Lotto and his Duck

A Story by Manjari Shukla

story about a little boy and his duck

Lotto was a sweet little boy who had a beautiful duck in the pond of his garden. He loved it a lot and spent quite a lot of his time sitting near the pond and watching her. He was not serious towards his studies .His mother always asked him to devote some attention to his studies, but he always ignored her advice. Day by day, complaints about his poor performance from the school went on increasing. Whenever his parents scolded him, he used to go near the pond and talked to the duck in a very low voice. His mother was very concerned about his performance, but she could not understand the reason for his lack of interest in studies. One day Lotto came crying bitterly and said to his mother-“I will not go the school from tomorrow. Never again” and he started sobbing.

His mother kissed him gently, wiped his tears and asked-“What happened, my dear Lotto?”

He replied, between his sobs �"“My teacher told that all are better than you and they work hard to achieve their goals, and she punished me after that.”

His mother hugged him gently and replied lovingly-“She was right.”

Lotto looked at his mother and asked innocently-“But I have learnt from my dear duck that without doing any effort we can fulfill our wish.”

Mother was shocked to hear this. She asked impatiently-“How do you know that?”

Lotto took his mother near the pond and pointed his finger towards the duck-“Look, she is sitting idly.”

His mother replied politely-“Look at the duck carefully. She is swimming in the pond and seems to be moving without effort, but under the surface of the water, it's kicking its feet very hard.”

“Oh! he sighed, turned his head and looked at his mother, who was having a beautiful smile.”

He felt ashamed. He hugged his mother tightly and replied-“I will also study.”

And they both went near the pond to caress the duck who had been waiting for their arrival.”

Manjari Shukla
(published)