JOHNIANS FABLES- SJPS 2020 CHILDREN'S DAY RELEASE

MYSTERIOUS FRIEND

Lakshmi was waiting for her daughter Kavya to return home. Recently Kavya
started playing with some unknown kid at the river side. That river is just few
metres from their home. She told her mother that the stranger is her new
mysterious friend. Their home is located in the outer of state and at the edge
of a small forest. Kavya’s father Hari is very fond of that home as he had spent
most of his childhood days in it. Though it is far from the town, he decided to
live in it. There is a two-meter wall around the property and one can see a
beautiful juicy green grass surrounding their home.

When they moved into that home, Kavya was a year-old kid. After Kavya,
doctors told, it is difficult for Lakshmi to have another child. So, they started
taking care of her with utmost care. When Kavya turned five, she had realized
that she wanted more friends to play with, but beside her house, there were no
other homes so no kids to play with her. She felt very bored. Once in a while
they used to go to their friend’s house in the town to spend some time with
their kids. But for Kavya that was not enough.

Many times, Lakshmi asked Hari to move to some other home near the town just
for Kavya, so she could find many friends in town, but Hari kept postponing it.
Meanwhile, Kavya got used to playing alone and spent a lot of time at the river
side.

When the days were going like this, one day Kavya had come home happily and
told that she got a friend at the river side. Lakshmi was surprised as she knew,
there was no one living near their home, so there is no chance of anyone to come
there to play. But when Kavya described her in details like how she talks, how

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she looks, then she started believing that this girl could be coming from a
nearby village. As per her description, she was of the same age of Kavya and
every day she comes by just wearing a kid’s panty. But Lakshmi was curious to
know how come such a small girl comes alone from a village.

She asked Kavya to bring her home. But she refused to bring her as her friend
didn’t want to come to their home. And her friend told Kavya that no one should
see her; otherwise she wouldn’t meet her again. After hearing that, Lakshmi
started suspecting her friend. She told Hari about Kavya’s mysterious friend.
But he didn’t care much about it.

That day Lakshmi decided at any cost she should find who she was? So, she
prepared Kavya’s favorite sweet to soothe her and find more details about her
friend. She was waiting for her to come back home. After some time, she came.

“Hi Sweety, you know what I prepared for you. Can you guess?”, she said
carrying her on her lap.

“Hey… mummy… I know you prepared Gulab Jamun … I like it”, She was very
happy. Lakshmi nodded and took her to the kitchen and gave a Gulab Jamun.
While she was eating, she asked, “Sweety, does your friend also like Gulab
Jamun?”

“Yes, mummy”, she said gulping the Jamun.

Why don’t you take this to your friend? She might feel very happy, ok”, she said
by giving a box to her.

“Yes, you are right mummy. She feels very happy… you are very nice”, she said
by taking that box.

“Will you go now? Is your friend still be at the river side “, she asked by looking
at her carefully.

“Yes mummy she always stays there. Even she doesn’t have any friends…, so I
can go and give it right now”, she said and ready to leave home.

“Ok, come quickly … and be careful alright”

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“Yes… mummy! and my friend will feel very happy after seeing this sweet… bye”,
she said and went outside.

After few seconds, Lakshmi followed her, and she was extremely careful so
that Kavya wouldn’t notice her. When she reached the bay, she was stunned
after seeing what Kavya was doing at that place. Actually, there was no one
other than Kavya at that place. She was talking alone and feeding Gulab Jamun
in air. She was talking in such a way that someone was sitting beside her.
Lakshmi went quickly and stood in front of Kavya and shouted, “Sweety… What
are doing alone here?”,

Kavya looked startled after seeing her.

“Mummy… Why you came? I told you shouldn’t come here… see…my friend left”,
she muffled.

“Shut-up… you don’t have any friends here… you were talking alone here… “, she
said in hysteric manner.

Kavya has never seen her mother before like that. She started crying, “I was
talking with my friend only… I was not taking alone… she has left because you
came…”

“Enough… come home”, she grabbed her hand and took her to home.

When they reached home, Kavya was still crying and went inside of her bedroom
and closed the door. Lakshmi was terribly upset to see her kid talking alone. She
waited for Hari to come home, so that she could share what happened today
with him.

“Oh… that is very common baby… kids sometimes behave like that… they become
friendship with imaginary people… and they talk with them… so don’t make it a
big issue… take it easy”, Hari said to her when she told about what happened
that day.

She didn’t expect that answer from him as she thought he would take Kavya to
some doctor for check-up.

“But… honey… it is not good behaviour for anyone to talk on their own… so can
we take her to the hospital?“, She is worried.

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“I told you … take it easy… it’s not that big a problem… alright … I’ve to take a
bath”, he said and went to the bathroom.

But Lakshmi was not convinced at all; however, she wanted to keep a close watch
on her daughter actions. Her worry was doubled when Kavya one day told her
that her friend came to her bedroom to talk to her as since after that incident
Lakshmi was not allowing Kavya to go to the river side.

“What did she tell to you?” she was curious to know.

“She is very angry with you mummy as you are not allowing me to talk to her.
She told that she would kill you… but I pleaded her not to do that… she is not
like before… she is changed so much… I’m afraid mummy”, she is frightened.

Lakshmi face turned pale and terrified after hearing the word “Killing” from
five years old kid mouth. She hugged her immediately, “nothing is going to
happen Sweety… don’t worry … ok”, she tried to convince her. Inside she
thought, why the hell she was talking like that; she strongly determined to take
her to the doctor before situation goes out of her hands.

“I don’t understand what’s the matter with you… you are not listening to my
words… we must take her to the doctor… she is behaving like a crazy girl… today
she said her imaginary friend is going to kill me… would you wait until she turns
to a MAD girl”, Lakshmi was shouting at Hari.

“Calm down Lakshmi… nothing is going to happen … just wait for few days
everything is going to be alright”, Hari was trying to calm down her.

“When… when it will happen… you don’t like to change the house…You don’t like
to take her to doctor… you don’t like anything to happen… why? I have to know
today … that’s it”, she was shouting in a hysteric manner.

“No … we can’t take her to any doctor… because… “, Hari stopped and he didn’t
know what else to tell.

“Because… why??? Why we can’t take her to any doctor??? Now I’m realizing
why… because you don’t like her… you don’t have any affection on her… “,

Hari got angry and crunched her fist, “Shut-up… I didn’t want to take her…
because there is NO “HER”… our Sweety is DIED … yes… OUR KID IS DEAD …

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when we moved here… you took her in a boat on the river… but… that time the
boat crashed into tree and flipped. And you both had fallen in the river… you
were able to survive, but our Sweety had drowned to death… “, he burst into
tears.

She was shocked and looked at him unbelievably.

He continued, “after that incident… you didn’t believe that our kid is no more…
you started behaving as if she is still alive and playing with us… you constructed
a dream world, where our Sweety lived with us and has grown up… it was you…
you didn’t like to change home, because if we move to a different home.. you
might recall that Sweety is no more…, but you didn’t want that… you wanted to
live in your dream world … and feel our Sweety presence… but you don’t
understand… how much torture I had gone through seeing you like that … “, he
stopped.

“No… you are telling lies… our Sweety is alive… I can show you… she is sleeping…
she is alive“, Lakshmi shouted and fell on the floor unconscious.

__THE END__

BY,

M.JENEWAR SARAH SINGH,X-B.

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LOST IN THE PAST

On 1st September 2145, I saw my wild imagination come into reality. I bought the
tickets and sat on the time-travel pod with eagerness. All it had were a few
buttons and a hologram displaying ‘1818’. The pod started to move after a while.
As I passed the portal, an emergency alarm blared behind and suddenly… to my
dismay the portal was closed! I was now on a free fall.

My specs flew up and in blinded agony, I frantically pressed random
buttons. I was about to have a crash landing when I heard the parachutes release.
I finally found my specs when the pod landed on some waters. I sat on the broken
door and floated ashore.

I reached the seashore and strolled around. I saw weirdly dressed people
bustling around in what looked like a small souk. I hid myself in a dark corner. I
was startled when a man approached and spoke in my language! His name was Fen
and he took me home. He gave me food and to my surprise gave me a book; “Black
hole and Time Warps”. How could he have a book by Hawking who was born only
after 1940s? It was unsettling.

The next day, I asked him about time travel and he spoke about a myth
called ‘the cave of times’ which has a magical portal to teleport you through time.
I was wondering how could a person from a past know all this? But I was
determined to leave right away.

Clueless I started walking along the path. I lost sense of time and was
happy to see an old man walking by. He saw me in a curious way and asked “What
a youn’ lad has to do in the ol’ place?”. I said him I wanted to go to cave of times.
He suddenly started singing…

Long long ago in the great eastern desert;

Lies the magical cave of times,

Once a despotic pharaoh;

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Took it as ‘tis mine’.

He went inside the portal;

But he never did return.

The god who was immortal;

Punished him for his greed.

Till this very day;

The portal has been submerged,

Into the underlay,

Of the great eastern desert.

I dazed and couldn’t find him.

I could remember only ‘great eastern desert’. Now I know where to go. I
started walking and the sun went down. Suddenly I heard a loud hoofing sound
behind me. It grew louder every second. I turned back and couldn’t see anything.
Something pushed me so hard that I flew up in the air. I got to my senses and
tried to grab anything my hands could lay on. Something caught my hand and I
grasped it with all my will. In the moonlight, I could see that I was moving with a
large herd of cattle. I fell unconscious.

The next day, I could feel the harsh sun burning into my skin. I pushed my frail
self to see a desert far way and started walking. It was difficult to walk on the
deep sand. It was burning as hell and I fainted.

I found myself in a tent when I woke up. I thanked the people who saved
me, but they didn’t understand a word I said. I tried to ask them about the cave
of times in a desperate voice. They became puzzled and started to turn hostile. I
became scared and crawled backwards. They picked me like dirt and saddled me
in a camel. The camel started walking in a desert. After a long time, it stopped
somewhere. I jumped from the camel on to the desert sand and saw something
glittering in the hot sun. I tried to pick it up, it was stuck to the ground. I tried
harder with all my might; clink… the earth shook! The land elevated. I fell down
and my eyes stumbled upon the entrance of a cave. My heart said that it was the
way to go. I stepped inside and saw that the walls were of Shining Quartz!

I reached a hall which was dark and gloomy. I leaned against a wall, which
then was magically lit with light. It was so bright that it lit the whole room. It
formed a shape of a circle and many hieroglyphs emerged. It showed the

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flashback of God breaking a piece of the portal and thus disabling it saying “Only
the wisest, can find it”. I stood in the center of the hall amazed.

I felt broken and thought about my parents. Suddenly I remembered
something and turned on my phone where my parents were fondly looking at me.
For my surprise, the phone showed strong signal and there was intense attraction
from the disabled portal. As I was racking my mind, all of a sudden, Fen, walked
up from behind the walls. He gave a wicked smile and demanded for my mobile.

How does he know? Why does he want it? Sensing my mind, he said “I am
from 2020, my scientist friend made a time-machine and sent me through it. He
died in a pandemic and thus couldn’t open up the time-portal again – Enough, give
me that damn thing!” He demanded furiously. He looked in the verge of knocking
me dead if I didn’t give him my mobile. So, I slowly handed him. He grabbed it and
was close to enabling the portal, which has the capacity to carry only a person per
piece. Suddenly, a magical light emerged. Four bulky men came inside and carried
me to the other side of the portal.

My mother and father looked relieved to see me alive. I was saved for life!

- By Kavipriyan K of IX D

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THE HOUSE OF DEATH

“Come on don’t be late!”, George said to his
friends who didn’t bother to hurry up .They were all getting ready for a
adventurous picnic-or so they thought .

They were all 13, and had been friends for 10 years ,from their
childhood to the present .Emma was busy posting pictures, Caroline was getting
ready and James was sitting simply doing nothing. Finally, after almost an hour
they all were ready for the picnic. They all had decided to go the nearby forest,
which was not really the best place to go for a picnic. They were all adventurous
kids and wanted some fun in their picnic but little did they know that the fun they
anticipated would turn out to be horror.

While they were entering the forest they saw an old woman who was sitting
in a rock and was chanting something the children couldn’t decipher. Thinking she
was in a deep meditation, the children went close to her when she suddenly opened
her eyes. The children were terrified as they had never seen a person’s eyes so
mysterious until now in their life. The old woman observed each one of them
carefully and said “don’t go ahead, this forest is the HOUSE OF THE DEAD ‘’

The children were totally confused .They didn’t understand what she was
trying to convey. And, automatically, they thought she was mad. The children went
ahead anyway and for the first few minutes everything seemed alright when
suddenly they spotted a BEAUTIFUL village .They were astonished and decided
to enter the village. Once they entered the village, they saw a large door which
looked like some sort of a door to heaven. Excited, the children entered into what
seemed like the door to HELL. Suddenly the door closed and there was a light so
bright that it blinded them .After recovering from the brightness, they saw an
old woman sitting on a chair. It was the same woman they had seen OUTSIDE!!!
The children were stuck. They couldn’t run or stay .The woman slowly turned her
head towards the children and gave the creepiest smile ever. Then the woman
stopped smiling and said:

“Long long ago I was a very active girl. I used to
come and play in the forest everyday. Then one day, I saw a werewolf which wasn’t

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actually a werewolf. It was a human, a possessed woman. It was very angry and I
was standing there all alone …….it pounced on me and bit me. I thought I had died,
but I opened my eyes and saw that I was alright, perfectly alright. I went home
and my mom was waiting for me. She had placed the dinner on the table. It was
my favourite food but, I suddenly wasn’t interested. Instead, now I wanted
something else –HUMANS.

Saying this the woman turned towards the children who were now frozen and were
standing without moving a bit. The woman continued,” I was absolutely confused
, I tried to control myself but I couldn’t. So, every night I went and started
hunting each child in the village until one day the parents of the children realized
that I was the culprit because, I was the only child left. My mother couldn’t bear
seeing her daughter kill other people, so she killed herself. I had turned into a
werewolf. There was a woman who was possessed by a demon. The demon was a
woman who did not have children and that’s why she wanted to kill children so
that others did not have children too. So, she found a woman who did not have
children and controlled her so that she could kill children. Whenever a child
managed to escape from the bite of the possessed person……they turned into a
werewolf. And that is what happened to me. I was kicked out of the village and
years later I am still waiting to possess a child . I tried to stop you but you didn’t
listen. So, welcome to the house of death.

Saying this the woman came closer to the children when James
found a book which had something written in what looked like a prayer. Slowly the
woman grew closer and when she came near, James placed the book in front of
the woman’s face. The woman who had grown into a werewolf gave a growl and
screamed NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO and disappeared. The children
then realized that it was the book had the prayer that removes the curse. The
curse was removed and the woman had disappeared. But she had left her tooth. a
wolf’s tooth. The children immediately ran out of the room and slowly everything
behind them, the room, the village, the trees started vanishing and then they
were out of the dreadful forest .The children were terrified .They all decided to
go back to their houses. When they went home and rang the bell ,their parents
opened the door .They hugged their parents and started telling them what
happened when each one of them were stopped and asked “who are you and what
forest are you talking about, there is no forest here. The children then realized
that they had become unknown. NO ONE knew them now.

By Srishti Gunashekar

IX B

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MORE THAN JUST A CHILD...

One can always hear sounds of a person coughing and sneezing if he or she lives
near Mr. Andrew’s house. That was because, his 9-year-old son, Peter, suffers
from a common yet deadly disease-pneumonia. Though Mr. Andrew was from a
well-off family and was able to lead a settled married life, things started to turn
worse when his wife, Lucy, passed away 5 years ago. Peter never recovered from
that loss. He and his father had been living a quiet life ever since. Just when
things started to get better, another tragedy struck—Peter got infected with
pneumonia.

Andrew thought that the disease could easily be cured and he also had enough
money for the treatment. But when Peter started struggling to breathe and faint
often, Andrew knew that it’s a serious condition for his son. Treatment began and
Peter’s condition became better day by day. But the doctors were not able to cure
the disease completely, because his immune system was surprisingly weaker than
most of the boys of his age. Constant treatment was given in order to cure Peter
but it made no impact on his health. After a point of time, both Andrew and Peter
gave up. It hurt Andrew to see his son suffering like that. Due to work stress he
was not able to take good care of his bedridden son. So, Andrew sent his son to
his sister’s house. He thought maybe a change of environment could help his son
recover. His sister’s house was just another normal house, home to a small family
of 3 and also a servant. The family didn’t have a child, so they took extra care of
Peter. The servant, Varun, a teen, developed a strong bond with Peter. He was
very patient and kind towards the 9-year-old. Peter feels refreshed and cheered
up when Varun is around. This helped him overcome the sorrow and made him feel
better as days passed. Three months later, Peter underwent a final treatment
and the doctors concluded that he was completely cured and that his health has
improved. But Peter did not want to return back to his home, he wished to spend
some more time with the servant. His dad agreed and Peter stayed in his aunt’s
house. One day, Varun recalled some instances of his life to Peter. “Every morning
I wake up, I hear my mom groaning”, Varun started. “She suffers from the same
disease as well. None of my family had a job to do, so we never had money to treat
her. In spite of that condition she cooks food for all the three of us-me and my
brothers. Living near the slums in a small brick house is not easy. You can’t expect
hygiene or good sanitation here. All these troubles started when my dad turned
a drunkard”. Varun stopped here. “What happened to your dad then?” Peter asked.
“When we were young, our dad used to trouble our mother when he’s drunk and at
one instance, my dad almost stabbed my mother.

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She didn’t like the relationship and divorced my dad. At that point of time, my
mom had a little amount of money in hand, so we had to move to this brick house,
even though we didn’t like it”. Peter realises the struggles Varun has gone through
and was moved by it. Varun continued, “I am working in this house as a servant
only to earn money and help to treat my mother”. Peter was touched and wanted
to help his family, but being a kid, he knew he couldn’t do much. The next day,
Peter decides to have one last meal here and leave for his home. So, Varun goes
out to buy vegetables for the meal. On the way, Varun meets with an accident and
dies on spot. The entire family was shocked to hear this and rushed to the spot.
And Peter could never erase this image from his heart, his friend who was more
than just a servant, dead in front of him. News reached Varun’s house and his
mother was taken aback. There was no one to support the family as the eldest
son of the family passed away. Eventually, his mother died weeks later, leaving
the children orphaned.

40-year-old Peter recalls these incidents to his son, to make him understand the
darker side of life and to make him, more than just a child.

By R.B.KAVINILAVAN

9B

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PAEDI-MOM AND HER SIS

The story is taking place in the house of the Pediatrician’s sister’s house on a
Saturday morning during the pediatricians’ children’s summer vacation. The
paediatrician herself narrates the day’s happening emphasizing on her sister’s
love for children.

When I arrived at her doorstep, I saw that there were two bell switches
separated by a distance. One for children at the bottom and the other one for
common people placed at the usual position. The children’s bell had a rhyme as its
tone. I admired the intelligence of my younger sibling having in mind the height
variation. When we three were in, she screamed,” WOW, WE’VE GOT TWO MORE
CHILDREN FOR THE SESSION, THAT’S GREAT”. Before I could ask what was
it all about, she diverted by pleading me to stay for a couple of weeks, but I didn’t
turn up to it. Later, she shook me with a jovial feeling and asked,” You are a
Pediatrician. So how about you advising them about your subject”? I agreed seeing
it as an opportunity to apply my profession for a useful purpose to educate
children about hygiene and environmental cleanliness. Every week Saturday she
would call up the children of her block for some activity. And I was present on
that day and she was busy doing her household chores humming a happy tune and
I had a magazine wide open in front of me. Suddenly I heard a ting tong. The
moment I peeped down through the door; I saw a lot of children waiting to get in.
The moment I opened, they ran with full speed like the cubs of a cheetah running
to their mother from their cages with great cacophony, making me lose my
balance. But I was saved by a shoe which gave me a better grip. I went to her and
yelled,” WHY DIDN’T YOU WARN ME OF THIS? Boasting she said, “they came
in search of me because they can’t really be without me”. “The next time they
come in, you better place yourself waiting for them or I’ll be the elephant to
chase them away.” By the way how did you open my dearest sis”? I asked.” Oh, you
just have to push the door from a distance and there you will be safe. She then

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introduced the three of us and we got our positions. She recapitulated last week’s
proceedings. My son sat on her lap, my daughter was a part of the group and I
was the back-bencher observing the children full of enthusiasm at the same time
waiting to take her place. The session went on well and at then they took a pledge
to satisfy me and make sure they become Mr. and Ms. Hygiene. After the children
left, she asked my children about what flavour of ice cream they preferred. When
she distributed the flavours, she found that the count she had taken was wrong.
Now the situation was that someone will have to look at others licking the cream.
Here it stood between my son and my sister. She, without hesitation, pointed the
ice-cream in front of him. I knew it was done on purpose. She forgets about
sacrifice when she sees children. Then she quickly went in and came back with my
father’s old polaroid camera which she used to capture favourite moments and
took a picture of all of us munching the scrumptious snack. Whenever she sees
my son, her face goes cheeky. That’s how she showed her regret of not being a
child anymore. Whenever I stood up to care for my son, she would stretch her
arms wide and pick him up from my fold and accomplish the task. She taught my
son arithmetic and after he was done, she told me about how cute it was to see
him fold and open his fingers while counting. She then came to the hall and sat
with me for a while. I was looking into a beautiful album made with the
collaboration of art and love on children. It gave me a glimpse of the past
memories of we both being children. She was gobbling with words from A-Z and
I nodded with laughter. Through this meeting, I learnt how her dream of being
surrounded by children got fulfilled. It was a day well spent.

By:
Ajay Paul Jonathan S

XII A

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