Short Stories for kids: The Broken Vase
It was a small quaint town, serene without the hustle bustle of big cities. A tight-knit community where everyone knew everyone. They had little contact with the world outside of their small world but by no means were they behind any big city when it came to technology or development. They just preferred the calm, tranquility their town and its people provided each other.
Among the people of this town, lived a family, ‘The Mitras’, who were known to have been one of the first few families to live there, who built this town and helped it grow into what it is today. The Mitras are very well known in the town. They are loved and respected not just because of their status but also for their humble and kind nature.
The Mitras family house is so old and so big that it has many antique collectibles all over the place. But one vase is the most treasured of all the antiques. It was a simple blue vase with handmade intricate designs on it. The vase and its story has been handed down from one generation to another with much perseverance. The story of the vase is such that the great great great great grandmother of the house made it with her mother with her own hands and brought it with her to this town as a token of her mother’s warm wishes and love.
The great, great, great, great granny believed the vase was the lucky charm and as such always took great care of it. When she got too old, she passed the responsibility of the vase to her son as her last memento to him and in this way it was passed from one generation to another.
It was summer time and schools were closed. All the kids were in the house, some reading, some helping the adults with household chores and some playing. ‘Nimit’ and ‘Jubin’ were the youngest and loved playing with a ball. They have broken quite a number of things with that ball in the past.
Seeing ball in their hands, “Go play in the backyard. Knowing you both, you will definitely break something with that ball inside the house. Go out, now”, said their mother as she walked past them holding a basket full of laundry.
“Yes, Mama” Said Nimit passing the ball to Jubin and running down the hall yelled, “first to the backyard gets first dips to the dessert”
They both were thundering all over the house to beat the other one and in their ruckus, the ball dropped from their hands, bounced and hit the cherished vase with the slightest of the touch. They came to a halt and looked in horror as the vase tipped ever so lightly.
“Oh no, no, no…. please don’t” whispered Nimit, just as the Vase fell from its place on the top of the cabinet to the floor just a few feet away from them.
“Oh no, oh no…. What are we going to do? It’s broken. Great Grandma’s vase is broken. We are doomed”, panicked Jubin.
“Calm down, we will fix it” said Nimit bending down to collect all the pieces.
“Fix it? How? Do you have some magic that I am unaware of? Shrieked Jubin.
“Everyone has that magic and it’s called glue, dimwit.” Said Nimit, “the broken pieces are big, we can easily glue it together and keep it back at its place.”
“Ok, ok, I will get the glue. You take all the pieces back to your room. I will meet you there” said Jubin.
Jubin was taking too long to get the glue which was annoying Nimit as he wanted to fix it fast and keep it back before anyone noticed the vase missing. He paced across his room waiting. Finally his door opened and in walked Jubin, panting. He handed the glue while explaining his delay.
They sat together fixing the vase, forgetting to close the door and in walked their mother. She shrieked at the sight of the broken vase and yelled, “What have you two done?”
“It was a mistake, we swear.”
“We were fixing it.” Both said simultaneously.
“Fixing it? How will you fix it? You might fix the vase but what about the broken charm?” said mother angrily. “I have had it with you boys. This was your last play with the ball. You both are grounded now for the foreseeable future.”
By the evening everyone in the house learned about the broken vase and by next day everyone in the town was talking about it.
All the adults of the house were upset with the boys whereas the kids didn’t let this slide and took every chance to tease them about it. They both felt guilty and stayed in their room, not interacting with anyone else.
Two days later, their great great grandma came back from her trip and was surprised to see everyone’s solemn face. She didn’t say anything, went about her way, talking about her trip and distributing sweets and gifts she got for everyone. By the end of it, she was left with the boys gifts.
“Where are they?” she enquired.
“They are in their room.” replied their mother.
Before anyone could say anything else, the gossiper of the family, “Itisha’, said, “They are grounded, Gigi. Everyone is so upset with them that they haven’t stepped out of their room other than to eat.”
Gigi frowned, “What did they do?”
“They broke The vase” said Itisha.
“Call them”, ordered Gigi.
When the boys were in sight, they were hiding something behind their back. They stood in front of Gigi and murmured, “We are very sorry Gigi. We broke your vase” and showed her the now fixed vase bringing it out from behind their back.
Everyone waited with baited breath to see her reaction. She held the vase up close and inspected the damage. The boys did a good job gluing it back together and painting the broken lines in shades of blue to hide its visibility.
“Huh, look at that. You munchkins did a much better job than me.” Said Gigi still looking at the vase.
Everyone was shocked and Grandma asked, “what do you mean, mom?”
“Oh sweetheart, this vase was once broken by me in my early days of marriage. So I glued it and kept it back together afraid of everyone’s reaction just like the boys” explained Gigi.
“But, what about all the stories of the charm of the vase?” asked mother.
“They are just that, stories. They did happen. I am not denying that. The vase is not magical.” Said Gigi.
“The real magic is the belief. It was the love of a mother towards her daughter and a daughter’s belief on her mother’s love that gave life to the charm of the Vase. They needed something tangible, something that could be seen, touched to put their faith into.”
“Tell me, the vase has been broken since more than two decades but did it lose its charm?” asked Gigi.
“No” they all murmured.
“And why is that? Asked Gigi. When no one answered, she continued, “It’s because no one knew it was broken. You all believed in the charm and put all your heart and soul into whatever it was you needed”
“It is you who is the charm of your own life. Always believe in that” said Gigi before going back into her room to rest, taking the broken Vase with her.
Moral of the Short Story:
This is a beautiful story to illustrate that we often attach value to things and then when something happens to it we feel bad. Our belief and in many cases our hard work is usually our lucky charm
Why short stories for kids?
Short stories for kids are great ways to teach children about morals and values. At ekdali, we believe that children develop a lot of values while interacting with adults and peers in a screen free environment. Our posters, maps and flashcards are some screen free way for kids to build knowledge and have conversations and interact
About the Author of this Short Story:
Manisha Sanghi - A lively mom to a witty toddler who loves baking not only stories but also cookies and cakes
