Story Contest 2016 #1 - Outstanding Stories » Maria And The Bean Tree

"Maria And The Bean Tree” is one of the outstanding stories of the first biannual Short Story Contest 2016 written by Shivangi Lulkaran Pardhi, India.

Maria And The Bean Tree

Maria was a lazy girl who was very fond of beans. I will tell you a story about her.

One day Maria woke up very late. She went straight to the refrigerator to get some beans. But there were no beans left in the refrigerator.

Luckily for Maria, in her garden there was a special tree which gave something special for her. It grew beans. So, she went to her garden to get some beans, but she found that there were no tree and hence no beans. In the place of the tree was a big hole.

Maria was very annoyed. She asked herself, “where is my tree?”

She wore her coat, hat and boots. She went up the street to find her missing tree. She decided to talk to her friends about the missing tree. First she met Monika.

“Hello Monika.”

Monika said, ‘’Hi Maria. You are looking so sad. What happened?”

Maria replied, “My beans tree is missing. Have you seen it anywhere?”

Monika said, “No, but did you water the bean tree properly on time every day?”

“I have no time for such things,” Maria replied haughtily. Then she walked away as though she had no care in the whole wide world.

Then she met Roger. He asked, “Hello Maria, how are you? What happened? You are looking not so happy.”

“My beans tree is missing,” said Maria. “Have you seen it anywhere?”

“I have not seen it anywhere, but have you been weeding the place around the tree regularly?” Roger asked.

“I have no time for such things,” Maria replied haughtily. Then she walked away as though she had no care in the whole wide world.

Then Maria met Terrance. He asked, “Maria, why are you looking so sad?”

“My beans tree is missing. Have you seen it anywhere?” Maria asked sadly.

“I have not seen it,” Terrance said. “But have you been talking to it nicely? Have you been giving it tree food on time?”

“I have no time for such things,” Maria replied haughtily. Then she walked away as though she had no care in the whole wide world.

Then she met Rita. Rita asked, “Hi Maria, I heard that your beans tree is missing.”

Maria said, “Yes, Rita. Do you know where my missing beans tree is? If you know, please tell me. I have searched for it everywhere, but still cannot find it.”

Rita replied, “I can tell you where your tree is, but I have to let you know that your tree was crying. Why did your tree cry?”

Maria shrugged her shoulders, and said, “I don’t care. Trees have no feelings. You just tell me where the tree is.”

Rita pointed to an old park bench a little far. Maria went to the tree and said, “Hello tree, I have searched for you everywhere. Finally you are here. Let us go home.”

The tree said, “OK Maria, finally you found me. But I am not coming with you. You never give me food, never water me, never talk to me. You are selfish, thoughtless and heartless. Now you can go home by yourself. Leave me alone now. I am not coming.”

Maria had to go home by herself, and she never had the beans tree again.