The Interesting Journey [Short Story]

Once upon a time, a little boy named Rohan lived near the foot of the Mt. Everest. One day Rohan’s dad woke up bright and early and woke up Rohan too. Rohan, who groaned and tossed in bed, slowly dragged himself out of the bed. Rohan’s dad told him to brush his teeth, comb his hair and pull his boots on. After Rohan was done, his dad told him, “We are going on a trek to Mt. Everest.”

When they stepped out of the house and started climbing, the chilly wind blew on their faces as they walked up. After a while they saw a little cottage in a distance. The chimney of the cottage let out smoke which made the clouds eerie and grey. They decided to stay in the cottage for a while. As they entered the cottage, they heard the cry of a banshee. Rohan’s father had a startled expression when the word “Banshee” came out of his mouth. Rohan did not know anything about banshees and asked his father to tell him about banshees.

Rohan’s father opened his mouth to answer but no words came out. Rohan shook his father and asked him again. Finally, Rohan’s father grabbed his hand and said, “I’ll tell you on the way”.

They started running down the mountain when Rohan’s father started narrating his story.

“One day I was walking with my friend and his dad. We were passing a house with creepers all over it. My friend’s father told us, ‘the house we are passing now is the house where I saw a lady with weeping red eyes and sliver sleek hair’. I ran home and told my grandmother about this. She knew in a jiffy that the lady was a banshee. She asked me if the lady was pointing towards any house. I nodded my head violently. She told me someone is going to die in that house”.

Rohan asked his dad, “Did anyone die that day?”

Rohan’s father replied, “Yes, Dave, the head of the family staying in that house died that day. They were hard times for them”.

Suddenly, Rohan and his dad noticed that the blizzard was catching up and it would be difficult for them to pass through the snow and fog. They were left with two choices. Either to risk their lives and pass through the snow or to turn back and get haunted by the banshee.

• Also read The Snowman – A Short Story for Children

The decided to ask for help from God. Both of them knelt down to pray. As soon as they opened their eyes, they saw two fairies, who said, “We know you are stuck here. We shall give you a clue in the form of a riddle. You will have to go back to the banshee and give something. The answer to the riddle is the thing you need to give her. The riddle is – When you follow your heart, you are led to me”.

Saying this the fairies disappeared. Both father and son thought for a while. Rohan suddenly jumped up and said, “I got it. The answer is LOVE. We have to give her love. I will give her pure honey that am carrying and fresh flowers from the forest”.

Saying this, he ran into the forest and brought back fresh flowers. They went back to the cottage, called out the banshee and gave her honey and flowers. The banshee took the gifts and gave a big smile in return. She said, “Thank you so much. I am sorry for haunting you. Please forgive me. I just thought that you think I am ugly and repulsive”.

“So, you do have a loving heart”, said Rohan.

“Come with us to our village. From now on you will be treated like a beautiful goddess”.

When they returned to the village, everybody noticed that the banshee was very kind and loving.

Banshee thanked all the villagers, especially Rohan and his father, for their love and kindness and lived happily ever after.

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Tvesha is a 9 year old from Gurugram. She is the 2nd Prize winner of ‘Story Camps: Pen Your Story’ story-writing competition – under 10 category. 

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