Content

1-. The little girl and mushrooms

2-. The day Walk made a friend
3-. The friendship of a lion and a mouse

The little girl and

mushrooms:
It was a fine summer morning, perfect to be outdoors. Two sisters had been out mushroom
picking, and were on their home with heavy baskets full of mushrooms. They sang songs on the
way, and played with each other.

Soon they reached a point where they had to cross a railway track. They did not think twice
about crossing it since there was no train coming, and they could not hear any whistle. They
slowly climbed the embankment to cross the track, taking care not to drop the baskets. They
were very near the track and the little sister was about the cross it, when they heard the distinct
horn of a train.

The older sister got frightened and ran back. She thought that the young one was following her.
She turned back and was shocked to see her little sister still crossing the track. "Come back
here, run back fast," she screamed.

It seemed that the little girl could not hear her sister. She was still concentrating on stepping
over the track with her little feet, and holding on to the basket. Then she tripped and fell on the
track, scattering her mushrooms around. She sat down and began picking them up and putting
in her basket.

In the meanwhile the elder sister had become hysteric. She cried and screamed, calling her little
sister to leave the mushrooms and run back, but it seemed as though the little one could not
hear her.

The engine driver panicked on seeing the girl and blew his whistle with all his might, but she
appeared not to hear the whistle. Her sister was now crying loudly, overcome by panic, as the
little sister crawled between the tracks on her hands and knees, to pick the rest of the
mushrooms.

The engine driver was helpless as it was not possible for him to stop the engine suddenly. He
blew the whistle as hard as he could, but the engine rolled over the little girl. The older sister
clasped her face with her trembling hands and cried bitterly. The passengers too panicked at the
thought of the sight they would have to witness. The guard ran down to the end of the train to
see what happened to the little girl. When the train passed, everybody saw her lying very still
between the tracks with her face down.

Then she raised her head, sprang to her knees and began gathering the remaining mushrooms.

The big sister ran towards her, tears streaming down her face. They hugged and kissed each
other, crying out of happiness, tears of joy flowing down their little cheeks. Never were two souls
so happily united as at that moment. She promised her little sister that thereafter she would hold
her hand tightly while crossing the railway line.

The two sisters then picked all the remaining mushrooms, and hand in hand, solemnly walked
back home. They were indeed two souls who had become wiser than their years, in the span of
a few minutes.

The day walk made a friend:

Once upon a time, there lived a beautiful and extremely amiable girl named, Walk. She was a
good girl, but she never liked her name as all the kids around her made fun of her name. She
ran away from everybody who teased her name and hence, Walk never really had friends. She
would play alone all the time.

On a regular day, when Walk returned home from school, she finished her homework as soon
as possible and asked her mother, if she could go out and play. Her mother said yes, but
warned her to not wander and go far away from home.

Walk was happy that day; she went to her favorite spot near the river running just behind her
house. Walk had this theory that wherever the river was splashing and moving, it meant that the
river water was taking to her. Walk spoke back to the river in her own little weird way.

Today, when talking to the river, she said, "You are so fortunate river, as you get to travel
different places and always be with your friends- ducks, turtles, fishes, and plants. I wish I had
more friends and wouldn't be alone anymore."

When she was bored talking to the river, she would pick up stones from nearby and try to skip
them across the river like her dad. However, she would fail most of the times.

She would then say to the river, "I am getting better each day. I am more of a thrower than a
skipper." After many attempts at skipping rock, she finally finds a perfect rock, almost round, flat,
and protruding at one end where she could hold and skip it in water.

She held the stone tight in her fingers, and innocently said to the river, "Oh dear river, If only I
could skip this rock and make a wish, I would wish for a dear friend just like you, and if the rock
skips all the way across you while wishing, I wouldn't be as lonely as I am now." Saying this,
Walk whipped her arm back just like her dad had taught her and skipped the rock across the
river with full force and dedication.

She watched the rock skip once, twice, thrice, and she kept wishing for a friend while counting.
To her amazement, the rock went on skipping for the fourth, fifth and sixth time, and eventually
on the seventh skip, it finally made it across the river on to the shore of the opposite side. Walk
was totally taken aback. She had been holding her breath so hard and wishing so desperately
that when the stone skipped the river and landed across she could not just believe her eyes.

Her deep thoughts and sheer happiness were disturbed when she heard footsteps coming her
way. Walk immediately came to senses and started looking around. A little girl was tumbling
down towards her. Walk panicked and started to run but she lost her balance and she fell off
too. Rolling down towards the river, the unknown little girl and Walk fell almost on the same spot
beside each other.

The tumbling girl was crying profusely and endlessly holding on to her knee. Walk pulled herself
together and went close to the girl to help her. Walk saw that the girl's knee was bleeding. She
said the calmest words to her, "It will be alright, I will help you clean the wound." Walk took
some water from the river, washed away the blood from the wound, tore a piece of cloth from
her skirt, and tied it around the wound on the knee to cover the cut. She politely said to the girl,
"My house is nearby, let me help you, my mother will take care of the wound."

Walk helped the girl walk until her house. Once they both had reached Walk's house, Walk
called out to her mother, "Mother, there is a girl with me and she fell down by the river. Her knee
is cut and there is blood all over her dress."

On hearing this, Walk's mother came running out of the kitchen with the first-aid box. She made
the little girl sit on a couch and started cleaning the wound. She cleaned her knee with an
antiseptic and applied colorful bandages to lighten up the girl's face. She then enquired the girl
asking her where she lived. The girl promptly told Walk and her mother that she had just moved
in a house probably next door. All the houses looked so similar that she mixed up the one she
lived in. Walk gasped and felt a hint of joy think about her wish.

The little girl looked at Walk and asked, "What is your name?" Walk was stunned and scared to
tell her name because she did not want the girl to make fun of her name like other kids.
However, Walk's mother replied, "Her name is Walk and I am glad she could help you."

On hearing this, the little girl began to laugh and almost happen to fall on the ground. Walk felt
the pinch and she was on the verge of breaking into tears. Walk closed her eyes, and said to
herself, "Is this the friend I get in return for my wish?" Just then, the girl stopped laughing and
voluntarily said, "I am sorry for my manners, but it is absolutely funny as my name happens to
be Run."
Walk gave a surprised look to her new friend and almost broke into laughter herself. Just to
make sure she asked Run whether her name was seriously "Run," and she was not trying to
make fun of her. Run reassuringly said to Walk, "You helped me and wiped my wound, why
would I ever lie to you or even make fun of you."

Listening to these words, Walk felt tremendous happiness and was filled with joy. Her wish to
the river had come true, and now she had a very good friend named Run.

Walk would never forget that day. It was the day Walk and Run became the best of friends
forever.

The friendship of a lion and a

mouse:
There lived a tiny mouse in a big dense forest that was always in search of food. While
searching in the forest, one day, it came near a lion's den. The good smell coming from the
lion's den drew the little mouse inside it. The mouse found several pieces of animal meat on the
floor. Those were all the leftovers of the animal the lion had eaten. Therefore, the mouse ate few
pieces.

Later, it decided to eat the other pieces at night, so it stayed back in the den. Due to over eating,
the mouse fell asleep inside the den. The lion returned to its den at dark but could not see the
sleeping mouse as it was dark inside the den. The lion ate the entire piece of lamb it had
brought and left the bones lying on the floor. After a sumptuous filling meal, the lion slept off and
started snoring aloud.

The loud snoring sounds woke the mouse up with a sudden jerk. When the mouse saw the lion
sleeping in the den, he got scared and puzzled, and accidentally bumped in to the lion's leg.

The mouse felt the smooth fur of the lion's body. While exploring it, the mouse reached the lion's
ear and this led to waking up the lion. The disturbed lion, agitated, snorted loudly. "Who is it?"

The frightened mouse declared his identity with a feeble voice. The lion was furious as it got
disturbed during his sleep. So he said, "How dare you disturb my sleep and where are you?"

When the mouse responded, the lion had to light up a lamp as it was very dark inside the den
and he could not possible see a tiny creature like a mouse.

With the light, the lion looked at his clean den. It was devoid of any bones or leftover meat.
Moreover, there was no usual stink in the den due to the animal leftover meat and other stuff.
He was quite amazed.

In one corner, the lion looked at the petty little mouse. The mouse was shivering with fear. So
the lion pondered for a while about how the mouse had managed to keep the den clean.
Therefore, he decided that he would keep the mouse in his den so that it can have the leftover
meat and bones. That much food will be more than sufficient for the mouse and this will also
keep his den stink-free and tidy.

Then the lion in a grumpy and angry voice asked the mouse, "Why have you entered my den?"
Petrified, the mouse retorted with folded hands and honestly told the lion that he had reached
the den in search of food. He could not resist the good smell of the meat and was extremely
sorry for his action. Hence, the mouse apologized and asked the lion to let him go.

The lion told the mouse that he could stay in the den only if he allowed the lion to sleep properly.
The mouse was too scared and did not understand what the lion meant. He kept begging the
lion to leave him.

Looking at the terrified mouse, the lion lowered his voice and said in soft tone, "Oh tiny mouse
do not be scared and frightened. Just listen to me carefully. I go hunting every day and bring the
carcass of some animal as part of my daily meal. I do not eat it completely. You are a small and
tiny animal and hence you can easily eat the leftovers and make yourself happy. If you like
eating the leftovers without searching for food, you can stay here and help me keep this place
clean."

This revealed the soft and humble side of the lion's gigantic character.

The mouse was taken aback with unlimited joy. To this he said, "Yes Mr. Lion, I shall stay in the
den."

However, the lion put forth one simple condition for the mouse. The lion said that he would have
to keep the den clean. The mouse can eat the leftover meat and bones. If the mouse failed to
complete the leftovers, he must throw the remaining away from the den. So the task of
cleanliness of the den was given to the mouse in exchange of his stay and food. The mouse
was more than happy to accept the offer.

After this short but sweet conversation, the lion asked the mouse to sleep in the corner of the
den and he himself slept in the middle of the den. So as the mouse and the lion lay fast asleep
in the den, the mouse suddenly started rolling freely on the floor of the den. Rolling on the floor
while asleep happened to be a sleeping disorder the mouse had and he was completely
unaware about this habit. So he kept rolling and by midnight, he came closer to the lion's body.
As soon as the mouse came closer to the lion's body, he felt the warmth of the lion's fur and this
helped him sleep deep and in a more comfortable manner. So, in his sleep the mouse wanted to
feel more cozy and comfortable. So, the mouse unknowingly adjusted himself in the fold of the
lion's huge leg.

Owing to his humble nature, the lion felt fine with this and he even adjusted his leg so that the
mouse can sleep peacefully. When the sunrays of the early morning fell on the lion's eyes, he
woke up. The lion saw that the mouse was fast asleep on his leg. After watching the mouse
sleep so calm and peacefully, the lion gently woke the mouse up, as he had to get up. While the
lion pushed his paw, the mouse woke up. Seeing the lion's nose so close up, the little creature
was extremely terrified and tried to jump off.

However, the lion helped the mouse get down and prevented the mouse from hurting himself.
After this kind gesture, the mighty lion asked the mouse to be not frightened and told him the
reason why the mouse had to wake up; it was because he was sleeping on the lion's leg. After
hearing this, the frightened mouse started laughing vigorously. Seeing his friend laugh, the lion
broke into pangs of laughter too.

This was the onset of a beautiful bond of friendship between the tiny mouse and the mighty lion.