basic things, I became grateful
for the things I had. Lots of people are willing to give up everything for
what you have. I would also give up my genie life for what you have. I am
not only talking about three wishes. Your school, your parents. Everything.”

I nod. He continues smiling.
“Teenage is hard. I know. But try to make the best of it. Try to make the
people around you happy.”

“Sure.” I reply smiling. “Thanks.”
He smiles and goes back into his box. And I go to sleep.

The next morning when I leave for school, he walks with me, smiling and
chatting like he did yesterday.

“So, did you think about your third wish?” He asks.
“Yes. Yes, I did” I reply. I thought about it last night and finally decided

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on something that I would really like.
“I would like you to stay. For you to become a human teenager. So, we can be
best friends. You said you wanted to become human.” I say smiling
He seems shocked.” Really? You would do that? For me?’’
“Not for you. For me” I reply laughing.” Because I would miss you when you
go”. “Are you sure? Don’t you want to become Queen Bee of your school or
pull pranks on that girl?”

“Nope. Maybe we can pull pranks together.”
He smiles.” Ok then”. He snaps his fingers and something like a vapour
surrounds him. Seconds later he appears looking the same. Probably more
human.

“I’m human!” He shouts. He hugs me and says “Thank you. This means a lot
to me” I hug him back. “Sure” I reply smiling.
And we walk to school plotting pranks to pull on Heather.

By Nashita D 9B

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MOTHER MY CONSORT

The very first thing that hit my mind after hearing to the locution “Lockdown” is
to linger at my home. IMPOSSIBLE! I traipse around like a stray whelp. My name
is Lily Kim. A professional wildlife photographer. So, from my career you will indeed
realize that I cannot sit in one place and toil. But, with my mother around me, me
sitting in one place, and that too at my home POSSIBLE! My cousins came around
to hang out with us. Just the next day after they arrived an enormous, clamorous
flash news. MODI HAS ANNOUNCED LOCKDOWN FOR 21 DAYS. Great!
Thought of leaving the next second and peregrinate to my office guest house and
work there with my employees but I thought why not squander with my family and
take a break from my work! The next day my youngest cutest cousin Aki was playing
around in the kitchen. He looked at me and yelled with excitement “I want to grow
up and become an astronaut”. I sighed, I used to apprise to my mom. “I want to
grow up and become a wildlife photographer” but now, just realized that childhood
is the most invaluable, marvelous and finest time of a persons life.

Days passed, and it was the end of LOCKDOWN. My cousins departed and flew
back. I as usual started to work upon one of my most prime piece of work,
MOTHER’S LOVE. Roamed around like a pooch searching for the moments of
mothers love shown to a kid. Saw so many children not heeding to their mothers
words. I wondered if they actually loved their mother. You know they say” When
we see the smile that appears on our parents especially on our mother when
we make them proud, that smile, happiness can never be replaced by anything,
even if we give them the most valuable gem”. It is so TRUE. They do correct
and discipline us. When we succeed, the credit always goes to our mother and our
father. “My mom is a lifelong smile in my heart, her voice a comfort to my
soul and her hugs my ladder to the stars”.

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So, let’s hop back to my tale. As I told I am still roaming but, it turned out to be
abortive. Went home downhearted and sat down, my mother came near me and
exhorted me “Child never give up”. Then I perceived, they only mentioned
“MOTHER’S LOVE”. I went to my room, sat down and started working on it. I at
last concluded on whom and how to posturize “MOTHER’S LOVE”. I told my mother
to get ready as soon as possible. I myself went and jazzed up a little. My mother
looked really charming, sat down on the sofa arranged my camera, set the timer
and CHEESE! The photo came out really well. I caved in this photo to my boss. He
was so jovial that he vended this to a billionaire. The billionaire was happy to retain
this portrayal in his ART MUSEUM. I was so pleased in seeing all the money I had
earned. Presented this money to my mother. She was so joyous. That photo would
have been incomplete without my mother. MY MOTHER MY CONSORT.

“A MOTHER’S HEART IS ALWAYS WITH HER CHILDREN”

By Aathiraa .U.R
10 A

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UNLEASH THE CHILD WITHIN

Sera was a vegetarian. The thought of eating something that used to live made
her nauseous. But staring at a talking bear made out of waffles and ice-cream
wearing a pink bubble gum tutu, she was rethinking her choice. A lot of her life
choices, to tell the truth.

It all began with her little sister Saffie. Saffie was the
typical eight-year-old, content to play with dolls and her
imaginary friends while Sera was the teenager who was
desperately trying to put her childhood behind and grow
up. So, one evening, when Saffie came to her room and
said, “Hashi wants to talk to you,” Sera sighed.

“Sweetie, I can’t play with you right now.”

“Hashi says to hold on.”

Sera rolled her eyes. “Saffie-,”

She broke off when the room began shaking. Blindly, she caught her sister’s hand
and sent a prayer to God. Earthquakes in the city was rare, and with panic clouding
her brain, she had no idea what to do.

Suddenly, the quake stopped. Sera opened her eyes and gaped.

A bear made of ice cream and waffles stood before her. It was raining candies
and a lion, elephant and squirrel were singing “Let it Go”. Sera pinched her arm.
She must have fallen unconscious and must be dreaming. Not that she had ever
had such vivid and imaginative dream before.

“Sera the Warrior,” a fairy that looked like Tinkerbell landed on Saffie’s shoulder,
“Welcome to our land. I’m Hashi, Saffie’s childhood spirit.”

“What?” Sera stared at them blankly. The bear snorted chocolate sprinkles.
Another food item that was now ruined for her, “Just follow our lead. You need to
defeat that monster, Sera the Warrior.”

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The childhood nickname brought a frown to her face as she followed the bear’s
paws to a plot of grey area that stood out starkly against the vibrant fields. She
asked, “What do you want me to do? Grow flowers and sing songs?”

“If we wanted a singer, we would have called one instead of a tone-deaf girl,” the
bear rolled its eyes. Apparently, childhood spirits did not have a personality of
sunshine and roses. “No, you need to unleash the child within you and defeat the
monster.”

“Your childhood spirit is the strongest and purest,” Tinkerbell lookalike nodded at
the bear. The bear scowled at her, “Even though you never use it.”

“Okay, I cannot understand-,”

A flash of white light blinded her. When she opened her eyes, she was standing on
the grey land. A feeling of heaviness settled in. Monotony, darkness and bleakness
settled over her. She was drowning in this feeling.

A pair of paws caught her, “You can defeat it, Sera the Warrior.”

When the bear spoke, a sense of peace
filled her. Warmth, joy, innocence and
magic flowed from her as her childhood
spirit brought out the memory of her
childhood.

“Everyone has their childhood spirit
inside them,” the bear said, “And it is a
spirit of purity and joy that gets them
through the darkest hour for it is the child in you that finds joy and something
new in the world around you”.

“The grey you see is the perils that come after childhood. Do not become one with
it. Instead change it according to your wishes.”

Sera imagined a hill made of chocolate with green apple gummy worms as grass.
She imagined fairies flying in the sky and talking trees. When she opened her eyes,
she saw the grey spot transformed into her wishes.

“How?” Sera asked in amazement.

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The bear smiled, “People grow, Sera, but they never lose the child in them. When
you let it out to play, the world turns glamorous. Try to use me in your world
regularly. I am in your dreams and creativity, but only if you let me in.”
Hashi and Saffie floated to them, “Sera the Warrior saved the day!”
“It’s time to go home,” the bear, Sera’s childhood spirit, said. “We owe you a great
debt. Bye, Sera. Remember to call on me.”

The scene slowly dissolved. Sera was back in her room, seated on her chair. She
shook her head slowly, “What a dream.”
Her little sister was on the floor. She looked up and beamed, “Sera the Warrior
saved the day!”
THE END

BY: YAZHINI N
XI B

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BRAVE IN THE HEART

Wisconsin, 2010
It all began in a small room below the attic, with young Isabella Stewart lying
awake in the bed with her little brother Gabe Stewart. Isabella was lost in her
thoughts with her blue eyes facing the ceiling. She always wanted to go to the
attic but her mother, Mrs. Stewart, never let her go. Suddenly she was struck by
a thought “why don’t I go see the attic now?”. Too impressed by the thought, she
jumped out of bed and climbed to the attic. The attic was full of old trunks and
photos. The first one she opened was her grandfather’s Mr. James Stewart.

There were a lot of photos and old letters and a shiny crystal staff. The staff
looked like a scepter that royals used to have. The moment she touched it, she
felt a boost in her energy and a new lightened spirit in her that she had never
felt before. She thought that she and the scepter had a special connection. She
took it with her wherever she went. She never knew that this could be the start
of something huge and dangerous

She studied in East high school, Wisconsin. It was a bright afternoon. Everything
was going pretty well until dark clouds spread all over the sky and covered it
completely. These clouds didn’t look like rain clouds. They were as black as coal.

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This was sudden and unexpected. The students began to panic. Things got worse
when the principal switched on the TV for news. The news showed a display of
black dark–looking unknown creatures attacking people and turning them to stone.

Government ordered everyone to stay wherever they are and never come out for
a while. The school gates were closed.

Frightened, Isabella ran to see if her brother was safe and to bring him back with
her. When she came back, she saw her best friend Sarah anxiously looking for
something in a book. When Isabella leaned over to see what it was, she saw a
picture of her grandfather’s scepter that she has now.

She immediately asked Sarah about it. “Oh, this one! It was a story of a legendary
man who used this magic scepter to defeat hundreds of dark threats” said Sarah.
When Isabella showed her the scepter, Sarah was speechless.

“No way!! You are James Stewart’s granddaughter?” Sarah asked Isabella.
Isabella didn’t expect this. “You know my grandfather?” she replied.

“Of course! Your grand dad was a legend. We used to hear stories of him when
we were young. Can you use that scepter?” she asked in excitement.

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“I don’t know. I haven’t tried. How do I use it?” said Isabella. They started
checking the book that Sarah was holding.

Here it is! “THE THUNDERLIGHT SCEPTER”.

“Ok. I’m going to try it” said Isabella. She took a deep breath.

“LIGHT UP”

The scepter glowed. It was like a sun inside the room.

Then she tried “IGNITE”

Fire shot out of the scepter and burnt Isa’s book.

Isa was scared and excited. Sarah realized that she had the gift of magic.

‘’Can this scepter be used to stop these dark creatures that’s turning people to
stone?’’ said Isabella.

I think it can. It seems to be our only chance.” said Sarah.

Isabella was always adventurous and brave. She decided to take the risk. She
asked Gabe to stay with Sarah until she gets back. But little Gabe started
following her. Isa checked the news to see where the dark creatures were. A
scream from the basketball court made her realize that the creatures had
already got to her school. The principal asked everyone to get back to their
classrooms and lock the door. While everyone ran to their classrooms, Isa ran the
other way and Gabe was following her.

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Isabella met the dark creatures face to face in the school grounds. There were
2 of them. Isa didn’t have a chance to step back. She took a hold of her scepter
but before she could say anything, she was pushed to the floor by one of those
creatures. She was hit hard on the head. The only thing she heard was a wicked
laugh from those creatures.

Right when they were about to turn her to stone, Gabe stepped in and got turned
to stone.

‘’No” yelled Isa. She ran towards him. Tears fell from her eyes, looking at her
brother as still as death. For a moment she thought life was over. She was about
to succumb to death.

Just then, Sarah ran towards her, ‘’the only way to stop them is by destroying
the dark clouds above. It’s their pathway of getting to our world. If we destroy
it, they will die.’’ Said Sarah and in a moment, Sarah was a stone too.

Isa didn’t have time to think, she pointed her scepter to the clouds, and yelled
“BLAST IT”.

A continuous beam of light shot out of the scepter and started destroying the
dark clouds. The creatures started disappearing. Everything was finally over. Isa
felt so good to see the light in the sky. In a moment Gabe and Sarah turned back
to normal along with other who were turned to stone by the creatures.

Isa hugged Gabe “I’m so glad you’re safe. I thought I lost you”.

Sarah ran to Isa ‘’ Isa you saved us! I knew you could do it”

“Thank you, Sarah. Well, I wouldn’t have done it without you” said Isabella.

Isa and Gabe walked home safe and happy.

‘’And there ends the story’’ said mum to little Noah Evans.

‘’So, what did you learn from this story Noah’’ asked mum.

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Little Noah was lost in thinking.
“Be brave Noah! Be brave to face anything that comes your way. Now go to sleep!’’
“Good night mum.”
Mum left the room, happy that she taught her little child a great lesson. She
sowed a seed in little Noah’s heart, which she knew will grow and lighten his path
of life.

Name: Angelina Divya. A
Class: XII – B

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A CHILD AND THE BEE

It was a vast land and we cannot see the places located on the other side from
its opposite side. So vast that, there will be millions of flowers which contained
the best quality of nectar. A cute child was running on that field, hoping he could
go to the other side. But unfortunately he could not go to the other side. He was
panting heavily as he was tired. Also, he could not go to his house as it was too
far. Then, he walked slowly and sat on a rock below a dense tree. While he was
resting there, a drop of honey fell on his cheeks. He heard the buzzing sound of
a bee above his head. He saw a tiny honeycomb, which had very few honey. He
wanted to taste the honey at any cost, and for that he took a stick and tried to
hit the honeycomb. But, sadly he could not taste it, as a bee flied at a high speed
and came near the child and frightened him.

“How dare you try to destroy my most valuable honeycomb that I built overcoming
many hardships”, the bee said with anger. The child was so surprised that the bee
was talking like humans. Then the child asked the bee “How can you speak like a
human? Did you get any talking power from a fairy by impressing her through
giving your valuable golden honey to her? I know fairies are always sweet and
sweet things always made them sweeter and they will give us some powers”. The
bee refused this and said to the child “No, I didn’t get any power, but something
which forces us to become depressed”. The child was thinking about this
statement of the bee and he questioned him what made it depressed. The bee

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replied “That is a CURSE”. The child asked the bee “You are a very good bee. Who
cursed you and I want to know why you are cursed”.

The bee narrated the story behind its curse. “Some Thousand years ago, I was
not a bee, but I was a farmer, who got the highest amount of yield in the world
from this same land. But my small mistake, made me to suffer for these many
years. One day, I was working in my field and there was a very big honeycomb
which could cover an entire tree near my field. My tongue was so watery to taste
the honey. Also, I was so greedy that there was a large amount of honey in that
comb and I could make money with that. Then I threw a stone on the honeycomb.
The stone that I threw, hit the golden honeycomb. Then all the honeybees rushed
to attack me. I thought that, until my death maybe, my original face cannot be
seen forever. But the queen of those honeybees stopped them and said “Friends,
if we attack this man who hit our honeycomb and wasted the hard work of our
hundreds of generations, the man’s face will be damaged but eventually he will
recover. So, instead of attacking this idiotic guy, we can give him a punishment to
make him realize his mistake”. I was so scared after hearing their talk, and
apologized to them. “Please, forgive me for my mistake. I will never harm any
honeycomb hereafter. Don’t punish me.” But the honeybee-queen told me “I will
not forgive you. As I said you have destroyed our hard work. I am cursing you
that, from this instant you will be a honey bee and you should build the same
sized-honeycomb as we built before, but you can collect very less honey per day
compared to us. After you have built the exact honeycomb of the same size only
then will you again turn into a human”. From then onwards I am living as a bee and
building this honeycomb”.

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After hearing this story, tears rolled down the child’s eyes. Then the child
apologized to the bee. “You have made me realise my for mistake. Hereafter, I
will not be greedy and I will not harm any honeycomb”. Then the bee said happily
to the child “I am so happy that my curse, made my life miserable, but it taught
you some values and improved your life’s quality, also made you realize your
mistake”.

MORAL OF THE STORY |
If you are greedy it will make your life miserable.

By M Kaushik Kavindra

Class & Sec | IX ‘B’

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A PETRIFYING NIGHTMARE… OR WAS IT?
A SHORT HORROR/THRILLER STORY

It was a very cold Saturday night, or rather, a very cold Sunday morning. I would
say morning instead of night, for the alarm clock which sat on the night lamp stand
to the right of my bed read 3:01 A. M. as the silhouette held me down in my bed
by my shoulders, rendering all my attempts to escape futile. I struggled and
struggled, staring at its imperceptible face in horror, as it effortlessly put its
left hand in the middle of my chest while its right hand reached out and began
strangling me. I gasped for air fruitlessly as I began hitting its arm weakly, in a
vain attempt to stop the choking.
Being murdered in my bed. One of my greatest fears ever since I moved to this
house.

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There would be a report of some random robbery or murder in my neighborhood.
If the victim didn’t wake up during the ongoing heist, then the burglars would just
leave them be. However, if the victim is alarmed by some random noise made by
the burglar in the house, then the criminals would quickly kill the person on the
spot and flee, taking the money with them. This kind of news made me paranoid,
leading me to taking some drastic measures to avoid such a fear and possibility
from coming true. I attached grills to all the windows so that nobody could force
an entry through the windows. Should I be in a situation where I need to defend
myself, I kept a number of knives stashed all over the house, and I even bought
three guns: two pistols in my room and the kitchen, and a lever-action rifle under
the couch in the living room. Now, here I was, not able to even get up from my
bed to get my gun. I didn’t even know how this intruder got inside.

The face was black at first, but then, it slowly formed the shape of a young man
I knew all too well. A face which filled me with dread and reminiscence.

Why, he was my brother, Paul, the very person I killed a few months ago by
accidentally poisoning his food!

Paul was on vacation when he gave me a surprise visit. While he was visiting me,
he accidentally ate some cake which I poisoned to kill the rats in my house (don’t
ask me what I was thinking; I ask myself that question to this day), and the next
thing I knew, he was lying dead on the table, his mouth frothing.

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But, how can it be my brother? He is supposed to be at least 6 feet under the
ground in his grave! I was at his funeral myself, cursing myself for my
carelessness!

His face sneered at me. "You enjoyed seeing my looks of agony, right?"

Tears were flowing down my eyes. Whether it was from fear, or guilt, or from
being choked, I had no idea. But I was crying, for sure. "No, Paul, no!" I choked.

Paul - the ghost - ignored me. He seemed intent on making my murder look so
intriguing. He slowly tilted his head and said, "You enjoyed seeing me die, right?
You enjoyed that look of betrayal I had sported on my face, right? Well, this face
will now haunt you for your life! Correction, your death!"

Paul then lifted a large knife, which was sheathed in his back, and brought the tip
striking home.

GASP!

I suddenly found myself sitting up in my bed, clutching my blanket, panting heavily,
eyes wide open. I was skeptical. Was it really a dream? Only one way to find out.

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I slowly looked around my room. No Paul. I looked under my bed. No Paul. I looked
at the door of my room. It stayed still.

Once I got the better of myself, and after I convinced myself that it was just a
stupid nightmare, I threw the blanket away, got out of bed, found my pistol, and
went back to bed, clutching it to my chest in my shivering hands.

"Calm down," I told myself. "It was just a dream."

Right then, I noticed that my clock read 3:00 when the door to my room slowly
creaked open, revealing a silhouette with a pitch-black face.

Armed with a knife in his hand, which he slowly sheathed into his back.

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-By Porchelvan. G
10- “A”

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TIM HAD A PET STARFISH

Tim had a pet starfish. He took it with him everywhere. When he was a teenager
it was not a huge problem, although it would lead to awkward or embarrassing
situations. Like the time his high school class went swimming in the local pool.
However, it was when he began his NASA astronaut training that things began to
get more tricky. Tim had always known that he wanted to become an astronaut but
when he got the starfish (his name was Paul) he had never really considered that
the two important things in his life might be excluding each other. It eventually
dawned on him one spring morning in 1996 and it broke his heart when he imagined
having to leave Paul at home to begin his journey towards outer space. That day
Tim made a choice. If he was going into the orbit, so would Paul. After all, when
was the last time you met a starfish that had let itself be limited by mundane
challenges like gravity?

The folks at NASA skeptical at first when Tim showed up with Paul in his little
mobile water tank. Remember, that Tim had been hauling him around for more than
a decade and he had developed several tools and habits to make it as easy as
possible to bring Paul with him, including a special plastic tank

with a breathable but spill safe membrane instead of a lid, and with a special carry
handle.

And since Tim was by far the most suitable candidate out of the more than six
hundred applicants for the three new astronaut positions, the hiring board had no
real choice but to hire him. Pet starfish or not.

Tim loved the training. All the extreme activities. Jumping parachutes. Simulated
weightless drills. Underwater exercises in heavy space suits. But he also loved all

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the administrative and scientific task, calculations, etc. Both advanced computer
models of the upper stratosphere, but also the quick computations he had to do in
his head as part of training exercises simulating loss of calculation equipment.

And always with Paul in his tank. You may find it unusual for someone to carry
around a pet starfish all the time. And indeed most people Tim met found it weird
and even disturbing sometimes. Mostly when he would sit and actually pet it on
the… you know… Star tips… Or when you would hear him having extended political
discussions with Paul, but only hear Tim’s half of the argument like overhearing a
phone call.

But Tim was a good person and a great astronaut and his colleagues would
eventually forgive him and accept his reality. They would even have short
conversations with Tim and Paul together, Tim translating for Paul. It felt natural
after a while. They even celebrated Paul’s birthday.

Then came the time for Tim and thus also Paul’s first mission into space. It had
been planned for months: space shuttle discovery would be launched from Houston,
to go into the orbit and connect with the International Space Station and deliver
the cargo and return to the Earth nine days later. Tim and Paul on a real space
adventure. However, only one of them would ever return to earth.

Tim had been acting strange lately. But he had always been a bit strange and most
people shook it off, and the launch went ahead as planned. Paul in his newly
developed space tank and Tim strapped into his seat.

Tim was finally ready. To go on his very first spacewalk. But more than that, he
was ready to again be a free man. During the blastoff from the rockets when the
space shuttle was lifted out of gravity, he had once again made up his mind: he
would send Paul on a new journey alone. So on the spacewalk he took Paul’s container
and detached the string that secured it to his spacesuit. And right there and then
he gave the tank one gentle little push. And without gravity or resistance from
atmospheric air, the tank drifted off into the orbit. Tim followed it with his eyes
for as long as he could.

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After returning to the Earth Tim would never be the same person. But that was
okay. He would sometimes wake up in the middle of the night and go outside and
look up into the cloudless night sky and think about his first life companion.

BY RISHIT SINHA
IX-C

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