Saturday, July 23, 2005

The little girl and the ghost

Fairy tales were an integral part of my life when i was younger. It was quite advantageous for my parents, for it would work as a very effective bribe to make me do things i hated to do. I would love to enumerate all those things except for the fact that the list is slightly elaborate. Well, i was a naughty kid! All my parents had to do to distract me from possibly dangerous play things, was to start saying, "In a land far far away..." and they would be assured of my undivided attention! I miss my childhood and this is a tribute to those memories.(I dont usually dedicate anything to anyone, but i shall make an exception in this case and dedicate this article to A.S who has been such a source of amusement, that i could say he almost 'inspired' me to write this!)

Once upon a time, in a forest far far away, there lived a ghost. No one knows how he became a ghost, but he had been a ghost for a very long time. No one went to the forest because he loved scaring people off! He lived by himself in a house with a huge wall around it to prevent any creature from straying in. But he was really a nice ghost, he just liked to believe that he was big and bad!

In a nearby town lived a little girl. She lived with her parents and had a happy time singing and dancing and playing. But she was a curious little girl. Despite her mother's warnings, she would wander off to places by herself and search for interesting things. But she had never gone into the dark forest, though she had always wanted to. One day, when her mother had gone off to the market, she decided to go peek and see what the forest looked like. She promised herself that she would merely peek and then be a good girl and return. She walked along the road that led into the forest full of excitement. While she walked, all of a sudden big trees loomed up in front of her. But she wasnt frightened, she was awestruck. She had never seen such huge trees before. She walked along the path staring with her mouth wide open at all the wonders of the forest and all the fine birds and animals that gave her curious glances. There was a cuckoo sitting on a branch, who startled her by singing a loud cuckoo. Two squirrels with nuts in their arms, ran up and stared at her. A spotted deer hopped past as she continued to walk. As she looked up, she saw a monkey gawking at her as he swung from tree to tree.

There were so many new and wonderful sights to see that she kept walking on and on not realizing that she was going deeper and deeper into the forest. As the sun sunk lower and shadows crept up, she felt hungry and tired. Just when she thought she was going to cry, she spotted a huge gate in front of her. There was a big signboard in front saying, "Visitors are unwelcome" and in huge red letters below that, "If you come in, you wont get out alive!". The little girl looked at it for a while and thought to herself, "Whoever lives here must be very lonely! I shall go and talk to them." With that she felt happy with herself and happily walked on ahead. Being such a little girl, she sqeezed through the crack in the big gate. A really big house stood in front of her. She went up the steps to the door and was about to knock, when it creaked open. "Hello?", she called but the only answer she got was her own echo. So, she tiptoed in. The door opened into a long hallway. She walked through the hallway until she came to a spacious living room. An old chandellier hung from the ceiling. Antique furniture lay scattered. A beautifully carved stairway led the way to the first floor. But everything looked dusty and ill used. The little girl had never seen anything as big and impressive in her entire life.

As she watched with awe, a booming voice from above her shouted, "WHO DISTURBS MY PEACE??" As she watched, the white form of a ghost appeared out of nowhere. The ghost looked really old with a white beard and a pale wrinkled face. He wore loose white garments that were torn in places and floated in the air. The ghost descended to where she stood and peered at her. The girl in turn peered back at the ghost. She had never seen ghosts though she had heard of them. So she clapped her hands in glee and said, "A Ghost! I see a ghost!". Then she looked at the ghost in doubt and said, "You are a ghost, arent you?". The ghost was taken aback! This puny little girl was not even a little afraid of him! And she was bold enough to question his ghostly status! And that made him mighty angry and he decided to show the little girl how good a ghost he was. He puffed up his chest and bellowed at her in his most terrifying voice. But the little girl jumped up and down with joy! This annoyed the ghost even more. So, he made more threatening and horrifying noises. By this time, the little girl had plonked herself on the ground and had taken up to clapping at intervals when he stopped for breath. She thought that this nice ghost was entertaining her and needed to be encouraged, so she nodded eagerly at him to go on. The ghost was very very angry when he saw this. He was also confused. Most people would run screaming when he chose to yell at them. But this little girl was sitting down and enjoying it! He decided to try his next scary trick. He breathed in deeply and then disappeared altogether in a puff of smoke. Then he materialized at her side and shouted "Boooooooo" very loudly in her ear. She jumped up startled, but when she saw the ghost, she yelled "Magic! Magic! You can do magic too! Wow!" By now the ghost was quite flustered. "Why is this little girl not scared?", he thought desperately. "Hmm. She shall see some of my most frightening tricks now!"

For the next half an hour, the ghost gave his best performance ever. He elongated himself like a pole, shrunk himself like a ball, pulled out his tongue and tied it around his neck, detached various parts of his body and put them back, turned himself into wierd looking animals, and even bounced his head around like a ball. But none of this seemed to scare the little girl. She was having the most wonderful time. By now, she totally adored the ghost! Finally, exhausted and defeated, the ghost sank to the ground and looked miserable. When she saw this, the little girl felt very sorry for him. She thought that the poor ghost must be feeling very lonely with no friends around. So she went to him and said, "Mr.Ghost, can i please be your friend?" The ghost looked up surprised. No one had ever wanted to be his friend! They all ran away the minute they saw his white hideous form. But the little girl wanted to be his friend. He nodded his head and said, "I would love it if you were my friend! Will you stay here with me?". The little girl shook her head, "I cant. My mummy and daddy will miss me! But i will come see you everyday after school!". The ghost looked very happy. "I shall bring all my friends too!", she exclaimed. But the ghost was doubtful. "Wont they be scared of me?", he asked. The little girl rubbed her nose while she thought about that. "Maybe they will be at first, but when they see that you are really a nice ghost that can do magic and tricks, they will love you! You can entertain them like you did just now and we can all have fun!" The ghost liked the idea of fun and nodded his head eagerly and agreed to come up with new tricks. After he made her promise that she would come by every single day, he led her safely through the forest until she was near her home. The little girl kept her promise and came by everyday with her friends. The ghost was as good as his word and became a favourite with the kids with his funny little tricks. They all had a great time together. The ghost stopped scaring people and the forest became a lively and happy place. As for the little girl and the ghost, they stayed friends for ever and ever and ever!