The following is a story written by my 8 year old daughter Aanya

Once upon a time, there was a king who ruled over a large kingdom. There was a big forest on the outskirts of the kingdom. It was a very dense forest and everyone was afraid to go into it. Even the king was afraid to go in because he believed there were man eating wild animals in the forest.

The Queen used to make fun of the King saying he was such a powerful king yet was afraid to go in the forest. One day she said to the King, “Why don’t you go? At least check what is there.”

So the king finally decided to go. He took 20 of his courtiers with him and entered the forest. He saw a lot of deers eating grass and running around. For a moment he thought the forest is not scary after all because he did not see any wild animals.

Soon it became dark. The King and his courtiers reach a big banyan tree. They had never seen such a huge banyan tree earlier. But because they were tired and night was approaching, they decided to return back and come again the next day to explore the rest of the forest.

That night, the king saw a dream during his sleep. A beautiful fairy appeared in his dream and said – I am a real fairy and I can fulfill any wish you have. But remember, you went to the forest near the banyan tree. It is a dangerous tree. Do not go near it. If you do not listen to me then you will be in a big problem.

The king became worried about the warning from the fairy. Next morning, his courtiers asked him why he looked worried and was in a bad mood. The king told them about his dream. He said the fairy asked him not to go near the banyan tree.

On hearing this, the courtiers convinced him that it was just a dream and that they are not real and they should not change their plan of exploring the forest. The King agreed reluctantly. They all went in the forest and reached the banyan tree. This time the king went with one courtier near the tree and absentmindedly plucked one leaf from the tree.

As soon as he did that, the king turned into a leaf and got stuck in the banyan tree. The courtier seeing this got scared and ran away to call the others. Just then the fairy appeared. She said to the king – See I told you to not come near the Banyan tree. You did not listen to me.

The king said he was very sorry and pleaded with the fairy to help him. The fairy then converted him back to the king. Everyone was happy and thanked the fairy.

Moral – Listen to everyone and help everybody