TALES FROM READERS

• A Parrot and A Crow NEW
• Speaking Garden and Speaking Well NEW
• The Mysterious Voice NEW
• Be Helpful
• When Trees stopped speaking
• Gujarati Dhokala
• Village Leader and the Fallen Berries
• Lucky Pandit Tida Joshi
• The Coconuts story
• A Dream Saved the King!
• Lazy Pigeon
• A Scary Cold Water Drop
• Intelligent Merchants
• A Clever Old Woman
• Father, Son and a Crow
• The Mystery of Twin Town
• Miracle
• Bhola Bear Gets Honey
• Fear of LIZARD
• Rinku Rabbit Teaches A Lesson
• Every Tiger Has It's Day
• Mrs. Squirrel's Beachy Holiday
• Bella, Billu And The Billi
• A Suitable Match
• Chimpu- The Jungle Detective
  The Case of The Hidden Treasure
• Daring Sia and The Theft of The Twisted Candles
• Chimpu-The Jungle Detective
  The Case of The Stolen Honey
• The Princess of the Blue lotus
• Inspiration
• A Better Place to Live
• Sid And The Pirates 1
• Sid And The Pirates 2
• Sid And The Pirates 3
• Rinku
• Tula Wants To Grow Up!
• Shining In The Dark
• The Guru
• O.D.D.
• The Girl With X-Ray Eyes
• An Eerie Experience
• Scared Speechless!
• The Haunted House
• The Lily Pad(dle) Boat
• Little Tom And His Pets
• Deepa And The King of The Ocean
• Magic Rose
• Charlie's Pet Lion
• The Three Princesses
• The Ring
• Traitors You Can't Sustain!
• Friends And Enemies
• Bruno, The Sheep Dog
• Roses And Cacti
• Hardwork Pays
• No Pain, No Gain!
• The Magical Pond
• Everything For Something
• The Eavesdropper
• The Crow That Boasted
• The Golden Bird
• Asha And Aadesh In Frogindom!
• Moon's Magic
• Baby Tree Wants Ice Cream!
• Jackal And Birds
• Roll Model
• When The Teacher Became The King
• The Blind Beggar
• A Night of fun in the Desert Village
• The Blind Woman
• The Pirate's Mistake
• Team Work Wins
• Bobby Turns Brave
• The Two Princess
• God Everywhere
• The Mongoose And The Snake
• The Missing Sweetmeat
• The Mule
• The Wishing Tree
• The Magic Potion
• King And The Three Sons
• An Old Lady And The Lamp
• The Kindhearted Villager
• Christopher's Encounter With The Aliens
• The Mysterious School
• The Coconut Tree
• Count The Blessing Not The Curses
• Wonderful X'mas Gift
• Tikku and the Rats
• The Magic Hole
• A Mysterious Memory
• The Lost Ball
• Gundu and Mithu
• Home Alone
• Holidays
• Sleepovers
• The Secret of Work
• Little Friend
• Mr. Twinkle Transforms
• April Fool
• The Call
• The Thief Caught Atlast
• The Monkey And The Dolphin
• Toko Castle
• Elephant, Croc And Toad
• Vice of Dice!
• Laughter Is The Best Medicine
• My Meet With God
• The Impossible Magic!
• Encounter with the Friday Ghost
• The Last Wish
• A Fearful Event
• A King's Costly Mistake
• The Clever Pussy Cat
• The Dangerous Silky Bed!
• The Magical Ink
• The Magic Of The Map
• The Stormy Night with my Cousins

Deepa And The King of The Ocean

Deepa had come to the Kovalam beach to live with her grandpa and grandma in their sea side shack during the summer vacation.
"Why don't you go to the beach and spend some time there. A few yards away from our shack there is a cove and it is a quiet spot where you can rest and relax. Take a book with you, if you like. Remember to come back when it is time for lunch."
Deepa knew that place and she pushed off to the cove, which was a lovely place. She stared at the vast expanse of the ocean. In the distance she could see the fishing boats like tiny specks. The sea gulls were hovering over, squawking and screaming as they skimmed the surface of the waves to catch some fish. The clear blue sky signalled that it was going to be a sunny day. The cool breeze from the ocean was invigorating.
"Oh! How big is the ocean. If I could go exploring, what marvels will I find." Deepa wondered.
On the wet sand small crabs were scampering about. When they heard Deepa's footsteps they quickly dug their way into the sand and hid. There was a tiny opening in the sand to show were they had gone into hiding. Deepa stood on top of one of the holes and said, "Hello Mr Crab. I won't hurt you. Why don't you come out and play with me."
There was no response. The rising swell and the crashing waves fascinated her. The water came upto her feet and gently receded.
"How can I find what is in the depths of the ocean." She wondered. "I will empty the ocean and find out." She said to herself, laughing loudly. She had a little red bucket and she went to the water's edge and filled it with sea water. She ran back and emptied it on a raised portion of the beach.
She kept running up and down, for quite some time, trying to empty the ocean and failed. She sat down on the beach and kept looking at the vast expanse of the ocean. An enigmatic smile hovered on her lips.
"I know that Neptune is King of the Oceans. I would like to meet him. If he is busy I would like to meet his beautiful daughter Neptunia"
"You shouldn't say such things."
Deepa was surprised to hear someone talking in a low pitched voice. First she thought she was just day dreaming. When she heard it the second time she looked around to find the person. From the tiny hole in front of her, she saw the little crab emerging. Only its eyes were visible above the hole.
"Did you talk to me?" asked Deepa.
The little crab emerged from the hole. It waved its small claws as if saying 'yes, please'.
"The Lord of the Oceans knows everything that is going on. He has heard what you said. If you listen carefully you can hear his voice and even the laughter of his pretty daughters."
Deepa strained her ears to hear something. She could only hear the sound of crashing waves on the coral. In the distance the foam tipped waves rose up to a great height. It looked like a prancing horse.
"It is a horse, Deepa. It is Neptune's son the mighty Pegasus." the wise little crab said.
Deepa was astonished. " Hey! How did you know my name?"
The tiny fellow only rolled his eyes.
The waves racing towards the shore gained height. It curved a bit and then smashed onto the rocks.
A giant turtle was washed ashore. It slowly dragged its way up the cove to where Puja was standing.
Its beady eyes looked at Puja and in a tired voice he said," Goodness gracious, the sea is quite rough today. Thank God I don't have any big bones on my body or else all of them would have been broken. Pretty Neptunia, favourite daughter of King Neptune, has invited you to her palace. Please climb on my back and I will take you there."
"May I also come, please?" the tiny crab pleaded.
"Of course not. Nobody invited you." the sea turtle replied rudely.
Deepa pleaded with the turtle to permit the tiny crab to join her in their trip to Neptune's palace.
"I will carry him in my pocket. He won't cause any trouble."
Reluctantly the turtle agreed. Deepa climbed on the leathery back of the giant turtle and it waddled along the wet sand and soon started swimming in the sea. Once it was in water it was surprisingly agile and swam quite fast.
"Hold on! Now I am going to swim under the sea. Here we go."
"But I can't breathe under water." screamed Deepa. But the turtle just didn't bother to listen.
To her intense surprise she didn't choke or suffocate. She appeared to be inside a magic air bubble and was quite safe. She held on to the leathery back of the turtle. Soon she could see in the distance the outline of a palace. The picture was a bit blurred. The turtle swam fast and went inside the palace. A school of dolphins swam by her side emitting shrill whistling noises.
Soon they reached the inner chambers of the palace. A dull blue light was shining. Heaps of pearls and gems were lying around. Fluorescent fish were standing guard. The light must have come from them.
"Don't touch them, girl. They may give you a nasty shock."
Deepa thought that these fish must be similar to the electric eel.
Deepa walked into the royal chambers.
She saw a shadowy figure. It appeared to be a powerfully built man and he had a trident in his hand. A girl with golden hair and the body of a mermaid was by his side.
"Did you wish to see me?"
Deepa was frightened. She stepped backwards and opened her mouth to say something. No words came out from her mouth.
She was frightened of King Neptune who had a fierce expression on his face, just like her grandpa's. He had long flowing hair. He had powerful muscles and looked like a professional wrestler. Neptunia had blond her and wide open eyes. She had rosy cheeks and an innocent smile. Deepa was enchanted by her.
"Oh! Father thank you for permitting Deepa to visit me. I have never met a human girl before."
Neptune just grunted. The chamber maids were beautiful sea horses and angel fishes. The clown fishes were peeping at her from the coral formations. The tiny crab which was in Deepa's pocket looked around, thoroughly astonished. Neptunia took Deepa around her palace and showed her the various chambers. Some were piled high with pearls, perfectly round and glittering. There were precious stones and even gold nuggets and ornaments.
"How did these get here?"
"Oh! They are from the sunken ships. We collect it and keep it here. My father says they are just junk and wants to throw them out. Would you like to have some.?"
Deepa was not a greedy girl. She just accepted a pearl necklace as a present from Neptunia.
Before she went back to the sandy cove, Deepa asked Neptunia," May I call you Ninia for short? OK. I just wanted to know why your father is so grumpy."
Ninia thought for a moment and said," There is a good reason Deepa. That is why he wanted you to come here. The ocean is becoming more and more dirty, thanks to you humans. You dump too much of filth into the ocean. Last week a ship carrying oil sprung a leak. Oil spill can kill thousands of sea creatures."
"Your Dad is powerful. Can't he do something."
"Oh! Yes. But then it will be too much for your people to bear. If he stamps his foot, great earth quakes and tsunamis will take place. If he shakes his trident the waves of the ocean will stand still. If he hurls it, lightning and thunder will destroy the earth. His patience is wearing thin. Could you pass on this message to your people ?"
"Of course I will Ninia. Now may I go?"
She bid good bye to old king Neptune. She imagined she saw a flicker of a smile on his face. The old sea turtle took Deepa and Tiny back to the cove. She said good bye to Tiny Crab and ran all the way to the shack. In her hurry she tripped and fell on the wet sand. The necklace, fell off from her neck. Deepa didn't realise it and kept running. She was eager to tell all about her adventure to her dear grandmother.

Sukumaran.K.P.