Raju’s late night lesson

Raju the toy car loves to roam around in the night when his parents are asleep. However, he never expected one of those nights to be one of his most memorable one, ever. My one of the first attempts with children's stories. Honest feedback is more than welcome. :-)

Raju’s late night lesson

Raju was not sleepy at all. Though his mother had scolded him sternly, try as hard as he might, he was just not in the mood to go to bed. So when his parents finally dozed, he snuck past them and quietly exited the room.

“OK, what should I do now,” he whispered to himself. After pondering for a couple of minutes, he decided to visit his best friend, Banti. He cautiously moved towards Banti’s home, taking care of his engine’s sound.

“Don’t you think it is bedtime, Raju?” Raju knew this voice. With a shock he turned around. Why, it was old grandpa Bat.

“A little toy like you should be sleeping at such an hour,” grandpa Bat said, slowly moving towards Raju.

Now, though Raju is a toy indeed, he considers himself a very special kind of toy. After all, he is a racing car that runs on two AA batteries and is probably the fastest toy among the pile.

“I don’t want to sleep,” Raju said, “And I am not a little toy anymore grandpa, I am all grown up.”

Grandpa Bat laughed. “Of course, you have,” he said, “But still, you need proper rest to make sure that you grow up even more.”

“But I am not feeling sleepy at all,” Raju insisted.

Grandpa sighed and said, “Well, you toys of today’s generation, just never listen to adults. You know, once, when I was of your age, I was very proud of myself and used to think that there was no ball in the world, which I couldn’t beat. But one day, it all changed.”

“What happened?” Now Raju was curious.

“Well,” grandpa continued, “Once they used a leather ball instead of the usual rubber one and god, my belly felt as if a volcano erupted inside it.”

“Haha!” Raju visualized the scenario in his mind, and found it very funny, “Then what happened?” he asked.

Grandpa looked at him, and said laughingly, “What what happened? My mother had to massage me with oil for one solid week before I was able to play again. I am still looking for that leather ball. I think it ran away after hitting me.”

“Hahahaha!” Raju was now laughing uncontrollably. “This is the funniest story I have ever came across,” he said.

Grandpa was also laughing with him, “Yes, yes. Though at the moment I was very much angry, eventually I also found that the incident was funny and it ended up teaching me a lesson.”

“Lesson? What lesson?” Raju asked.

“That you should never boast about yourself and you should be humble,” grandpa said, 

“Even my friends laughed at me for days after the incident. Nevertheless, I had learnt my lesson.”

Suddenly, another voice came from the distance, “You think that was funny? Wait till you hear my story.”

Both of them looked at the source of the voice. It was Vicky, the 8-in-1 pocket video-game.

“Come, come Vicky, you are not feeling sleepy too?” grandpa invited him.

“Well, not much,” Vicky said, “It’s too hot and my circuits are feeling a little bit strange. So I thought I should go for a stroll.”

“Vicky bhaiya, please tell,” Raju said excitedly, “What’s your story?”

“It seems someone is having a really good time here, right?” smiling, Vicky brushed Raju’s hair lightly.

“So, what’s your story, son?” grandpa asked.

Vicky sat beside them. “Well, you know, back in my time, I used to be the most desirable toy. Everyone wanted me and loved to play with me. I used to feel like a king, until that one day.”

“What day?” Raju asked curiously.

“I used to be very proud of my circuits. However, one fine day, I started to run a racing game that went for hours. My mom told me to take a break but I didn’t listen to her. As a result, soon, my circuits got heated up and all of a sudden, they stopped working.”

Vicky sighed and looked at the sky, “It took me weeks to get repaired up and start playing games again. Till then, I just became a mere object whom everyone tossed around. Why, someone actually played with me like a racing car, dragging me on the table until my shiny black paint chipped out. It was such a shame and embarrassment.”

“Played with you like a car?” Raju was laughing again, “I am sorry for laughing, but I pictured you like it in my mind and it’s really funny.”

“Indeed it is,” Vicky said. He was laughing too, “You should have watched me back then; I looked like a brick being dragged in all directions aimlessly.”

“So what happened next?” grandpa Bat asked.

“I learnt my lesson, of course,” Vicky said.

“Another lesson?” Raju asked, “And what was that?”

“No matter how much talented you are or whatever skills you have got, you need to respect yourself and know your boundaries. Overdoing anything in your life leads to troubles and distress. And if you use your skills properly, they will always garner good results,” Vicky said, smiling.

“These are the best stories I have ever heard,” Raju said to both of them.

“Did you learn a lesson from it, Raju?” grandpa asked, smiling.

All three of them laughed.

“Of course, grandpa,” Raju said, “I learnt that being humble is the best behaviour one can have and it is always good to know your limits and work properly to improve it.”

“Good, I am happy that you liked it,” Vicky said.

All three of them looked at the stars for a while.

“So, what now, you two?” grandpa broke the silence.

“Well, I am off to sleep,” Vicky said.

“And I am off to meet Banti,” Raju announced, getting up from the stone parapet.

Grandpa started laughing. “Look,” he pointed towards the rising sun, “it is morning already. What sleep, eh? Better you two go and have some breakfast. And Raju, you can meet Banti afterwards.”

“Woah! It’s morning already? Raju exclaimed.

“All right you guys, it was a good session. Let’s have more such meetings,” Vicky said.

“Of course, but this time, no one will laugh,” grandpa said, laughing and the other two joined him.