One day, I went to a jungle with my brother Babloo. Once we reached, I sat down to light the campfire, while Babloo went to collect more sticks. As he walked through the jungle, he could smell something strange and he started following it. When I looked around, Babloo had vanished from my sight and I waited for him for a long time but he did not return. I got worried and went about searching for him in the jungle.

I saw a gang of elephants near the lake beside a yellow colored plant. A voice inside my heart told me that if I ate that yellow plant, I would be able to understand the language of elephants. I listened to my inner voice and went and ate the yellow plant. Then, I asked the elephants – “Mr. Elephant, did you see a boy wearing a blue t-shirt and green pants?”. One of the elephants replied – “Yes, I saw him. He went near the biggest tree in the jungle. I can take you there.” I was happy to hear this and climbed the back of the elephant. We went to the tree and found Babloo sleeping near a pile of fruits. I woke him up and hugged him. After a busy day, we returned home. When we were ready to sleep, suddenly I heard a voice – “Avni, wake up. It’s time for school.” I woke up and realized it was all a dream!

//This story has been submitted by Avni Malhotra, aged 9, from Hyderabad. She had written this tale as part of BTB’s “Introduction to Creative Writing” workshop conducted by me. The kids were just given a story title and they had to weave a story around it.//