Meena Mangalathil:

Robert was led to a very big spacious masculine room facing  a big lake, in the middle of an orchard where the swans were gliding peacefully on it and birds of several plumes were flitting in and around the orchard. Seeing the riot of colours from his room was a sight to behold. "This is a really great place to live for a family." He shook his head with a smile and turned to find Stuart still waiting there. Robert surprisingly smiled, "Oh Stuart, this place is really great, I thought you had left. What's the matter?? Its nothing sir, Noah had asked me to check your bump on the head before you freshen up. Can I just take a look? I am a medicine man like my forefathers. Robert smiled and sat on a comfortable leather bound stool near the window. Stuart removed the plaster on Robert's forehead and looked at it closely, the gash was dry. "Lucky you got a wound instead of only a bump. It would heal fine. Naomi did a great job. She is one wise lady you h

Oh My God!!!! What the .....!!!!! Grandma!!!!! Eline started cooing and babbling. The boat started rising from the water by the water and was placed near the front door without spilling a single drop of water. Phew!!!! That was cool wasn't it grandma? Yes Indeed Ram, Surprisingly Cool!!!! Robert got off the boat and helped Naomi out of it, Ram jumped off the boat with Tiger. And wonder of wonders Noah was waiting for them with his long robe and a big smile to welcome them. "Ooh Sir!!! where's your boat?" It disappeared upon my will Ram. You know my name!!!!! I know all your names including Eline's too. So now come inside, you have had a very adventurous day, you all might be exhausted. Naomi, can I extend a maid to help care for Eline? "Oh!!! that would be wonderful." Grandma, is it okay, if I go with Eline? She might get frightened because she does not know anybody here. Sure dear, you can. A middle aged, pleasant face

The sight spread out in front of them was awe inspiring. They never would have imagined it even in a million years!!!!! A palace of Gold!!!!! Really!!!! I cannot believe that this palace actually existed in our backyard. Why is it that nobody claimed it? Because they were not supposed to !!!! They all turned to see a man of formidable height but angelic face following them in a swan boat. Super Cool!!!! Ram whispered with awe. Welcome!!!! we have been waiting for you four, your chambers have been prepared. Who are you? I am Noah. I am the caretaker of this palace. The message that you will be arriving was received one week back. How come!!! Naomi asked wide eyed, we didn't even know this palace existed until a few moments ago. So how is it possible, that you know of our arrival, sir? Noah took a scroll from his robe and extended it to Robert, he opened it and gaped at the message,  a live picture of all four of them, just like how they are to the minutest detai

The boat glided through the small river under the canopy of the forest for sometime and they came to a clearing where the sun shone bright and the view they had in front was breath taking with one side the fort and the other side a breathtaking view of misty covered mountain and valley. WoW!!!!! what a sight grandma. I have never seen like this before. Where are we grandpa? Heaven?? Really!!!!! ??? Is it really heaven grandpa?? Look grandpa, there is an opening in the fort, our boat is going through that way, Oh my God, will we be safe grandma? Yes Ram, we will all be safe, don't worry. Robert manoeuvred  through the opening of the fort, which was luckily very small and exactly the perfect fit for the boat. When the boat was squeezed through the crevice, the sight they behold was above all expectation. .....to be continued....... Meena

The boat slowed down,  Robert asked, "Naomi, what do you think, should we row forward or should we get off here? Its your boat, if we get off now, we will have no option but to abandon it here. We will try to hide it inside these bushes." Robert you are indeed a God sent angel, isn't he Ram? How would we have managed without Robert?  Ram nodded and smiled at them both. "So Robert,  as I told, you are an angel, likewise, this boat too is a gift from heaven. I hadn't even known of its existence until this morning. So I cannot say, this is my boat. If the boat goes from me, then the person who gets it needed it more than me, and I should let it go too, don't you think? Both Ram and Robert stared at Naomi, but Naomi continued,  We have a big problem now, how do we get back to our places? To be frank, I have several unanswered questions, I don't know whether you could be of help Robert, but do you know the reason for this flash flood?" Robert shook

But Grandma Naomi, I am just a kid, how will I share and what do I share? Hmm... That's easy Ram, You have dad, mom and baby sister at home and you are really helping your mom by looking after your baby sister, so you are sharing, here you looked after baby Eline, you are sharing your presence, your kindness, your soothing voice to help baby Eline be happy. Whatever you had you gave. That is how the tree works too. Robert nodded and patted Ram's back. Naomi continued, "You can help keep your room clean by not throwing around your things, doing your homework, helping your mom to take dishes from the table or wash your plates, such small small things. The trees they give small small things, but we will not know until we lose them, now we are really finding a lot of difference when we stepped into this forest, right? Yes grandma, I really love this place. That is how we should be to others, be present for everyone by our actions. Yes Grandma Naomi, I will try to

Really!!!!! Both Robert and Ram blurted together in surprise waking Eline in the process and Tiger started barking. It was total chaos in the boat. Immediately Ram started patting Eline and Naomi slowly soothed her with her soft words and started rocking her back to sleep. Robert mouthed sorry to Naomi and she shrugged and mouthing "its okay". After sometime, the calm settled in and Ram whispered, Grandma, how are we trees? Dear Ram, don't take it in the physical sense, you are a boy, Grandpa Robert is a boy, I am a girl, Eline is a girl and tiger is a dog, we are not trees. Have you plucked a plant from the soil? Several of them Grandma, several of them. The place where I play have grass and weeds growing, so my mom would say, if you want to get rid off it I should pluck it off on my own. So she showed me how to do it and I learned real quick. Good!!!! have you looked at it? Of course, I have looked at it because, when I pluck a plant, I need to take with th

Grandma Naomi, Look!!!! so many trees and we have no flood here. Yes Ram, trees do help us a lot in helping save our nature. Really!!!! how so? Look at the trees Ram. What do you see there? I see leaves, fruits, flowers, branches and roots Grandma Naomi "Even I too see the same dear, now I want you to learn something." All nodded. "Trees take water and minerals from the soil and the leaves with the help of sunlight makes food to keep it alive and while its living it bears flowers and fruits. These flowers and fruits are not used by the trees, it is for us." Yes grandma, I do have a mango tree and I get loads of mangoes from it and its very tasty too. But  Grandma Naomi I don't use any leaves for anything?" "Hmmm... what do you think Grandpa Robert, do you think the leaves of trees are useful?" "Oh you know Ram, when its very hot I sit under the tree, I even have a hammock under the shade of the trees. I love to be there, do

And thus, the journey started with Robert, Naomi, Ram, Eline and Tiger on the boat. Since the river narrowed, the boat didn't have to go far to reach land. But Naomi had no idea where they were but she didn't voiced it loud instead she asked, "Robert, do you mind me looking at your gash on your forehead?" Robert shook his head and winced. I think, I really got a good thrashing. Naomi slowly stretched herself and took the first aid box and took the necessary things and a bottle of water and extended to Robert and said, "Here, drink this." Robert gulped some water and waited for Naomi to do her ministration, which didn't take long. Then they opened the food box and had whatever was there. "Robert, what happened, that you got a gash on your head? How did you end up on that log?" "Actually I was saving my neighbour's cow, as I let it go, the roof fell and I caught the end part of a wood on my head, but I was lucky, that I got th

"Ram, how come you are so good at looking after kids?" " I babysit my sister when mom is busy in the kitchen or when she goes to bathe. She is the same age as Eline. I know a trick or two to keep babies smiling grandma." Grandma smiled and replied, "Yes indeed you surely know how to keep them smiling." "Grandma, Look!!! there is a log floating with a man on top of it, will it crash on us?" "Well son, sit tight, I am going to slow down this boat with the oar, but I wonder, why the man is lying and not sitting?" "Is he hurt grandma?" "I hope not." Naomi, took the oar and with all her strength started to paddle in the opposite side of the current to slow down the boat. Though it slowed down a bit, the log and the boat were passing together side by side and Naomi saw the man was older than her lying eyes closed with a big gash on his forehead and wet completely. Naomi shouted, "Hello!!! Hello!!!! Sir!!!&q

Naomi immediately removed the container from the rope, wiped it and asked Ram to replace its contents which was done immediately and she took a bar of chocolate and some biscuits for Ram and the dog, and the baby food for Eline which was already prepared and in her bottle. Ram sat on the floor of the boat with the dog and munched on his chocolate bar and Eline had her food without any fuss. Naomi had no idea, where this is all going to end. But she had one confidence, there was some super power who was guiding her. Her thoughts wandered,  How is it a boat comes to her doorstep even before she thought about it? How the heck was she able to help Ram and his dog? There was no sane explanation. She felt like giving a big hug to the guiding power. Naomi took a sip of water from the bottle and passed it to Ram. The boat was moving along with the current. The boat felt happy, that the boat maker did indeed a great job, no matter how the water rushed towards it from any direction, it

Ram started patting Eline, Naomi was real surprised at the maturity of Ram. He indeed was a special boy, but how in the world am I going to save this dog??? God Help!!!! Eline stopped crying and was looking fascinately at the dog who was swimming real fast. The dog was following the boat, swimming along the flow. "Grandma Look!!!! Tiger knows to swim, he is really strong." "He won't be able to do that for long, so we will have to help him back to the boat." Ram nodded understanding the grave situation Tiger was in. "Ram I cannot really bend, so can you slowly crouch down and empty the white container we have there? Its the food container." "Yes Grandma, I will do that." Ram slowly crouched and emptied the white container and gave it to grandma. "Son, can you bring to me the end of the boat's rope which is lying on the boat floor?" "Yes grandma." He slowly went on all fours and took the end of the rope a

The boat didn't need much steering, as it was going with the flow of the water. Seeing Naomi with the boat, the child stopped crying with great expectation, he came forward with his puppy. Naomi, slowly started steering the boat with her oar towards the boy, so that they could stop at the dry patch of land where the boy stood. All the people waited with baited breath to see the outcome. The boat crunched itself on the piece of land and Naomi helped the boy and the puppy into the boat, but within a matter of minutes, water took over the strip of land, pushing the boat towards the boy's family. Naomi was relieved as, she knew it would have been difficult to push the boat from the land. Naomi's fear ebbed, as she knew, this adventure is coming to a close, at least, she was able to save two kids. But suddenly, a gush of water with a lot of debris pushed the boat away from its course into a total different direction. The people shouted, giving all types of suggestions!!!!

Naomi immediately went to the kitchen for the required food and utensils for Eline and put into a large plastic air tight container, a very big bottle of water and deposited these items in the boat. Then she went to collect Eline's clothing where the wardrobe too was in the water. Naomi felt, there is no point in feeling sad about the situation she and Eline was in, everything would be wet and muddied too, the only silver lining was no fishes, snakes and crabs crossed her path. She took a deep breath, expecting the worst and opened the wardrobe and to her surprise all Eline's dresses were hung on hangers and nothing on the lower part of the wardrobe. She took a warm romper, waterproof pants and vests, some onesies, napkins, diapers and an emergency medical kit. Apart from the warm romper, a diaper and the waterproof dresses, she packed the rest in a plastic bag and put it in a small backpack and placed it in the boat. Naomi prepared Eline's food, collected her dres