There are two kids short stories, the first shotrt story is set in a modern context about how tow kids behave when a new neighbour moves in. The second story is a timeless tale from Panchantantra stories about hasty decision making.
Short Story One: Our New Neighbour
Nidhi and Laksh were twins. They used to play together in a small plot of land opposite their house. There was a vacant house near the plot. They would often hit the ball or cork into the compound of this house by mistake. It was usually Nidhi’s task to climb the gate or scale the compound wall and get the ball.
On a wet day in July, Nidhi and Laksh had just returned from school. Their mom hadn’t yet returned from office . They washed up quickly, had some snacks and waited for the rain to stop, so they could start their game of throw ball. They made small paper boats and whiled their time .
As soon as the rain stopped, they ran to the empty plot of land to play throw ball. Laksh by mistake threw the ball inside the other compound. Nidhi was climbing the gate to get it , when she heard a thundering voice , “ Who is there?”. Nidhi and Laksh were frightened beyond imagination. They scampered back to their house in a hurry.
That night, after their mom put them to bed, both of them were thinking about their favourite ball that was lost inside the compound.
Nidhi said, “ Do you supposed, that’s a ghost?”
Laksh said, “ No, silly! There are no such things as ghosts.”
Nidhi responded, “ Alright, its settled then! You retrieve the ball from the haunted house. That sound could have belonged only to a ghost or a monster.”
Laksh was a bit scared, but he was also very smart. After a moment of hesitation, he responded saying that he would easily do it, but he didn’t know how to climb the gate.
Thus, the two kids went to sleep and had disturbing dreams because of the conversation about ghosts and monsters.The next day, when the returned from their school, they heard the same thundering sound, only this time it came from their house.Nidhi and Laksh were frightened beyond imagination, but their grandfather was inside and they had to muster up the courage to rescue him from the “ ghost”.
They slowly walked to the back door and crept inside the house silently and peered through the kitchen door to the hall.To their relief and surprise, grandfather was talking to an old man and not a ghost!The old man saw the kids and his face broke into a sweet smile.
He said in this thundering voice, “ I think you left your ball in my house compound. You can collect it , the gate is open. I just moved into the empty house yesterday.”
Nidhi and Laksh were extremely happy and couldn’t believe their luck. Nidhi whispered to Laksh,” I suppose you are right, there are no such things as ghosts.”
Moral of the Story:
This is a great story that talks about, how we should not judge people based on their external appearance
Short Story Two: The Mongoose and The Farmer's Wife
A farmer and his wife were blessed with a son. They chose to provide him with a mongoose as a pet and a buddy. A few months later, the parents had to leave their son at home because they had to go out. The farmer reassured the frightened mother that the infant would be taken care of by the mongoose while they were gone.
The farmer's wife arrived back home before her husband did, and she discovered that the mongoose's mouth was covered in blood. She screamed at the animal, accusing it of killing her child, and in a fit of rage she flung a large box at it. When she went to check on her kid later, she saw a dead snake in the room, but her baby was unharmed. The farmer's realized that the mongoose had actually saved her son’s life.
When she realised her error, she ran outside to check on the animal. She moved the box and gave first aid to the mongoose and did her best to save the animal.
Moral of the Story:
This is a story that teaches us not to make hasty decisions especially when it comes to judging people around us
