Wednesday, July 28, 2010

The Girl Who Said No to Everything

One day, a mother found a lost baby girl in the middle of a forest. She said, "Oh My! How did you get here?", and took her home. As the baby girl grew up, she was as bautiful as a princess, but also very naughty. When her mom asked her to do something, she'd always say, "No!" or "Nothing!".

When the girl's mother said, "Would you like to go shopping?" or "Will you help me clean up?", her answer was always "No!". When her mother asked, "Would you like to paint or read?", her answer was "Nothing!". Her favorite words were "No" and "Nothing".

The girl's mother tried to teach her how to say "Yes", but it did not work. One day, her mother's friend came to visit. The guest asked the girl, "What is your name?". The girl said, "Nothing!". The mother asked the girl to get some water for the guest. Of course, the girl said "No!". That made her mother very mad.

As a punishment, her mother asked her to take care of the garden for a day. She said, "If you say No, I will send you to the forest to pick blueberries." The girl said, "No! I'll stay at home or take a nap under a tree!". So the next day, her mother gave her a basket and sent her to the forest to pick berries.

In the forest, the little girl lost her way. Then she met a huge bear. The bear said, "Child, are you lost?" The girl was definitely lost, but she did not know how to say yes. So she said "No!". The bear said, "Go back home then." The girl really wanted to go back home, but she said, "No!". The bear was surprised. It asked, "But don't you want to go to your mother?" The girl was scared, but she still said, "No!".

So the bear decided to take the little girl to its den to keep as a pet. The bear picked up the girl and started to carry her to its den. Then the little girl started to yell. Her mother heard her, and quickly ran into the forest. She found the bear and the girl. When the bear saw the angry mother, it was afraid. It dropped the little girl and ran away.

The mother hugged the girl and said, "Do you want to go back home now?". The girl said, "Yes! Yes! Yes!". She had finally learned to say Yes! They went back home. The girl's favorite words became "Yes" and "Everything", and she and her mother lived happily ever after.

The End.

As written and told by Sameera V. II Standard (and only slightly edited by her mom to make the mother in the story a little less angry and scary)

Thursday, July 08, 2010

Where to begin?

So much has happened in the past two months, that it feels ridiculous
to write about any one thing that happened today.

We decided, quite suddenly, to move from California to Bangalore.
Summy is going to school here in Bangalore.

And that's it! It's like meeting a long lost childhood friend.

Sent from my iPhone