This story is for my wonderful and most creative cousin sister, Anahita.
The World of Chocolate
I've been wondering about a question a friend asked of me once. What do children want most? Well, I had many answers like toys, games etc. But finally I found out the correct answer. CHOCOLATE. In scientific form it is made out of cacao beans and has high quantities of sugar therefore is bad for us. But to us kids, chocolate is a fun and tasty thing to eat. How can it ever cause us harm?!!. My two sisters, Uma and Mira are crazy about it. Whenever my mother comes back from shopping they run up to her and ask "Chocolate laya kya? Mujhe chahie." They get really sad if my mum doesn't get them any. I went to my friend and gave him my answer. Delighted with my answer, he told me a story...
"I was exploring the mountain behind our school. It is very interesting there. I was poking around the rocks when I suddenly felt the ground beneath my feet give way. I fell into nothingness..! I kept falling, and falling for a very long time in pitch black darkness. Suddenly, I felt my bum crash against the floor. I couldn't see anything. I stumbled on something, it was a box. I tried to push it. I tried and tried but didn't get any success. And when all my hope was lost there was a brilliant flash of light and I was gazing with my mouth open. I couldn't believe it. The place I was in was completely made out of CHOCOLATE!!!!!!!
There was an endless field made out of butterscotch and whipped cream. Through the centre flew a large river of molten chocolate , splitting the land into two. I went and started eating. I wished that I was a cow so I could run throughout the land, grazing on the grass. I drank from the river. It was scrumptious. But I was also scared. However tasty this land may be, I still didn't know how to get my way back home. Nightfall was approaching fast and I hadn't even tried to make a shelter.
I started digging with all my might into the ground. Thankfully the soil was not chocolate. I was trying to make a burrow for myself to sleep in just like rabbits. But this wouldn't be my permanent home. I would be nomadic and try to find people in this enchanted land to help me go home. Finally I had made a nice and spacious burrow for myself. Next, I had to organize some thing to drink ( all that chocolate sure makes one thirsty) and a nice fire. I took blades of grass and put it in the middle of my burrow. I found a matchbox in my pocket and lit a fire. I hoped my parents would not scold me for using a matchbox in their absence. To me it was a matter of life and death. I did not have any wish to eat but boy I sure wanted to drink. I managed to mould a cup out of the soil and made it hard by burning it in the fire. I took some molten chocolate from the river and drank it. I loved it.
That night was as cold as it is on he North pole, I got very little sleep. I was roused from my poor sleep by a sharp poke in my face. I woke to a miracle ! The most beautiful if queer sight unfolded in front of me. I saw a wierd animal, a half bird- half dog kind of creature. As weird the Birddog appeared, I have to tell you that it was beautiful! Its wings had a large wing span so I thought that even if it fell out of the sky straight towards the ground, it would still steer itself to safety. Its body was golden, and it gleamed in the sun as I crawled out of my burrow. He was curiously sniffing my pocket. I put my hand in it and was astonished to find a packet of jellybeans! It seemed he wanted to eat one. I took a jellybean in my hand and put my hand out. He jerked his head forward with lightning speed and in a second the jellybean was in his mouth and he munched on it joyfully. He came closer and then licked my face. So I named him Jellybean and he was my favourite companion through my stay in that strange sugary land.
Together we journeyed on, and on digging burrows as shelter and moving through the land. I got an idea while we where at the foot of some sort of mountain. If Jellybean has such magnificent wings and can fly so beautifully, then why couldn't I ride on him? All I needed to do was make a harness and that would do it ! I set to work. For the past few days I had been in a forest and I cut some wood down for fire and some vines for tying it. I used them and finally, after much trying and exhaustion I made a harness to strap on to Jellybean. I put it on Jellybean after much struggle and soon we were soaring the sky. And oh was it wonderful?! He flew ever so fast and it was great feeling the wind cut through my face.
Just then a miracle happened! Below me was a vast kingdom! I decided to land there. It was a very rough landing and we got pretty bruised up but we landed. Suddenly I heard a big loud noise and I found big muscular soldiers standing in front of me. They whispered something to me and took me to their palace. It was magnificent. There were stairs in front of me which were made out of pure gold. A Chandelier made completely out of diamonds was right above my head. But their King was not very majestic. He was very ugly and smelled really bad from even thirty metres away!! He asked me what I was doing in his city and how I got there. So I poured out my whole story to him. He told me that he would have all his scientists work on a solution for me to get back home but in return for that I had to serve him. I readily agreed.
The king let me stay in his palace and the next day, escorted me to the barracks. They taught me how to fight and taught me how to make good battle plans. At first, I was very tired and hated doing all this training. But slowly I became stronger. My feet became tougher and I could run farther every day. And soon I became the best soldier in the whole army. I was promoted through the ranks. Once private, then brigadier, and finally the Marshal of the whole army.
One day I found an unexpected surprise. The city bordering us had just broken the peace treaty we had declared with them a few weeks ago and were coming with all their forces to attack us. The king broke into a cold sweat, he kept on worrying about the city. I then realised that he was a king worthy of respect because I clearly saw that he cared a lot about the city and its subjects. I also took out our forces and led our army fearless of the enemy. But wait!! Before I left the Queen, Guddan told me to run an errand for her. She wanted about a litre of chocolate milk for her newborn baby, Shubh. I did that and was surprised to see that Shubh wasn't any ordinary baby. He was healthy, strong and fit and even though he was only six months old, his body was well built and was ripping out of his clothes. I was also astonished to hear that he was going to accompany us to the battlefield. Anyways, he would batter the enemy well. I put on my armour and set spurs to Jellybean. Then I rode off with the army to fight, with Shubh standing by my side. The battle was pretty easy. With Shubh on our side, we were indestructible.
He just rolled his arms really fast and ran through the enemy. The enemy had to suffer a lot of pain and it was fun to watch enemy soldiers soar through the sky like jet planes, no Fighter planes!!! But something told me that the enemy had more. And in a second I saw that the enemy had just mobilized. Just like in the movie Iron Man they had just turned into enemy fighter planes. My mind told me that since they could not take off on their own, they actually wanted Shubh to launch them in the sky. Oh my god Shubh! I had forgotten about him. The enemy would kill him like that. I launched myself in the air with the best cricket fielding dive I had, but I was not able to save him. I could see it all in slow motion. The bullet going straight towards him. And a second later, their was a spurt of blood from his chest and he was down. He crouched down on his knees first. Then he fell flat. I felt angry. And there my dada's boon came to my rescue. On his death bed he had told me that "When you really need it, your anger will help you." I grew, ten times the size of a soldier. I became stronger then a tank. I was as agile as a cheetah. I ran so fast that the enemy could not get me. I could see the bullets coming from the plane-soldiers. I took them down, one by one, just like how King Kong took down his planes. And I vanquished the whole enemy army. And suddenly I found myself back in my bed in my house. But something tells me that it was not a dream. And I will return back there to console Queen Guddan.
The End
There was an endless field made out of butterscotch and whipped cream. Through the centre flew a large river of molten chocolate , splitting the land into two. I went and started eating. I wished that I was a cow so I could run throughout the land, grazing on the grass. I drank from the river. It was scrumptious. But I was also scared. However tasty this land may be, I still didn't know how to get my way back home. Nightfall was approaching fast and I hadn't even tried to make a shelter.
I started digging with all my might into the ground. Thankfully the soil was not chocolate. I was trying to make a burrow for myself to sleep in just like rabbits. But this wouldn't be my permanent home. I would be nomadic and try to find people in this enchanted land to help me go home. Finally I had made a nice and spacious burrow for myself. Next, I had to organize some thing to drink ( all that chocolate sure makes one thirsty) and a nice fire. I took blades of grass and put it in the middle of my burrow. I found a matchbox in my pocket and lit a fire. I hoped my parents would not scold me for using a matchbox in their absence. To me it was a matter of life and death. I did not have any wish to eat but boy I sure wanted to drink. I managed to mould a cup out of the soil and made it hard by burning it in the fire. I took some molten chocolate from the river and drank it. I loved it.
That night was as cold as it is on he North pole, I got very little sleep. I was roused from my poor sleep by a sharp poke in my face. I woke to a miracle ! The most beautiful if queer sight unfolded in front of me. I saw a wierd animal, a half bird- half dog kind of creature. As weird the Birddog appeared, I have to tell you that it was beautiful! Its wings had a large wing span so I thought that even if it fell out of the sky straight towards the ground, it would still steer itself to safety. Its body was golden, and it gleamed in the sun as I crawled out of my burrow. He was curiously sniffing my pocket. I put my hand in it and was astonished to find a packet of jellybeans! It seemed he wanted to eat one. I took a jellybean in my hand and put my hand out. He jerked his head forward with lightning speed and in a second the jellybean was in his mouth and he munched on it joyfully. He came closer and then licked my face. So I named him Jellybean and he was my favourite companion through my stay in that strange sugary land.
Together we journeyed on, and on digging burrows as shelter and moving through the land. I got an idea while we where at the foot of some sort of mountain. If Jellybean has such magnificent wings and can fly so beautifully, then why couldn't I ride on him? All I needed to do was make a harness and that would do it ! I set to work. For the past few days I had been in a forest and I cut some wood down for fire and some vines for tying it. I used them and finally, after much trying and exhaustion I made a harness to strap on to Jellybean. I put it on Jellybean after much struggle and soon we were soaring the sky. And oh was it wonderful?! He flew ever so fast and it was great feeling the wind cut through my face.
Just then a miracle happened! Below me was a vast kingdom! I decided to land there. It was a very rough landing and we got pretty bruised up but we landed. Suddenly I heard a big loud noise and I found big muscular soldiers standing in front of me. They whispered something to me and took me to their palace. It was magnificent. There were stairs in front of me which were made out of pure gold. A Chandelier made completely out of diamonds was right above my head. But their King was not very majestic. He was very ugly and smelled really bad from even thirty metres away!! He asked me what I was doing in his city and how I got there. So I poured out my whole story to him. He told me that he would have all his scientists work on a solution for me to get back home but in return for that I had to serve him. I readily agreed.
The king let me stay in his palace and the next day, escorted me to the barracks. They taught me how to fight and taught me how to make good battle plans. At first, I was very tired and hated doing all this training. But slowly I became stronger. My feet became tougher and I could run farther every day. And soon I became the best soldier in the whole army. I was promoted through the ranks. Once private, then brigadier, and finally the Marshal of the whole army.
One day I found an unexpected surprise. The city bordering us had just broken the peace treaty we had declared with them a few weeks ago and were coming with all their forces to attack us. The king broke into a cold sweat, he kept on worrying about the city. I then realised that he was a king worthy of respect because I clearly saw that he cared a lot about the city and its subjects. I also took out our forces and led our army fearless of the enemy. But wait!! Before I left the Queen, Guddan told me to run an errand for her. She wanted about a litre of chocolate milk for her newborn baby, Shubh. I did that and was surprised to see that Shubh wasn't any ordinary baby. He was healthy, strong and fit and even though he was only six months old, his body was well built and was ripping out of his clothes. I was also astonished to hear that he was going to accompany us to the battlefield. Anyways, he would batter the enemy well. I put on my armour and set spurs to Jellybean. Then I rode off with the army to fight, with Shubh standing by my side. The battle was pretty easy. With Shubh on our side, we were indestructible.
He just rolled his arms really fast and ran through the enemy. The enemy had to suffer a lot of pain and it was fun to watch enemy soldiers soar through the sky like jet planes, no Fighter planes!!! But something told me that the enemy had more. And in a second I saw that the enemy had just mobilized. Just like in the movie Iron Man they had just turned into enemy fighter planes. My mind told me that since they could not take off on their own, they actually wanted Shubh to launch them in the sky. Oh my god Shubh! I had forgotten about him. The enemy would kill him like that. I launched myself in the air with the best cricket fielding dive I had, but I was not able to save him. I could see it all in slow motion. The bullet going straight towards him. And a second later, their was a spurt of blood from his chest and he was down. He crouched down on his knees first. Then he fell flat. I felt angry. And there my dada's boon came to my rescue. On his death bed he had told me that "When you really need it, your anger will help you." I grew, ten times the size of a soldier. I became stronger then a tank. I was as agile as a cheetah. I ran so fast that the enemy could not get me. I could see the bullets coming from the plane-soldiers. I took them down, one by one, just like how King Kong took down his planes. And I vanquished the whole enemy army. And suddenly I found myself back in my bed in my house. But something tells me that it was not a dream. And I will return back there to console Queen Guddan.
The End
