A Brave Kid

“A Brave Kid” is one of the outstanding stories of the first biannual International Short Story Contest 2018 written by Khadeeja Lana, The Horizon School, India.

A Brave Kid

Once upon a time there lived a girl called Rachel. She was very naughty and never obeyed her parents. One day she went to a mall with her parents. The mall was so big and crowded. They went to a shop named ‘Lavender’. It was very crowded over there. Rachel went out of the shop without telling her parents. She saw a tall man with a long beard. He smiled at her and gave her an ice cream. When Rachel was eating the ice cream, the man suddenly kidnapped her. He took her to an old house where nobody lived. Rachel was very scared. The man with the long beard took her to a dark room and locked her up there. She was left all alone. After some time another man came and gave her some food. Soon Rachel found out that it was not only her that the man had kidnapped. There were lots of other kids too in that house. One day the man with the long beard came and gave Rachel an injection. The injection was so powerful that whoever gets it will forget who they are and can remember only the past things. Rachel forgot everything about herself. But she had a faint memory of her mom and dad. Soon afterwards the man with the long beard came and said to Rachel, “Now you should beg on the roads.” He cut Rachel’s long hair and made her look like a boy.

Many days passed by. One day, when Rachel was begging on the roads, she got hit by a car. She was immediately taken to the hospital. The car that hit Rachel was actually driven by Rachel’s parents. They at last found their lost daughter. Slowly Rachel understood that they were her parents. The man with the long beard didn’t like all these. He decided to kill Rachel. One night, he came to Rachel’s house looking for her. But he was caught by the securities at her house. The police came and arrested him. Slowly Rachel started to settle back to her life. Her hair grew long and long and she became as beautiful as a peacock. Rachel wanted to free all the kids who were trapped in the old house. She informed the police and soon all the children were freed. Rachel was very brave now. She studied hard and became very successful in her life. She fought for the rights of children and ensured that every child got good education. She became popular all over the world. While the man with the long beard spent the rest of his life in jail repenting for what he had done, Rachel married a handsome and lived happily ever after.