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THE ADVENTURE OF THE FOUR FRIENDS:

THE DIAMOND-

Long ago in San Jose in California, there lived a group of four friends. They lived in a street along with their parents. They were always very happy and played together.

Now let me tell you more about them. Paulina was a very sincere girl. She always did all her tasks on time. She was a girl with short and blond curly hair. She had blue sparkling eyes. A pink top with blue jeans was her favorite casual outfit. Jack was the most obedient boy of the group. Most of the time, he wore his favorite pair of loose-black jeans. His hairs were brown and always had curls in them. Joseph was Jack’s best friend but his characteristics did not match with those of Jack. He had a bold look on his face. Shorts and a blue t-shirt with a cap was his favorite go-to outfit. Ruby was a girl who loved red. All her things, whether her dress or the color of her wall; all were in red. However, all of them were really kind in nature and were always ready to help others in need.

 One fine day, while all of them were in the garden, from the nearby street there came a group, “the four star group”. This was also a group of 4 best friends who enjoyed a lot together. The 4 star group had heard a lot about the four friends; that they could do anything because of their unity. So, they had come up to give them a very difficult challenge to test their unity. The four friends accepted their challenge to show them, and everyone else the power of unity. Their task was to get a special type of diamond which was hidden somewhere in the mountain near their street. The FSG had given them 5 days. The four friends accepted the challenge and started preparing for this task.

Paulina went to the local library and gathered all the information she could get, while the others searched on the net. After they had all the information, Joseph took out a printout of the map of the area where they had to go. Till then the others packed their bags with things required for a long journey in the mountain. Soon they all left for the mountain.

 After 1 day of their journey they reached the place from where they had to start climbing the mountain. They started climbing it. While they were climbing, there came a troop of monkeys who took their map and bags which had things such as a rope, food, water, tent for shelter ad much more, that was needed by them to climb the mountain. The monkeys were running away with the bags and the four friends were standing and watching them go. None of them realized for a second, about what had just happened. The monkeys went towards the dense forests and soon disappeared into the darkness of the jungle. The friends were all frightened. They had no idea about what had to be done next. Jack started imagining himself with his friends stuck in the forest for ever. He thought that they could never meet his parents now. All but Paulina were in tension. Paulina was relaxed. On looking at her, Joseph asked her, “Didn’t this incident scare you Paulina?” she replied, “There is only one way of coming out from such a situation. And it is to stay calm and not to worry.” All of them got a new hope from these words of Paulina. They decided to keep walking towards the deep forest in search of their things.

 Soon it was night. The friends had to pass their night in the forest. They didn’t even have their things to build a tent and have dinner. The forest looked like a creepy area, so they couldn’t just spend the night sleeping on the ground. They came up with an idea. They gathered useful things from their surroundings and built a small shelter just to be protected from the wild animals and the rainfall. They used broken branches of old trees as the poles on top of which they spread some dry leaves. Then they lit up some pieces of wood and surrounded their shelter with the burning pieces of wood to be protected from wild animals. While Ruby and Paulina were doing the arrangements inside their small tent, Jack and Joseph prepared for dinner. Jack climbed trees and gathered a lot of fruits, while Joseph went near a river and caught some fishes with the help of a branch that had a really sharp edge. He then cooked those fishes and made them ready to be eaten. After everything was ready, they all sat in their shelter and had fruits and fishes for dinner. Now it was time for them to sleep. But there was another problem. If all of them slept at the same time then they might become the feast of wild animals. So they decided that any three will sleep and one will be awake. They would take turns for being awaken. They passed their entire night like this. Though they were being the meal of the mosquitoes, they had to adjust and pass the entire night in the same manner.

When the sun rose and the birds started chirping, all of them woke up. Then they all gathered the things they used to make their shelter as they might need them once again. They started walking. While walking for some time, Joseph started to feel hungry. Many hours had passed away since they had started walking. They all decided to rest somewhere. One of them spotted a waterfall there. So they went to the waterfall, drank water and relaxed for some time. Jack was drinking a plenty of water where Joseph was sitting on the branch of a tree and was busy stuffing his mouth with the mouth-watering fruits on the tree. Ruby was removing the mud stains of her red dress which had got dirty while sleeping. Paulina was sitting on the soft and green meadow and was enjoying the beauty of the place. While she was spending her leisure time, she saw a rock which had a weird shape. She told her friends about it. They went there and saw. It was a huge rock. They felt that something was strange in that rock. So they started walking around it to see what seemed strange in it. While they were exploring the rock, suddenly they saw that it had a small opening from one side. Joseph put his hand inside the opening. He could feel that there was something inside it. He grabbed out a huge bag and opened it. To everyone’s surprise there were all of their things, which the monkeys had taken, inside the bag. They were very happy to get all their things back. “It might be the secret hiding place of the naughty monkeys. Well anyway, we have got our things back.”

Now they had to start climbing the mountain. For that they had to come out of the forest. They took out their map and followed the way which led them out of the forest. After they were out, they started moving on the path which would take them to the diamond. It was too sunny. Looking at the sun they all thought that they had to take some rest and drink some water to prevent dehydration. A long time had passed since they had taken their first break of the day. They walked until a river was in sight. They went near the river and saw the water which was crystal clear. Ruby put her hand inside the water. It was cold and just perfect to drink. They drank a lot of water and started searching for a place to relax. They saw a cave which was covered by bushes. They went inside it and saw. It was too cool and was perfect to relax and hide from the scorching sun. They all were so tired that they didn’t get to know when they fell asleep. They had slept in the afternoon and they woke up in the evening. They came out of the cave and looked at the sun. It was orange in color and was just about to set. Everyone was feeling hungry. The food which they had bought with them had been eaten by the monkey. So they decided to eat some fishes.  They divided themselves into 2 groups. One group caught fishes from the river and the other group collected wood from the trees and lit up a fire to roast the fishes. Once everything was done, they roasted fishes and had their dinner. They had a very little time left to complete their challenge and had taken enough rest in the day, so they decided that to continue their journey in the night too. Then they started walking towards the gate to reach the precious diamond. The gate was very far from the place where they were. While they were walking, suddenly a storm started. The wind was blowing very hard and it was difficult to walk. They didn’t get scared from the blowing wind and didn’t stop walking. It was getting difficult for Ruby to walk so she grabbed a stick and kept on walking with the support of the stick. While they were walking, Paulina fell down. None of them noticed that Paulina had fallen down as she was at the end and everyone else was heading ahead. They moved forward. She shouted a lot but none of them could hear her as the wind was roaring. The sky was dark and the storm was getting worse by time. Soon everyone had covered such a distance that Paulina could no more see rest of the group.

After the group travelled a distance, the storm had stopped and the weather was calm. They could see a small house from which smoke was coming out. They all decided to stay there for rest of the night. They went inside the house. The owner of the house was a kind and plump old lady with red and chubby cheeks. She was Mrs. Plum, and she allowed them all to stay there for the night. When they went inside the house, they came to know that Paulina was missing. They were tensed. The old lady asked them the reason of them being so tensed. They told her everything. They were about to leave to search Paulina but the lady said that it was too dark and they couldn’t see anything. So they even would not be able to find her. The four friends thought that the lady was right. But they were also worried about Paulina. There, Paulina was shivering in the cold. She had to reach the rest of the group. So she started walking. Slowly-slowly she walked but she had no idea where her friends would be. She had no other option other than just moving forward as she couldn’t see any other way. She was moving forward. She could see some smoke from somewhere. She thought that reaching that place would be a good idea as she might find some company there. Soon she reached a small house. She knocked the door. No one opened the door. But she could see smoke and lights inside the house. So she knocked once again. This time the door opened. Ruby, Jack, Joseph and Mrs. Plum peeped out of the house. It was the same house where the rest of the group was. Everyone was happy to see Paulina. They took her inside the house and introduced her to the old lady. Paulina looked around the small cottage. It was a cottage made of logs of wood. There was a fire place where the fire was lit up. Besides that, there was a small table and there were tones of dishes on it. The lightened candles on the table with a cozy couch to sit on had made their surrounding more warm. She seemed tired. So her friends gave her a lot of fruits to eat and a nice hot water bath as she was shivering from cold. Then everyone went to bed.

The next morning, they all woke up early and thanked the old lady for the night stay. The lady warned them that the storm would appear again for three nights and it would be more horrible than the one they just experienced. It would not be easy to face the storm. But they had to return back with the diamond as they didn’t have much time. They took their bags and left the place. On their way, they were thinking about the storm. How would they survive if such a storm would come once again? Jack said, “We have to get the precious diamond. We’ll see if we get another house for night stay.” Everyone agreed. The old lady had given them some food for lunch and they had eaten enough bread with butter and jam for breakfast. They saw many sheep, goats and cows grazing on the way. It was a very beautiful sight. There were green meadows and a fragrance of the wet grass and sand could be experienced. They were having the time of their lives in the company of the beautiful nature.

In the afternoon they had lunch. After that they again started walking. Finally they reached the gate of the garden of the precious diamond. They all were very happy and excited to reach there. They stepped inside the garden with a shiver in their back. Inside the garden, there were many diamonds. No one was inside there. Jack quickly took out the map and searched for the picture of the precious diamond. The precious diamond was pink in color. It had a typical diamond shape but because of its exceptional color and the radiance, it was easy to be recognized. They looked for it desperately. Joseph spotted the diamond. They all quickly ran towards it. The diamond was shining brightly. Paulina took the diamond in her hands with a glaze in her eyes. They couldn’t believe that such a beauty was in their hands. Paulina kept it inside her bag. By that time it was dusk and the sun was soon going to set. The words of the old lady stroke their minds that a severe storm will appear in the night. So they had to leave the place. They were all fully energized so they could run easily.

They started running thinking that they will reach the old lady’s house in time. While running, the weather suddenly started getting cooler. The harsh winds had started to blow. It was the storm. It was not so severe. They thought that before the storm gets faster, they would reach the lady’s house. So they ran faster. Their speed was decreasing while the storm was getting terrible. They were all worried if they could reach in time and show the diamond to the FSG. “Oh! Dear God, please save us from this storm and help us get home on time. Only one day was remaining for them to get back home and show the diamond. While they were running, Ruby saw someone standing. She told everyone. They said that it was already late and they could not waste their time in looking at the person who was standing. Ruby said, “Maybe she doesn’t know about the storm and would be waiting for the storm to stop. How would she stay here if the storm gets more severe?” Everyone agreed. They went near the lady and told her about the storm. They couldn’t see the face clearly. It was a lady wearing a loose long gown with spectacles. When they saw her face clearly, they saw that the lady was Mrs. Plum, the old woman who had given them shelter in the stormy night. They were all amused to see her there, as her house was quite far from the place where they presently were. They asked her why she was standing there even when she knew about the storm. She said, “I’ll tell you that later on. First you come with me.”

 She took them all inside the cave in front of which she was standing. They were curious to know what was happening and why was she taking them from that way leaving the normal path. The old lady could see the confusion on the faces of the little children so she said, “Just follow me and I’ll tell you once we reach our destination.” It was completely dark in there and not a single point of light was in sight. They were all looking around when suddenly the old lady flew up to the top of the cave and turned into a light. A voice came from the light, “You people have always served your neighbors, parents, friends and everyone else. You have done many good deeds. You always stay together and that’s your biggest strength. And that is why god heard your prayer and sent me to help you reach before time. Just walk straight and the cave will open for you and will lead you till your city. All the best.....” They were all in a big surprise. A feeling of astonishment could still be seen on their face.

They walked straight and the cave opened. They were in their city. The storm was no more in sight and the sky was orange in color. They looked back and the cave was disappeared. Now they realized that it was really God who had helped them out of such a situation. They thanked God for such a great help. Then they moved forward. They went into their street. When they reached, all of the people were hoping to see the diamond in their hands. Paulina slipped her hand into her bag and took the diamond out. On seeing their success, all of the people surrounded them and started to celebrate the victory, not only of the four friends, but also of unity. People had lifted up the four friends and were cheering for them. The FSG was standing at the back of the crowd. They were feeling guilty for the mistake they had done by challenging the strength of unity. Everyone including the FSG was amazed. Everyone was very happy and appreciated their unity. Soon, when the crowd had gone back, the FSG came up to the four friends and told them, “Sorry friends. We thought that unity was nothing. But now we have realized that unity is everything. From today we will never trouble you. We promise.  Bye…” These four friends told them, “It’s good you realized it. But where are you going? Don’t go anywhere, because from today we are going to play together.”

TO BE CONTINUED WITH A NEW AND EXCITING EXPERIENCE OF THE FOUR FRIENDS….