Rescuing my friend

By

Rohit Paranjape

 

Ahoy there! I am Alfred the alligator. I am three years old. I’m……….. ok, there’s no time to describe myself because I’ve got to go to the rescue my friend Andy (he‘s an alligator too)  He had gone out one day to do a little exploration and had not come back. I knew that I had to travel through the bear world,the desert and the dense forest  in order to  find Andy.

 

As I prayed to God to help me, an angel came with a message. It read:“YOU HAVE TO COLLECT THE LETTERS- Z, M, I, A ON YOUR WAY.” “Why in the wide world?” I wondered. But then a clue was better than nothing!

 

I started my journey with plenty of things, rubber shoes, a jacket, a raincoat and lots of food and water. Trekking was my worst enemy, yet I had to do that for Andy’s sake. I travelled and travelled and reached the bear world.

 

I asked the baby bears for directions. I tell you the baby bear are so mischievous! They misled me!  So by mistake I took the honey comb ways. I spent hours wandering here and there. Two-three times I came to the spot from I started. Luckily I found some patrins and followed them and came to the entrance. I started towards the Sahara desert. It was terribly  hot there. I was so thirsty that i had finished all my water.  this gave me a bad headache and I lost direction. I  rested for a while and wondered what to do.

 

Suddenly I saw a caravan of camels passing by. I waved to them wildly but they did not notice. I was helpless. I had set out on  an adventure to rescue my best friend and here I was lost…”

 

“Don’t worry”, said a weary but kind voice. I turned back and saw an old grandma camel. She introduced herself as Alice. “How can you help me?” I asked. “I sell compasses,” she replied. What? She had come to me like an angel!  How foolish of me not to carry a compass. She sold the compass to me for 2 silver coins. It was very useful. I got back on the right track and then it was easy-peasy for me to find the way. I thought it would be easy to reach the forest by evening but as I had no water, and was dehydrated, I had to rest.

 

It was, I think midnight when something strange happened. I heard a noise. I opened my eye and saw a fountain and on top of that were two letters Z, M. Was I dreaming? Was this real? I pinched myself hard. I screamed at the top of my lungs. Aaaaaaaaaaa!!! This wasn’t a dream at all. Then I remembered the angel. “So I have to collect these letters, huh?” I said. But the force was too much. Gathering my courage, I tried to cover the hole with sand. But the fountain gulped down the sand. I realised  that whatever went into the fountain disappeared sooner or later. This time I put a lot of sand. The fountain was busy eating up the sand when I collected the letters.

 

Suddenly the hole grew bigger and unexpectedly I landed in the forest. There was a spring bubbling along besides me. So I drank to my heart’s content. When I walked a few yards I saw a …..fox, ready with a fork. His voice boomed… “I’ll place three mirrors, in one of them you will find the letters I, A. You have you will have to go into the right mirror or you will go into my tummy. and don’t act smart, because I know everything.

 

I thought of a plan. It was the last step. Then Andy and me. I started to speak rapidly. “You think you know everything?” “Yes.” How many windows does the Hawa Mahal have? “240.” What’s the collective noun crows?” “Murder.” What is my friend’s name? “Andy.” Where will I get him? “Here.” said the fox  and pointed to the second mirror. “Thank you.” Oh nooooo.”

 

Andy came out with the letters. I gave him a bear hug. Andy told me that the wicked  fox had captured him and wanted to know the  way to Alligatornia, because he wanted to rule there. “I gave a firm no, so this happened.” said Andy.  “By the way why do you carry all those letters?”

 

“I was told to.” I replied.

 

“But how do we get back to Alligatornia?” Andy asked. We thought and thought. Andy came up with the idea of repeating the letters in the alphabetical order.

 

 

A sudden glow surrounded us  and we were back in Alligatornia.

 


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