There was a village named Memboo. There was a huge ground in the village which spread to over 4 miles in diameter. The ground was surrounded by houses and buildings. There were two mango trees right in the middle of the ground.
A couple Rose and Steward and their teenage daughter Emily had recently moved to the village. One day Rose asked her daughter Emily to get some items for their new home. She gave her 100 bucks for the purchase.
Emily got out of the house and looked in all directions. She saw few stores at the other end of the ground. She decided to take a short distance route. She chose to cross the ground to the other end. As she stood at this end, she could see the entire flat ground all to herself. There was no one on it, not even children playing during this time of the vacation.
“I wonder why this ground is not used at all.” Emily thought and started walking.
It was noon and hot sun blazed above her head. After few minutes of walk, Emily wanted to take a break. With no shades to hide in, Emily saw the Mango trees at a distance and decided to rest under the tree gloom for some time.
“Ooff! It is so hot out there.” Emily said. “Look at all those mangoes hanging above! Surprising there are no owners here. “
Emily sat down under one of the trees and looked around. In a while, she was asleep.
Emily was woken up by a sound and as she looked around, “Oh, Its late. I should run.”
Emily ran to the store and bought the required items. On the billing counter, as she was asked for the cash, she searched her wallet and she found that she had only 10 bucks.
“My Money! Where did it go!” Emily said astonished.
“What happened young lady?” The old man at the counter asked.
“I had 100 bucks and there’s only 10 bucks left.” Emily replied, still searching.
“You must have spent it somewhere and forgot.” The old man said.
“No. The only place I stopped on the way was the mango trees in the middle of the ground.”
“Oh! You shouldn’t have gone there.” Said the old man.
“Why?” Asked Emily.
“Nobody goes there. There are many stories of people getting hard luck when they sit under the Mango trees. Some say there are some creatures on the tree and some others say the trees bring bad luck. “
“No matter what. I will have to go back there to get my money back.” Emily confirmed. “Will you keep my items here till I come back.?”
“Sure. But I would suggest you don’t go that place again.” The old man said.
“Don’t worry. I can take care of myself. I need to get my money back. “ Said Emily and left the store.
Emily had mixed feelings. She was less scared and more livid of whatever had taken her money. She walked faster than before and reached the trees.
She looked above searching if there was anyone, might be a thief sitting up on the tree.
“Hello.. I know there is someone here. Listen, I want my money back right now!” Emily shouted.
She waited for some moments trying to listen to any noise. When she didn’t hear anything, she took a deep breath and looked down.
Emily was surprised to see what she saw.
“My money!” Emily shouted.
She sat down on her knees and saw the currency notes folded into various shapes and scattered.
“Wow! The shapes are really good. I assume that this one is a duck, this one a monkey, this is hmmm...” Emily said as she picked up the notes one by one. “I cannot identify what this is.”
“That’s a slow monkey, one that stays in the bamboo forests.”
Emily looked above and she saw a Monkey. It was too hard to identify in the beginning as the size of the creature was hardly 3-4 inches.
“Oh! Hi.. You...you can talk!“ Emily took back a few steps as she said.
“We are miniature monkeys.” The little creature said. “ People here around also call us the unlucky monkeys.”
“Why haven’t I ever heard about you before?”
“Well, that’s because we don’t exist anymore. “ The creature said while sitting on the branch with his tiny legs hanging.
“Thousands years back, there was a time when no one died. As a person or animal got older, they shrank to smaller sizes. And as they shrank, the younger ones found them to be useless and so they put the shrunken ones in Jars and dig them deep in to the earth. When the concept of death actually came in, these little ones in the jars were eaten by the warms and other creatures. We are some of the few left out.”
“How did you become the unlucky ones for the people around?” Emily asked in curiosity.
“Well, initially too many people came close by and many tried to kill us. Some wanted to experiment on us. When we had enough, to save ourselves, we decided that we should stay away. A guy stayed under the tree for a night and we took his belongings while he was asleep. The funds he had then was later found to be kept for his daughter’s marriage. He declared this tree as unlucky. Then there were few people who came here for shades. We exhibited ourselves and they thought this place is haunted. Few more incidents and we were left all alone.”
“Are you happy with what you did?”
“We aren’t completely happy but see, today, people are more selfish and they are looking for benefits all around. If we hadn't done the impolite acts, they might have killed us, or done something terrible.”
“Then why did you talk to me then?” Emily asked.
“With thousands of years of experience, we can now identify between the bad and the evil. We did not need your money. It is of no use to us. We saw your currency lying about and we thought we could have some fun. We wish that you don’t inform others of us. “
“Will it be okay if I come to visit you guys? I’m sure you will have many more stories to tell.”
“Sure little girl. Even we are eager to meet new people. Next time you come around, can you get us some new fruits. We are bored eating Mangoes all the time. “
Emily giggled and said, “Sure I will. O, its late. I should leave.”
“Bye young lady. You take care.”
“Bye...”
And Emily went back to the store, kept the mystery existing with the old guy, brought her stuff back home.
“Was the store too far sweetie..” Emily’s mother asked.
“A little mum. But I love this place more.” Emily smiled and stood at the window sill from where she could see the Mango trees right in the middle of the ground.
© Copyright 2014. All Rights Reserved.
Emily got out of the house and looked in all directions. She saw few stores at the other end of the ground. She decided to take a short distance route. She chose to cross the ground to the other end. As she stood at this end, she could see the entire flat ground all to herself. There was no one on it, not even children playing during this time of the vacation.
“I wonder why this ground is not used at all.” Emily thought and started walking.
“Ooff! It is so hot out there.” Emily said. “Look at all those mangoes hanging above! Surprising there are no owners here. “
Emily sat down under one of the trees and looked around. In a while, she was asleep.
Emily was woken up by a sound and as she looked around, “Oh, Its late. I should run.”
Emily ran to the store and bought the required items. On the billing counter, as she was asked for the cash, she searched her wallet and she found that she had only 10 bucks.
“My Money! Where did it go!” Emily said astonished.
“What happened young lady?” The old man at the counter asked.
“I had 100 bucks and there’s only 10 bucks left.” Emily replied, still searching.
“You must have spent it somewhere and forgot.” The old man said.
“No. The only place I stopped on the way was the mango trees in the middle of the ground.”
“Oh! You shouldn’t have gone there.” Said the old man.
“Why?” Asked Emily.
“Nobody goes there. There are many stories of people getting hard luck when they sit under the Mango trees. Some say there are some creatures on the tree and some others say the trees bring bad luck. “
“No matter what. I will have to go back there to get my money back.” Emily confirmed. “Will you keep my items here till I come back.?”
“Sure. But I would suggest you don’t go that place again.” The old man said.
“Don’t worry. I can take care of myself. I need to get my money back. “ Said Emily and left the store.
Emily had mixed feelings. She was less scared and more livid of whatever had taken her money. She walked faster than before and reached the trees.
She looked above searching if there was anyone, might be a thief sitting up on the tree.
“Hello.. I know there is someone here. Listen, I want my money back right now!” Emily shouted.
She waited for some moments trying to listen to any noise. When she didn’t hear anything, she took a deep breath and looked down.
Emily was surprised to see what she saw.
“My money!” Emily shouted.
She sat down on her knees and saw the currency notes folded into various shapes and scattered.
“Wow! The shapes are really good. I assume that this one is a duck, this one a monkey, this is hmmm...” Emily said as she picked up the notes one by one. “I cannot identify what this is.”
“That’s a slow monkey, one that stays in the bamboo forests.”
Emily looked above and she saw a Monkey. It was too hard to identify in the beginning as the size of the creature was hardly 3-4 inches.
“We are miniature monkeys.” The little creature said. “ People here around also call us the unlucky monkeys.”
“Why haven’t I ever heard about you before?”
“Well, that’s because we don’t exist anymore. “ The creature said while sitting on the branch with his tiny legs hanging.
“Thousands years back, there was a time when no one died. As a person or animal got older, they shrank to smaller sizes. And as they shrank, the younger ones found them to be useless and so they put the shrunken ones in Jars and dig them deep in to the earth. When the concept of death actually came in, these little ones in the jars were eaten by the warms and other creatures. We are some of the few left out.”
“How did you become the unlucky ones for the people around?” Emily asked in curiosity.
“Well, initially too many people came close by and many tried to kill us. Some wanted to experiment on us. When we had enough, to save ourselves, we decided that we should stay away. A guy stayed under the tree for a night and we took his belongings while he was asleep. The funds he had then was later found to be kept for his daughter’s marriage. He declared this tree as unlucky. Then there were few people who came here for shades. We exhibited ourselves and they thought this place is haunted. Few more incidents and we were left all alone.”
“Are you happy with what you did?”
“We aren’t completely happy but see, today, people are more selfish and they are looking for benefits all around. If we hadn't done the impolite acts, they might have killed us, or done something terrible.”
“Then why did you talk to me then?” Emily asked.
“With thousands of years of experience, we can now identify between the bad and the evil. We did not need your money. It is of no use to us. We saw your currency lying about and we thought we could have some fun. We wish that you don’t inform others of us. “
“Will it be okay if I come to visit you guys? I’m sure you will have many more stories to tell.”
“Sure little girl. Even we are eager to meet new people. Next time you come around, can you get us some new fruits. We are bored eating Mangoes all the time. “
Emily giggled and said, “Sure I will. O, its late. I should leave.”
“Bye young lady. You take care.”
“Bye...”
And Emily went back to the store, kept the mystery existing with the old guy, brought her stuff back home.
“Was the store too far sweetie..” Emily’s mother asked.
“A little mum. But I love this place more.” Emily smiled and stood at the window sill from where she could see the Mango trees right in the middle of the ground.
