Story 25

Suzanne was finding it increasingly difficult to concentrate on her office work today. With every passing second she was freaking out about the task on hand. Like any other day, the pressure was tremendous in her office and she knew that she had to get her assignments done by the end of the day. But what about Richard? What must he be thinking? She couldn't bear to see his sad face again. She remembered how last year, Richard was waiting for his gift and it never turned up. When Suzanne called the concerned company, they made a lame excuse of miscommunication which made her furious. As the memories of past haunted her, she nervously picked up the phone and called Max. "Yes Madame! Don't you worry. I will make sure that the parcel reaches on time. Suzanne heaved a sigh of relief.

Max whisked past the signal. He didn't have much time on hand. Plus, the upcoming Halloween night ensured that traffic snarl was at it's best. He had to deliver two other packages before going to Richard's. Time was running out and Max knew that something special could only help his cause.

He turned his car and zoomed past the narrow alleys. Managing his way through the crowd, he zoomed past the Fast and Furious hoarding of Vin Diesel standing between the two cars in his trademark stunt. Max smiled to himself. He felt a Disesel himself.

As the doorbell rang, Richard jumped out of his sofa and ran to open the door. "Richard?"asked Max. As little Richard profusely nodded his head, Max brought out the package and said,"Richard this is a gift from your mom. Though she is 300 miles away from you, she loves you. Here is your birthday gift, the Koala styled gummy bears." As Richard jumped in joy, Max smiled and said, "Thank You for your time Richard. We are DHL- the world on time."

Story 24

It was just one of those days which Allen always dreaded about. It has been raining for the past few hours and with every hour the intensity of the rain seemed to be increasing. As the heat and humidity reached a new high in the last few days, the advent of such a rain was just a matter of time. Fortunately for the millions of living beings rain has been very kind today. Rather then losing out it's fizz it has strengthened from time to time thus giving them a chance to beat the heat.

The trees seemed to be having a field day today. Among the millions of living beings present in this world probably they were the only one who never got the due respect of their existence. A certain A.J.C.Bose had proved long back that they too had  a life. And life without emotions is highly impracticable. As they swayed to and fro getting washed down by the rain, it's new leaves breathed a sigh of relief. Those kids were really having a tough time!

Among all these fortunate souls it was only Allen who was cursing the rain. Why won't he? He had a date today at seven and he had promised her to reach on time but in vain. As a sudden lightening made Allen jump out of his skin, the slippery leaves and muddy fields were making it more difficult for him, In addition to all this he had to carefully make his way through for the fear of being tripped or in a worst case scenario, be gravely injured by these human beings who became more careless during such downpours. 

The incessant rain could not stop Allen as he finally reached his destination, a mushroom behind the bush, where Anna was patiently waiting for him. As she saw him, her eyes gleamed. These two caterpillars fell in love for the first time in their life.

Story 23

"How long does it take?" Sarika asked Zeeshan as he started rowing. "Not much. Around 3 hours or so" replied Zeeshan. "Can't this time be cut down a little bit?" asked Fatima, the tension evident in her voice. Zeeshan smirked "Only if you can lend me a hand" "Stop crying Begum! Will you? You are getting on my nerves now!" Fatima shouted at her younger sister. "If we lose hope like this, do you think we can ever make it to the other side?" Zeeshan had already started rowing by then. "Can I have the other oar?" Sarika asked as Zeeshan handed her one. "Are you sure about this?" Zeeshan's query was put to rest by a strong "Yes!".

Sarika was the eldest of the three sisters. All her life she had struggled to support her family which was left shattered by the early demise of her parents. Though her decision to 'leave studies early and join a job' was met with few raised eyebrows, she knew there was no other option. Fatima and Begum were very young and she didn't want them to end up in an orphanage. She wanted them to study and to make it big someday. "Give it to me. I will row now" Fatima told Sarika, who looked at her and smiled. As she handed over the oars and sat down beside Begum, whose tear soaked red eyes looked tired, she noticed how beautiful has Fatima grown up to be. That little girl was now a doctor and she knew one day her Fatima will make her proud in the field of medicine.


Since yesterday things have looked different for Sarika and her family. The crisis surrounding the refugees was given a fresh lease of life as Britain opened their gates for them. The European powerhouses who were playing it tough, citing various socio-economic-political  factors as reasons for not allowing the refugees any access to their country, were forced to change their stance. With Britain opening their gates, Germany and France soon followed. As Sarika looked up at the sky and thanked the little Allah whose death changed everything for them tears rolled down her cheeks. She kissed Begum's hand and thanked Aylan Kurdi for giving them a new chance to live. Their little Allah.

Story 22

"Did you just take my bottle?" fumed Ravi. Kishan chose to ignore this as he concentrated more on the cars which were zooming past him. Ravi asked a bit louder, "Brother, did you take my bottle?" Kishan looked at him meekly and somehow managed to ask, "Which bottle?" "You are asking me that? Seriously? What do you think we drink? Glucon-D?" Ravi was losing his temper now. Kishan tried to alleviate the situation a little bit. "Mom usually gives us two bottles. How could you forget that?" Kishan quipped. Ravi couldn't control himself as he nudged Kishan hard.

As Kishan shrieked, Ravi raised his voice higher, "Don't cry and try garner sympathy for yourself. I am warning you." This time Kishan was furious, "That doesn't mean you will nudge me like that. How could you? It hurts!" "How could it possibly hurt? It was just a gentle nudge?" Ravi turned around and looked at him. "You were hungry. Weren't you?" asked Ravi as he saw Kishan's bright blue eyes swelling up. "Yes! It has been long since I had my food and I couldn't take it anymore" confessed Kishan. "Why didn't you tell me that in the first place?" Ravi asked. "And what would you have done?" shot back Kishan. "We could have planned to grab his attention" replied Ravi.

"How long do we need to stay here?" the disgust was prominent in Kishan's voice. "Beats me!" quipped Ravi. "Tell me something Kishan? How much younger are you to me?" Ravi asked. "I don't know. But what I have gathered from them is, you are just one year elder to me" Kishan replied defiantly as he was fully aware of Ravi's repartee. "Kiddo!" Ravi squealed into laughter as Kishan hit him from behind. " Don't you do that to me or else I won't be waking up for you when you are scared at night." Kishan knew there was no point arguing again. For the past few days, he has been waking up well past midnight and without Ravi it would be virtually impossible for him to spend the rest of the night.

"What took you so long?" the irritation was apparent in Manish's voice. "There was a huge queue in the cash counter. Sorry!" Shilpa replied apologetically. "How have they been?" Shilpa asked as she took the pram from Manish. "They were creating a ruckus! They were squealing, shouting, crying. At one point I found Kishan looking at Ravi angrily. I think they communicate, you know. There must be something" Manish said helplessly. "Imagine a two year old boy conversing with his one year old brother" giggled Shilpa as Manish smiled. Ravi turned back and  first looked at his mother and then Kishan who was snoozing away in glory. Now, he decided to cry. He wanted some milk in his feeding bottle which Kishan had emptied earlier.