All'S Well That Ends Well

Once upon a time there lived a beautiful and lively girl named Tanya. She was a girl in fifth standard and was very brave and confident. She was a god gifted child and was almost good in each and everything. So everyone wanted to be Tanya’s friend as she was such a bright student.

One day Tanya’s mother said to her, “Dear, your father and I will be going for a trip to the Blue Mountains and will be away for a while. But don’t worry; we will be back in about a month’s time. Till then the nanny can take care of you”.

The date of departure arrived very soon and Tanya’s parents had to leave. Tanya was very upset but she did not show her sadness to her parents thinking they will feel bad. Instead she bravely waved them goodbye without shedding a single tear and went back home with her nanny.

Soon one month passed by. Tanya was very excited to see her parents come back but the whole day went by, there was no sign of them, then one week and then another month, but there was still no sign of them. After a week, sadly, the nanny fell very ill and was admitted to the hospital, so Tanya was sent to a nearby orphanage, as there was no one else to look after her.

When Tanya entered the orphanage the girls stared at her. All the girls were almost the same age as Tanya. Only one of them was a little older with an arrogant and vain look on her face. The day went quite well. On the second day, when Tanya was going to the canteen, she saw the same vain girl troubling a girl about Tanya’s age. Tanya at once went to her defense. She said, “Stop bullying that innocent girl. You have no right to trouble her.” The vain girl gave a disgusting look to Tanya and said, “Do you know who I am? I am Samantha the leader of all the girls you see over here. Anyway you are the new girl right? Stop acting as if you know everything. I will do whatever I wish to.” Saying this Samantha gave Tanya a mighty push and she tumbled down on the floor, with a cry of pain. “You deserve this for messing with me.” Saying this Samantha marched off with her two friends. Just then the girl who was getting bullied came to Tanya and helped her to get up. “I hope you are fine, I am very sorry for you. Don’t go near Samantha. She is the biggest bully, I have ever seen. Anyway, my name is Alya. What’s yours? Tanya answered, “I am Tanya. Nice to meet you Alya.  But everyone here is hanging out with their friends. Why aren’t you?”Alya gave a little sob and said,” Actually, I don’t have any friends in here.” Tanya answered,” That’s a lie, I am your friend, aren’t I? Alya gave a little smile and nodded happily. Alya asked Tanya if she wanted to be her roommate. Tanya readily agreed. While sharing the same room, they discussed many things, one of them being about Tanya’s lost parents. This way they became good friends. This made Samantha very jealous.

One night when both the friends were asleep, Alya heard a strange sound coming from outside their room. Tanya was sound asleep, so she didn’t hear anything. Alya peeped out of their room and who else but she saw Samantha standing there. Alya became very alert and was about to scream when, Samantha kept a finger on her lips. Then she said, “Don’t worry. I will not harm you. You just have to do a small work for me.” Alya almost disagreed but then Samantha put her hand into the pocket of her jacket and dragged out a ring, and said, “Not even for this?” The sight of the beautiful ring tempted Alya and she was at once ready to do whatever Samantha said.

Next morning, Tanya was woken up by a loud, shrill scream. She went out of the room and saw a big crowd around the headmistress over there. “Oh, my beautiful necklace! Where did it go??” cried the headmistress. She at once began to search every nook and corner for her precious necklace. At last she decided to check every girl’s room. At last she came to Alya and Tanya’s room. She began to check and look! The necklace came out of Tanya’s cupboard. Tanya was shocked to see this sight. She didn’t care what the other kids said but she knew that she hadn’t stolen the necklace. The headmistress became very angry and expelled her from the hostel. Tanya was almost in tears and she looked towards Alya for support. But then she saw the ring in her hand and she immediately recognized that it was Samantha’s ring. Then she looked at Alya’s guilty face and understood everything. Tanya felt very angry and looked at Alya with disgust. Then she said, “How could you Alya? I tried to become a friend and help you and you cheated me? Is this my reward for being nice and kind to you? Oh, what have I done to deserve this? But one thing I understood. The ring is more precious to you than your friend. Well then have it your way.” Saying this Tanya picked up her belonging and left the hostel once and forever.

Alya felt very sad and ashamed of her ungrateful behavior. She at once decided to follow Tanya. Tanya was stomping away. Alya stopped her and said, “Please Tanya. I am so sorry for being disloyal to you. I just could not control myself at the sight of the ring. Please forgive me. Please let me come with you. I promise I will always be by your side, till you find your parents.” To this Tanya replied, “No Alya. Please leave. I cannot trust you anymore. You have already broken my trust.” Alya took out the ring from her finger and threw it on the ground then she stamped it and broke it. She sat down on one of the rocks and said, “Tanya, if you don’t take me with you then I am not going back to that wrenched orphanage either. I’ll stay here only.” Tanya looked at her and began to feel sorry for her. Alya had a determined look on her face. Tanya replied, “Well then. If you think that you can accompany me, you may.” To this Alya said, “Why can’t I? Do you think that I am inferior to you in any way? Of course I will accompany you.” She gave a hearty smile. So let’s get going!! And so both friends started their journey.

The two girls kept on walking for three days, without any food or water. At last while walking, Tanya suddenly fell down and started weeping. “I don’t think we are going to find my parents. We’ve been walking since three days but still we haven’t found a single clue about my parents.” Tanya took out a photo of her parents from her bag and sat looking at it and crying louder than before. Alya was also in deep thought. Suddenly, a tribal boy who was nearby came to the spot where Tanya was sitting by hearing her cries. He took a look at the photo which Tanya was holding and at once, as if he had recognized the people in the photo, he began to do a strange dance and pull Tanya’s dress. At first Tanya didn’t want to go but then Alya said, “Tanya, I think we should go and check out what the boy wants to tell us. I think it’s something related to your parents.” At this, Tanya gave a brief thought and decided to follow the boy.

Both girls followed the boy deeper into the jungle and reached the little boy’s village. There, he led them to his house. His parents spoke in some different language which the girls did not seem to understand, so they took hold of them by their hands and led them into their house and their the girls saw, two people lying down on the bed who seemed to be seriously injured.

At first, Tanya didn’t seem to recognize the people but after looking closely she understood that they were her lost parents. She was speechless, and could say nothing. She remembered how handsome her father always looked and now he looked feeble with a long grown beard. Her mother had lost the beautiful smile she always had on her sweet face. When her mother saw Tanya, she could say nothing but only a few drops of tears rolled down from the corner of her eye. That was enough to tell how she felt.

Tanya came to know that her parents were returning home from their trip to Blue mountains at night, they had to cross that forest and there, her parents had met with a car accident. Luckily, the tribal family had found them there and brought them safely to their home.

Tears swelled in Tanya’s eyes, she went and embraced her parents. Looking at the scene, Alya too became very emotional. The tribal people did a happy dance to celebrate the reunion.

Until then the family hadn’t noticed Alya. They asked Tanya, who she was. Tanya said only one thing, “She is my true friend.” Tanya seemed to have forgotten all about their bitter past. Both of them had come very close in the past few days. Alya smiled as tears ran down her cheeks. In all the commotion they had forgotten that they had to take Tanya’s parents home. As her parents were in bad condition, the girls decided that they should stay back at that hut and take care of Tanya’s parents until they get better.

In one week’s time, her parents had recovered tremendously and were fit to go. It was like a miracle. When it was time for Tanya and her parents to leave, Alya suddenly said, “I am happy that Tanya has been reunited with her parents. But now I must leave for my orphanage. So good bye Tanya.”

Both the girls looked very sad as they knew they would never be able to meet again. Seeing this, Tanya’s mother suddenly spoke, “From today onwards, we are going to have two daughters, not just one. Alya has taken care of us just like her own parents. She is a loyal and obedient friend, sister and daughter. So we would like to adopt her.”

Hearing this, Alya and Tanya ran to their mother and hugged her tightly. Then all of a sudden her father spoke, “Now that it’s time for us to leave, we should all give these tribal people a hearty thanks.” So the family joined their hands and smiled. It seemed that the tribal people understood what they were trying to say. They all understood that there is no language barrier in love and gratitude. Then they all took leave of the tribal family and started their journey towards the orphanage to adopt Alya.