Story Contest 2017 #1 - Outstanding Stories » The Secret Garden

“The Secret Garden” is one of the outstanding stories of the first biannual Short Story Contest 2017 written by Gazala Habibi, Dubai.

The Secret Garden

Once there was a little girl named Tanya who lived with her family in the city of Goa. She had a big house with many rooms and a beautiful garden. The house was lovely but the place she liked the most was her garden. It had trees of all kinds both big and small. Every moment she looked outside the window, she looked only at the garden. She was also very adventurous.

She used to search for small tiny things in her garden with her magnifying glass. She always thought that there was something mysterious and the garden had some secret. One day Tanya told her father, “Papa, can you build a treehouse for me in the garden where I can play all day long and call my friends and meet them?”

Her father made her a treehouse from which she could enjoy the views of the seaside and the ships sailing in the sea.

She had a group of five friends named the Secret 5, as they were on a secret mission to hunt for the mystery in the garden. One day on their search, they finally found a secret hole which led to a tunnel inside. The tunnel was dark and long which made Tanya and her friends scared. On her way, she found many of her lost things like toys, teddies and her other favorite things scattered on the path. She was very surprised and thought what kind of tunnel it was. Suddenly she heard a voice of someone crying “woooe, wooe”. It was a small elf sitting somewhere in the tunnel.

Tanya asked the elf what the matter was. The elf said that her parents had been caught by a witch that lived in a castle at the end of the tunnel. Tanya and her friends decided to help the elf out. Tanya called the elf near her and told a plan in her ear. They decided to go to the witch and fool her by saying that they have goodies for her. They started their way to the castle and the elf led them to the place where the witch resided.

When they reached there, they saw the witch inside and also the elf’s parents tied with a rope. The children called the witch and gave her the goodies bag they had brought. When the witch was looking at the goodies, the children pushed her and she went high in the air. She was never seen again.

The children yelled, “Hurray, Hurray! Our plan worked.”

They untied the ropes and rescued the elf’s parents. The elf thanked them and the kids were happy that their mission was successful.

Just then Tanya heard a voice saying “Wake up Tanya, Wake up!” She woke up and asked how she was in her room. Her father laughed and asked whether she had the same dream again. “Yes papa, I did,” said Tanya. “Oh, I wish it was real,” she said.