Outstanding Story (Sub-junior) - The Rigid Knot

“The Rigid Knot” is one of the outstanding stories (sub-junior) of the first biannual International Short Story Contest 2019 written by Apoorva Vishwanath, DPS Nacharam, Secunderabad, India.

The Rigid Knot

“Oh no, my cycle’s tyre is punctured”, cried Alena. “Then run and deliver fast, Alena”, replied her grandma. “What? My slippers are in for stitching and I can’t go bare feet, please” yelled Alena frowning. “Use Bella’s slippers” answered grandma. Bella was Alena’s elder sister. “They are too big for me”, replied Alena. Now, grandma was angry. Bella came and asked “Grandma, can I go and deliver?” As grandma nodded, in a blink of an eye, the delivery box was vanished from Alena’s hand. Actually, their grandparents owned a shop. It was hard for them to deliver goods to customers. So, whenever Alena and Bella visit here on vacations, they used to help their grandparents. Alena wasn’t angry because grandma let Bella go, but she was angry on Bella, who on knowing that today it was Alena’s chance to deliver, made grandma to agree upon her.

Alena went to grandpa, who was reading a book and complained, “Grandpa, Bella after knowing that it was my chance to deliver, asked grandma and went to deliver”. “Alena, whatever happens, happens for good” replied grandpa. “I came back”, said Bella. Just a moment later, a lady came to the shop and told “A girl came to my house and gave me this delivery box, can you call her?” It was the same lady to whom Bella gave the box. “Bella” called out grandma. When Bella came, the lady shouted, “I had ordered two biscuits boxes, three chocolates and five pastries, but I got one biscuit box, one chocolate and one pastry.” Bella was horror stuck. “Oh, I think I dropped it while I was running through the garden” replied Bella, who later apologised. Alena turned to grandpa and told, “You were right.”

The same evening, Alena went out to play. She had few friends near grandma’s house too. Sabrina, Percy, George and Harry were her friends with whom she played during the vacation. There Alena told, “I have a wonderful game but we need six members to play and we are only five.” “May I play?” asked Bella. “Of course, Bella, you may come”, exclaimed everyone except Alena. Alena was actually very angry, but in front of her friends she could not express it. They played happily till sunset. Alena enjoyed the game with her elder sister but still wanted to complain about Bella’s company to grandpa.

When she complained, grandpa silently replied “I saw you were happy while playing with your sister, but why do you still complain? You enjoyed playing with Bella, but still remembering the past incident made you feel uncomfortable. Bella has forgotten that, which is why she is happy. Remember child, you both know each other better than anyone else. Being jealous for a long period of time is nothing more than a hindrance to the relationship.” Alena then learnt a big lesson and lived happily by adjusting with her sister.