SHORT STORIES FRIDAYS (22)

A CURIOUS LIZARD : A CHILDREN’s SHORT STORY BY ME

Mr. and Mrs. Lizard had just managed to shift their residence to a new house with their two kids, Rich, and Rosie. They had to take extra precaution from being spotted by the stray dogs, feral cats and their other predators.

They started climbing the walls without wasting their time while Rosie and Rich were fascinated by the things used by the humans. Mrs. Lizard chucked ( spoke in the lizard language). ” Hurry up,” she said, ” We haven’t got all day to relax and enjoy viewing the possessions of the humans. We have seen these plenty of times in other homes as well.”

Rich replied, ” Don’t be a spoilsport, mom. At least, let’s look around our new house. Besides, I don’t think there’s any pet here.” Rosie gave him a strong push to force him to follow their parents. They just managed to escape in time, from being crushed under the footwear of a fat lady, who was the house owner’s wife. She was carrying a huge plastic bag containing pizza boxes for the family.

She kept the pizza on the dining table and opened all the four boxes to check whether they had received the correct delivery. Unfortunately, she kept it open and unattended, and went to call her husband and children. Rich was drooling over the pizza. He said, ” Look, Mom and Dad, why don’t we feast upon the delicious snack instead of our usual, ants, mosquitoes and cockroaches.” Mr. Lizard added with a sigh, ” That food is meant only for the humans, but they can only have it once in a while. It’s not their staple food. Over Indulging in pizza can cause health problems. You aren’t going anywhere near it, do you understand? You barely managed to escape from death. Do you want us to get thrown out or killed? ” But children will always be children. The kid lizard was no exception. Just as a human kid would sometimes refuse to listen to his or her parents, Rich ignored his father’s sane advice. He climbed down at a tremendous speed and reached the dining table, leaving his frustrated family coming after him.

He helped himself to a tiny bit but the morsel stuck in his throat and started choking. His father dragged him away and whacked him on the back. He immediately spit it out. His tongue was also on fire. His father looked at him sternly and said, ” Don’t you ever learn from your mistakes? Was it really necessary to disobey me?” Rich hung his head in shame and said, ” I am sorry, dad. From now onwards, it’s only going to be flies or mosquitoes for me. As the humans say, curiosity killed the cat, this time it almost killed a lizard.”

The lizard family crawled back to the wall. The family feasted upon the small insects that came across their way. They also happen to see the whole family of humans having their meals together. The pizzas were devoured in no time. Soon, the younger son clutched his stomach and cried out in pain. The husband and wife were alarmed. His elder sister called the family doctor as Mr. Lizard looked at Rich and said, ” Did you see what happened to that poor boy due to your carelessness?” Rich felt for sorry for him. He had learned a lesson.

A couple of days were uneventful. Rich fascinated humans so much that he wished he was a human too. He felt bored of staying on the wall. He came down quickly as fast as his legs could carry. He came to the living room where the Television was on. He was curious to know what the humans were watching. He moved closer to the couch and watched his eyes widening in horror. A news channel presented the tragic news of the recent Texas shooting that killed nineteen students and two teachers. He watched some more news of humans hurting each other. Rich promptly turned away. He felt sick after watching the news of merciless killings.

No sooner did he climb the wall, than he approached his father. He said, ” You will be pleased to know that I will never venture out seeking the thrill of the human world. Dad, I just saw a human killing several humans. Is he going to eat them all? ” Mr. Lizard smiled at the innocence of his son, ” There are many reasons why humans kill each other. They don’t eat other except if they are cannibals. Killing is a great crime. Every creature has a right to live. Unfortunately, humans never consider this fact while slitting each other’s throats.”

” But Dad,” said Rich, ” In that case, we are also killers because flies and mosquitoes also have a right to live.” His father smiled, ” Unfortunately, my son, we don’t have a choice. We kill them because they are our food and also because we can’t make delicacies like the humans. Humans have plenty of choices:

They can be vegetarians, vegans, or non-vegetarians.

They can choose to live peacefully with each other or end up wiping out each other’s existence from the face of the earth. It’s pathetic to know that they prefer violence to exercise their power rather than protecting each other. But not all the humans are bad. There are plenty of good humans who work together for a common cause and help others including animals in distress. It’s just a matter of choice, son, you can either choose to be good or become bad. Whatever the case maybe, you will get the reward for your actions. No good deed goes unrewarded, nor any bad deed goes unpunished.”

Suddenly, Rich was glad that he was a lizard and not a human.

We all have choices in our lives. Learn to live with each other in peace or getting ruined in the path of destruction due to unwanted animosity. Animals only resort to killing for their food. We call ourselves the most intelligent creatures. Then why are we going into a self-destructive mode? Deforestation, pollution, race for arms and weapons, unemployment, over population, inflation and so on. This is a short story for children emphasizing the need to listen to their elders and learn from their mistakes. But there is also a message for adults.

Let’s not spill each other’s blood over trivial issues. We can and we must choose the path of love and peace for a blissful life as against hatred.

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