A tri-series of stories written by our Student Shreyash Bajaj.

Shreyash is a 10-year-old young writer from Singapore. Reading and Writing are his strengths. We are proud to have him as a student of the Little Writers Program, an Online Creative Writing Program using Applied Storytelling & Theatre tools under the mentorship of Trainer Khusshbo Chokhaani. We congratulate Shreyash for this exemplary true self-expression.

Tri Series-Tenali The Fox By Shreyash Bajaj

1. Tenali the Fox- At the Construction Site

In the dense forest of Chatmaka, there lived all kinds of animals and birds. Everybody listened and cooperated. There was peace and happiness all around with no problems. They had a good ruler and a cohesive society. But all thanks to one animal- Tenali the fox.

The bright young fox was dark orange from his pure black muzzle to his bushy tail. He had two pointy ears that would remind anyone of an elf. Though most fascinating of all was his amber brown eyes which seemed to radiate his pure intelligence and kindness. He was one of the brightest creatures in the forest and the king’s most trusted advisor. Everybody trusted and liked him since he had saved the forest from many mishaps before.

It was yet another day in the forest of Chatmaka and Tenali was out for his daily early morning walk. In a few minutes, he would have to rush to the court. Suddenly, Tenali caught a whiff of smoke! It made him cough and wheeze badly. He wondered where the smoke could have come from. He looked up and saw a trail of smoke in the sky. Without a moment of hesitation, Tenali followed it.

The trail led him to pass a river. Tenali had been there a few times before and he knew that the water was clean and fresh. Yet he saw a few dead fish beside the river! They were even some dead birds there! Now Tenali was determined to find the cause of the smoke. He followed the trail for another half an hour or so. The trail led him to the outskirts of the forest.

Tenali was surprised to find that some people were making a building there! There was so much smoke that Tenali could not breathe and people were polluting the water. Tenali knew that this could not continue otherwise all of the animals and birds in the forest of Chatmaka would die! He gathered up his courage and stepped into the construction site where he headed to the person who looked like the leader.

“I am Tenali the fox from the forest of Chatmaka and I speak for all of the creatures living there when I say that this construction is causing inconvenience to everyone. I request you to find somewhere else to build your building!’’ he shouted over the noise. The leader barely looked at him as he snorted and said, “Why should I? What can you do to me? Go back to your petty little forest.”

Fuming, Tenali went back to the forest where he could see what had taken the toll of the construction. It broke his heart to see the beautiful forest getting destroyed because of those humans. So, he devised a plan to scare the humans away!  He gathered his friends Babloo the bear, Bumbloo the owl, Bali the elephant, Mufasa the wolf, and Kalia the woodpecker and told them his plan.

That night, the group of friends headed to the construction site. Thanks to Tenali’s photographic memory, they had no problem getting there. As Tenali had predicted, the workers were just packing up. Tenali nodded to his friends and the plan went into action. Babloo spread a white sheet over Bumbloo and he took off into the sky making ghost noises! Sure enough, all of the workers saw it! Then the next phase of the plan is activated.

Both Babloo and Mufasa emerged only enough so that they could only be vaguely seen. They made howling noises and the workers started trembling like leaves. Their plan was working! The workers were thinking the place was haunted! Next, Kalia started pecking at a tree while Bali shook the building as hard as he could without being seen. Now the workers were truly convinced that the building was haunted!

Abandoning all other things, they ran for their lives! Tenali’s plan had worked! Now the workers would not come back again! Tenali congratulated his friends and together they headed back to their homes, chatting merrily.

Sure enough, the workers did not come back the next day! The construction site had been abandoned and peace was restored. Once again, Tenali and his friends had saved the day!

2. Tenali The Fox and The Hunter

There once was a fox called Tenali. He lived in the dense forest of Chatmaka. It was a peaceful place with everybody living in peace and happiness. There was a good king with a cohesive society. Nobody had any problems. All thanks to one animal- Tenali himself!

The bright young fox had dark orange fur and a bushy white tail. He had a pure black muzzle and two pointy years. Most fascinating of all were his amber brown eyes which seemed to radiate his pure intelligence and kindness. He was one of the smartest creatures in the forest stand was the king’s most trusted advisor. Everybody looked up to him for help as he had saved the forest from many mishaps before.

“Splash!” Tenali dived into the river with a splash. He was taking his daily bathing at the nearby pond. He climbed out and shook himself free of water. He headed home and took a round of his house. Suddenly, he heard a voice.

“Tenali! Tenali! Help! There’s a hunter! He’s harming animals! Help!’’ said the familiar voice of Kalia the woodpecker. “What?’’

“A hunter! He’s killing some animals!” Tenali was taken aback. He had never heard of a hunter in the forest before. He decided to check it out for himself. “Where is he?” Tenali asked. Kalia gave Tenali the directions. He hurriedly but cautiously made his way toward the directions Kalia had given him.

Sure enough, there was a hut there. There was a fire roasting outside. It broke his heart to see the dead animals. He vowed to save the forest from the hunter. Just then, the door burst open and the hunter came out, holding a gun! He had a green army jacket and black boots. He aimed at Tenali and shot a bullet! Luckily, Tenali was very agile and easily dodged the bullet. He ran out of the hunter’s reach and back to his own house, huffing and puffing.

He had just realized what a big threat the hunter was. He tried to think of a plan in which he could make the hunter leave the animals of the forest of Chatmaka in peace. For a few more days the hunter continued to cause trouble in the forest and everything was chaos! Animals were hiding in their homes and not coming out and yet they were dying! Tenali finally came up with a plan to save the forest from the hunter. He told his friends what was going to happen and they all agreed.

The next day, Babloo the bear came in front of the hunter’s hut and roared. The hunter came out, not scared, with his gun and aimed it at Babloo. Just then, Gopal, the eagle swooped down from the sky and scratched the hunter’s hand with his talons causing him to drop the gun. Next, Gopal picked up the guns with his claws and flew away! The hunter scowled and brandished his hunting knife, running towards Babloo.

Babloo knew that this was going to happen and took off. He was surprisingly fast for an animal his size. He took a route he knew well in the forest. Making sure that the hunter followed him, he finally saw the tree he was looking out for. It had a beehive on it!  He ran past the tree and sure enough, the hunter followed. As soon as the hunters passed under the tree, he whistled.

Immediately, honeybees emerged from the beehive! They surrounded the hunter, stinging him all over and buzzing in his ear. The hunter flailed his hands in a desperate attempt to shake them off but it was no use. The hunter knew that the only way to get rid of them was to jump in the pond. However, he had closed his eyes in fear that the bees would sting them so he followed the sound of the frogs croaking.

He ran as fast as he could without bumping into things. Slowly, the sound increased until it sounded like it was right in front of him. Without a moment of hesitation, He jumped forward, thinking it was a pond in front of him. Instead, he had jumped right into a ditch! Tenali’s pan had worked without a flaw! The frogs had hopped from the pond to the ditch and had croaked there! Now the hunter was trapped.

The hunter groaned in pain and opened his eyes. He found all of the animals in the forest peering down at him. Tenali headed to the front and announced, ‘’you have harassed all of the animals in the forest and are causing us trouble. We will only help you out of this ditch if you promise to leave this forest and never come again.” The hunter promised and begged to be let out. Bali the elephant lowered his trunk into the pit and let the hunter climb out. He immediately left in shame and never came back to the forest of Chatmaka again.

Once again peace had been restored in the forest of Chatmaka.

All thanks to Tenali!

3. Tenali the Fox and The Woodcutter

Cock-a-doodle-doo
Cock-a-doodle-doo

Tenali the fox woke up to the sound of the cockatoo. He had dark orange fur and a bushy tail with two ears like an elf’s and a black muzzle. But his most catching feature was his amber-brown eyes that seemed to radiate of intelligence. The bright young fox was the smartest creature in the forest of Chatmaka and one of the king’s best ministers.  He had saved the forest countless times before and everybody looked up to him for help.

Now there was peace in the forest of Chatmaka with animals working together in harmony. Tenali got out and stretched his paws, letting out a huge yawn. He made his way down to the lake a little way from his house and carefully dipped himself in. The water was freezing cold but Tenali enjoyed in and waded about happily. After his bathe, he shook himself free of water and headed to his house where he found The Daily News waiting for him. The Daily News was the forest’s newspaper and almost everyone read it. He put on his reading glasses and picked up the newspaper with a sigh.

Tap, tap, tap
Tap, tap, tap
Tap, tap, tap

Tenali looked up to see Kalia the woodpecker tapping on his window. Kalia was one of Tenali’s closest friends in the forest. He had colorful feathers and a yellow beak. Tenali immediately rushed out to see him. ” What’s happened Kalia?” Tenali asked.

” Tenali! Tenali! Come quickly! There are woodcutters in the forest!”

” Woodcutters in the forest! Show me!”
” Follow me!”

Tenali chased after Kalia who led him up a hill. From there he had a clear view of the whole forest. It broke his heart to see trees falling from the southern part of the forest. Birds of all colors rose into the sky, some in panic while others in anger. Tenali immediately rushed to the King to tell him of this news.

Simba the lion king was furious to hear of this news. In a dilemma of what to do, Simba asked Tenali what to do. Simba always relied on Tenali’s wit at times like these. Tenali pondered for a minute and an idea struck his brain.

” I have got an idea but I am going to need your help,” he said.

“Sure! Of course! Ask for anything!’’ The king exclaimed.

Tenali quickly whispered his idea and request into Simba’s ears. Simba nodded and asked Tenali to carry out his plan.

Tenali ran to the edge of the forest as fast as his legs could carry him. There, there was a clearing from which the trees had been cut down. There were ten different big, muscular people and dozens of machines. Tenali trotted to the nearest woodcutter, who pointed a gun at him.  Yet Tenali kept his cool and asked, ‘’ Why do you cut down these trees? It causes so much trouble to the animals in the forest.”

The woodcutter replied, “It is our only way to earn money. We don’t care about animals like you.” Tenali knew that this would be the woodcutter’s answer so he said, “There is a cave in the jungle full of gold coins. We animals have no use for it.  It would be our pleasure to give it to you but on one condition, you must not cut down any more trees in this forest.’’

Tenali could see the gleam in the woodcutter’s eye as imagined all he could do with the gold. He knew he had played the winning card. Without a moment of hesitation, the woodcutter said yes and called his friends over. “Show us where the cave is!” they said in unison. So, Tenali asked them to follow him and led them to a cave a little way away. However, Tenali knew that they would not keep to their promise.

The cave was big and wide with a big boulder beside it. “Go in and take as much gold as you want,” Tenali said with a bow. The woodcutters scrambled to get inside the cave. Little did they know that Simba the lion king was inside, waiting for them!

As soon as the woodcutters saw Simba, they screamed and rushed to get out of the cave. But just then Bali the elephant emerged from the back of the cave and easily as if he were lifting a feather. Pushed the boulder in front of the cave, blocking the entrance. Simba growled and licked his lips Baring his teeth.  The woodcutters cowered in fear, unsure of what to do.

“Simba the lion will not harm you if you promise not to cut down any more trees. Otherwise, you know what will happen. He is very hungry!” Tenali hollered from the outside of the cave. “W-We promise,” they stuttered. Tenali nodded to Bali and the elephant once again shifted the boulder, freeing the entrance of the cave. The woodcutters rushed out and back to the clearing, eager to get away from Simba. Kalia the woodpecker watched them and reported that they had gone away.

From that day the woodcutters did not return to the forest. Once again Tenali had saved the forest of Chatmaka and restored peace to it!