The Trail to Spring

Chapter 37

"Come sit beside me, you two," Grandpa said, beckoning me and my brother towards him on a bench, "And Arjun, give Maya her teddy bear back."

Arjun, who was holding Blackie above his head so I couldn't reach it, sullenly dropped his hands down. I promptly snatched Blackie back from him.

"Grandpa, you are no fun," Arjun complained, as he lazily shuffled his feet and nestled himself on the bench to Grandpa's right. I followed suit and sat down on his left.

"Now, now," Grandpa smiled, "You should not be teasing your sister for fun, Arjun."

Arjun made a face to denote his disagreement.

"You know what is fun though? ," he asked putting his hands on top of both of our little heads, "Stories! And I just so happen to have one with me today."

Both of our faces lighted up like diyas in Diwali as soon as we heard him.

"Is it going to be a story about pirates again?," Arjun asked, excitedly.

"I wanna hear another story about a princess," I chimed in.

Grandpa chuckled on hearing us.

"Well maybe we should store those stories for another time. Today I will tell you the story of a young boy who one day suddenly found himself lost in a strange kingdom," he narrated, "Just like you two, my dears."

"What do you mean Grandpa? ," I asked.

"You'll understand in due time, my pie" he replied.

"Now as I was saying, this little boy wanted to go back home to his mother but he didn't know how to. But he didn't lose hope and continued to search for a way back. Just when he was about to lose all hope though, a fairy appeared in front of him and informed him that there was one way he could return back. The princess of that kingdom could help him go back to his own world. But there was one problem too. The princess had been kidnapped by a group of bad men. The grumpy bad men had organized a fighting tournament with three rounds and if anyone could win the tournament, then they had promised that they would free the princess."

Arjun and I listened to Grandpa's story with bated breaths.

"Now the little boy promptly decided to take part in the tournament. And in the first round, he had to fight a big strong man with only a sword and a shield inside a huge stadium.

The little boy knew that he couldn't defeat the man all by himself but he didn't give up. The man continuously taunted him and hit him hard all over his body. But the little boy still didn't give up. Finally after a whole day and night of fighting, the man couldn't take it anymore. He charged towards the boy in order to finish him in one blow. But the boy, who was covered with blood and bruises all over by then, quickly spun around and dodged him and the man crashed hard into the walls of the stadium. And before the man could get up, the boy held his sword in front of his neck. The crowd around the stadium cheered in unison as the little boy had just won the first round!

Now after resting for a day, the little boy found himself in the stadium again. But now for the second round, he had to fight a very ferocious starving lion with just a bow and arrows! And on top of that, the little boy had no idea on how to use those weapons either."

"But that's so hard," Arjun complained.

"Yes," Grandpa agreed, "It was hard. But on the other hand, the little boy was brave. He tried his best to throw arrows at the lion but all of them failed. So he continued dodging the lion for three days and three nights, barely escaping with his life every single moment. His eyes ached from lack of sleep, his arms wouldn't move anymore and he barely had any more strength left in him. And just when he thought it couldn't get any worse, the little boy twisted his ankle. Now he could not dodge the lion either."