Story Contest 2018 #1 - Outstanding Stories (Sub-junior) » Lost in Africa

“Lost in Africa” is one of the outstanding stories of the first biannual International Short Story Contest 2018 written by Aryan Gupta, Lotus Valley International School, Gurugram, India.

Lost in Africa

Once there lived a boy with his parents. His name was Shastra. The winter vacations were on so the family decided to go on a holiday. Shastra turned his globe around to see which country it landed on. It was Africa. They packed their luggage and boarded the aeroplane. They talked about all the adventures they would do in Africa including the safari. Like this time just flew!!!! They took a taxi and reached their hotel "African Munchers". After taking rest, they explored the hotel. They were very excited. They saw the gym, restaurant, etc. They were hungry, so they had lunch at the restaurant, "African Eaters". They ordered a lot of food and ate as if they had not eaten for a month or so. Later, their tour guide came and showed them a museum. It was full of old things, which are really nice and interesting. Then, they returned to their hotel n slept. They had nice dreams. Shhh... let’s not wake them up....

Next day the guide came at 10 o’ clock and led them to a safari ticket counter. They bought tickets and sat in the jeep. They saw all wild animals grazing. Despite many warnings, Shastra was not listening to either the guide or his parents. He leaned against the jeep door. Suddenly, the door swung open and Shastra fell on a wild elephant. This made the elephant mad and he ran off in the deep jungle and dropped him !!!

Shastra was lost. He didn’t know how to go back. He tried to find his way until he was chased by a lion. He ran and ran till he saw a big mountain. He hid behind it and thought that he had fooled the lion. Along the mountain was a stream. Shastra drank water. He even caught 2 fish and ate them. He went ahead hoping to meet some climbers. He did not find any. He saw some big rocks like tombs. He was very tired, so he laid down there. A cat came and laid next to him. He felt very warm and cozy, so he slept. When he woke up the next day, his smile turned into a frown when he saw that it was not a cat but a big lion next to him!!!!!! Shastra was terrified. The lion said that it was the same lion that had chased him. He was very surprised to see the lion talk. He let out a hand for friendship. They became close friends. The lion told a secret to Shastra that he was cursed by a witch and that’s why he became a lion. He was actually a human and that’s why he could talk. Suddenly a miracle happened, the lion turned into a fair human and he jumped with joy. The reason for finishing of the curse was true friendship. Shastra and the lion became true friend, which is the reason the curse was lifted. The man was named Trevor.

Shastra was sad and wanted to go back home. Trevor took him to a fascinating aeroplane he had built himself. They both flew off and after 8-10 hours they reached Shastra's house. Shastra met his parents, hugged them and told his endless story. He promised to always listen to them in future.