GUTARGU'S UNFORGETFUL TRIP

A Story by Manjari Shukla

children story

It was a hot summer morning. Everybody was looking for a shelter against the fury of bright scorching sun who was shining like a red ball of fire. Gutargu pigeon was flapping his wings quickly. He was very exhausted and tired as he had been looking for water for a long time. Suddenly he saw a big black tank which was full of water up to the brim. He recovered his breath and within no time he was gulping the cold water. When his stomach was full, he started playing with water. He fluttered his wings and had a lot of fun with tiny cool droplets. Then he flew to his house and told his mother about his joyful experience.

But his mother got worried and replied-“Oh! You mustn’t go there again. You may get into big trouble one day. We have a big pond in our jungle and there is plenty of water to meet our entire requirement.”

But Gutargu did not like his mother’s advice and said-“I can’t drink hot and dirty water of this pond. We should go to some other place.”

His mother smiled and said-“We drink sweet and cool water from this pond throughout the year. We cannot go anywhere just for a month.”

Gutargu got angry and flew to meet his friend Kalu crow. On the way he found Kalu playing in the same pond. He was drenched and covered in mud. Gutargu proudly looked at his shinning wings and reached near Kalu.

Kalu looked at Gutargu and said with a wide smile-“Wow! You are looking great today.”

Gutargu was pleased to hear his praise and he told him about the water tank.

Kalu agreed happily and they both flew towards the tank.

Sweet and cool water was running from the tap and filling the big tank.

They both proudly perched on the edge of the tank and started playing with cool water. One boy who had been watching them for a long time got very angry because dirty Kalu had made all the water dirty. The boy angrily rushed towards him, but Kalu flew away. So the boy caught Gutargu who was drinking water and did not notice him.

Gutargu trembled with fear. He tried to fly, but the boy was holding him very tightly so he could not even flap his wings.

But Kalu had gone by that time to call his friends. And within few minutes he was back along with hundreds of crows. They all hovered over the boy.

The boy got frightened and closed his eyes with fear. As soon as the boy lost control over his grip, Gutargu flew away. Kalu also flew with his friends and looked at Gutargu.Tears were glistening in his eyes and he was flapping his wings quickly to meet his mother and never ever to disobey her advice.