Friends For A Reason

The four friends had a hearty laugh. They were playing on the paddy fields, outskirts their village. Rohan collected mud, made it in the shape of a ball and threw at Arjun’s back who was busy throwing the mud balls towards Tom! Arjun fell flat on the ground, his shirt got dirty and mud covered his face! Seizing this golden chance, Karthik tip-toed towards Rohan, who was busy laughing at Arjun. He was just about to throw the mud ball towards Rohan, but it was the sharp eyes of Tom who gave the signal to Rohan! He ducked the mud ball, threw by Karthik, missed him by inches and it went straight only to hit the face of Arjun again! Poor fellow, he just turned his head towards Rohan just in time to get hit by Karthik’s mud ball again!

The three friends looked at each other. Tom raised his eyebrows, signaling to Rohan and Karthik to throw mud balls at Arjun! And then, my God! A flock of mud balls came dashing towards Arjun from all the three directions! Poor fellow, he couldn’t even get a chance to breathe and he sat on his knees, his hands and head on the ground, signaling to his friends that he surrendered!

Karthik waved his hand towards Rohan and Tom to stop throwing at Arjun. They went towards him still laughing, when suddenly, like flash; he got up with a pile of mud in his hands and dashed towards Rohan! Rohan, taken by surprise, had no time no reflect and Arjun jumped over him and made him lie flat on the ground and covered his face with mud! Seeing this, Karthik and Tom fell on the field laughing. Arjun got up, felt like Bahubali and walked towards Karthik and Tom!

“You guys can’t escape also.”

“Hey man, sorry, just having fun,” said Karthik.

“So am I” laughed Arjun. He gave his hand to Rohan who stood up. The four friends hugged each other and laughed!

“This is the best fun we had till date,” concluded Rohan.

“Yeah we all agree”, said others.

“Guys look at our hands, it is fully covered with mud, I think we must capture this moment of your life,” spoke Tom.

Saying this, Arjun went to take his phone which he kept on the corner of the field. They all placed their hands together and captured the beautiful moment on the phone!

“Boys let’s go to the river and wash. I think we are too dirty,” suggested Arjun.

“Let’s have a race towards the river, the guy who reaches last has to give their marbles for a week,” Rohan spoke. He already began to sprint towards the river.

All the four friends ran across the paddy fields towards the river, which was like around 400 meters from the fields. They all reached the bank of the river at the same time! they couldn't decide the loser when Karthik shouted,

“Run towards the bridge and from the center, we will jump, the guy who jumps last has to give their marbles.” He said so and he began to lead the race.

Finally, they reached the bridge across the river. On reaching half, Rohan dived first with full speed followed by other three! It was difficult to say who jumped last. They started arguing. Finally, Tom suggested that one who swims and reaches the bank last should give their marbles.

They all started swimming towards the bank! Tom pushed Rohan, who kicked Arjun on his leg, who lost his balance and clashed with Karthik! There was some foul play but again it was difficult to say who reached the bank last because all started shouting together that they reached first and again started their argument! Finally, Arjun suggested that whose hands were the least dirty when they played in the mud should give their marbles!

Arjun took out his phone from his bag, which he threw on the bank while running and scanned the photo of their hands! God! It was again difficult to differentiate!

Finally, Arjun concluded, “Friends, all our ideas failed. I think we must be happy with the fun we had. Let’s have a vote. Out of the fun we had today, that is, mud, racing towards river and swimming, the guy who writes different among all the others, loses and he has to give their marbles.”

They all agreed. Arjun took out a paper from his bag. With the help of rocks, they wrote on which activity they had fun along with the name!

Finally, when it was the time of results, everyone voted for the ‘Fun in Mud’ option including Arjun! Now, also everyone wrote the same! So, no one wrote differently and again it was a tie!

They all laughed at each other.

“Oh God, what fun we are having today! Why can’t we decide the loser?” asked Rohan.

None of them had an answer and they all suggested that the ‘Fun in Mud’ was the best memorable fun and they would do it tomorrow also.

When they reached their village, they could hear some elders speak.

“Those Paddy fields got destroyed, again they have to work under the sun and make themselves dirty with the mud."

“Yes, those people spent hours making it perfectly fit for growth but again they have to do it. Again, they have to work on the mud.”

The four friends looked at the paddy fields; they could see the farmers back to work again! They felt sorry for the farmers.

“Friends, I think because of our mischief, those farmers have to work in the mud again,” said Karthik.

And they silently began to release the mistake they have made!

Tom spoke, “We played on the mud for fun, but these farmers are working hard on the mud!”

“What is the point of having this type of fun which can prove costly to others? How can we understand the plight of the farmers?”

“I think we must go and help them and try to correct our mistake,” suggested Rohan.

So, they agreed with Rohan and began to walk towards the paddy field.

“Today we all lost. We just made the lives of those farmers very hard and they must be struggling because of us.”

“I think we must throw our marbles for one week, as our punishment,” said Tom.

They all agreed. They went to the paddy field and began to work.

After about an hour work, the paddy field was ready as before! Their hands got dirty, but they were happy because they worked hard to earn something and finally, they all agreed that working in the fields and making their hands dirty with mud was much more fun than playing in the mud for fun! Arjun again took out his phone and took pictures of their hands together covered with mud!

"This is the best picture of the day!", everyone shouted.

Finally, Rohan suggested, “Guys, don’t you think we must lift our punishment.”

Everyone looked at each other and clearly, it suggested the same on everyone’s face for the same.

“Then how can we decide the loser?” asked Karthik.

‘See friends, our hands are again dirty.” Arjun paused and continued, “Let’s have a race towards the river, the guy who comes last should give his marbles….”

Without completing the sentence, he started to sprint towards the river followed by his other friends!