The Magic of a Wish Fulfilled, At last!

Friends, here is a sweet tale for kids. Hope you like it. Thanks.

Dear children,

Welcome.

Let me tell you today the story of a small six-year-old boy, Anand, who used to live in Delhi with his parents and his sister. When our story opens, it is February, and we find the residents of this city welcoming Spring, the king of seasons, with the mango trees blossoming and spreading their lovely fragrance all around. The days were warm, the nights were cosy, myriads of flowers were coming into bloom: this was a jolly time indeed.

Now, Anand had seen his father pray at the family prayer room every morning. And the impressionable kid grew fascinated with this custom when his father told him last month that God grants you any wish you make if you pray sincerely enough. He was so impressed! “Wow,” thought the small boy, “I can get my wish fulfilled if I earnestly request God. How awesome!”

The more the child reflected on his discovery, the more his wonder grew till he came to think of a sweet game. Every month, on the first Monday morning, he decided to have a bet with himself. He would make a silent wish as soon as he woke up, and after his bath, he’d pray to God with his child-like faith, just like his Papa. Then he would proceed to his school and keep a watchful eye to see God fulfilling his wish before the day got over. If he won the bet (and Anand was sure that he would), a toffee bought from his school canteen during his lunch break the next day would be his reward.

He was a boy of action, and so he created a list of wishes for the next few months, starting from February itself. They included innocent things like: ‘today I will get my favourite window seat on the left when I got into the school bus;’ ‘today my maths teacher would NOT take a sudden quiz (this teacher was wont to give his students unannounced tests and Anand did not fare well earlier);’ ‘today I will get to see an orange flower at least once while going to my school;’ ‘today my mom will serve me with my favourite dish of ‘Chow Mein’ when I return home from school;’ and ‘today my school bus would get all the signals green (there were five of them) while returning home in the evening.’

Lo and behold! Over the next few months, they began to come true in some form or other. It was amazing! Anand’s faith increased, and so did the sales of the school toffee shop!

Now, the first Monday of July rolled in, and this time, Anand wished for a white flower to bless his eyes at least once during the day. Alas! The whole day passed, but Anand could not see the thing he wanted. The dusk fell, and night began creeping in with the same results. Of course, he had seen multitudes of Monsoon flowers in multiple hues at many places, but his cherished colour was missing. Would God not grant him his wish today?

Anand’s serious face reflected his disappointment when he went for his arts classes in the evening. He had a flair for drawing and wanted to learn more, and so, his father had arranged for Anand to get coached by his school arts teacher. These one-hour tuition classes would start at 7.30 pm at the teacher’s residence twice a week on Mondays and Fridays. Delhi being a city of distances, the boy’s Papa used to drop his young son and pick him up again on the pillion of his scooter on these occasions.

This day, however, the classes got over quite late as the drawing teacher remained busy with his senior students, and Anand had to wait. The tired boy could come out of his tuition only around 10 pm or so. He gratefully climbed up on his dad’s scooter, and the return journey began. Soon, his dad braked at a red signal near his home. In less than ten minutes, they would reach home, which meant there would be no white flowers for Anand today. “Oh, will I have to lose my bet today?” lamented the boy.

As his dad restarted his vehicle on the green signal, Anand’s eyes suddenly fell on a double-storied house adjoining the road. Its cream wall was just partially visible in the street light. Above the wall, waved the topmost branch of a plant, and on it, hung a small cluster of buds with a newly opened flower at the tip.

The flower was Jasmine.

It was beautiful.

And, it was white.

“Thank you, God!”
😊