A story by Nayaab Suhel
Not long ago in an enchanted village, there lived two children- Dodgy and Podgy. They had a puppy called Podo. They resided in a small cottage up the hill.
They were very naughty children; always up to some mischief.
One day, the children had helped their mother in cleaning the lawn and she was very pleased.
“Oh, Dodgy and Podgy! You have helped me a lot this morning and I am very pleased with you both. So…” started their mother but was interrupted by her children.
“What do we get?”, said the children excitedly.
“Oh! Mom where’s our gift?”
“We want one! “Dodgy and Podgy demanded together.
“Woof! Woof!” even Podo barked. “Wait! I was coming to that point… please let me complete my sentence”, said their mother, Mrs. Puddy exasperated. “As you have worked so hard, I am going to give you $3 each.”
“Whaaaaat! Just 3$? “Oh mom! What do we get for $3 in today’s world?” howled the two children.
Well, you deserve just 3$ but if you wash the clothes, clean the dishes and sweep the floor, then you might get 5$ each. And that’s it! No more arguments.” With this, Mrs. Puddy went inside, leaving Dodgy and Podgy sulking.
“Well Dodgy, we can’t do anything now. Let’s go and buy a bar of chocolate at least.”
So, off they set to buy chocolates, with Podo at their heels. But, wait and see what happens… as the children are going to get a shock of their lives when they discover… It’s a secret!
*****
After walking for 15 minutes, they reached the market and went to their favorite chocolate shop run by Mr. Choco Lite. Funny name, isn’t it? Ha! Ha! Ha!
But, to their utter disappointment, all their favourite chocolate bars were sold out.
“Hard luck!” sighed Dodgy. Even Podo was sad because one piece of chocolate was always reserved for him.
While returning, they noticed something strange. There stood a very mysterious looking shop- ‘HOOKAM BOOKAM’S SHOP’.
“I have never seen this shop before…have you, Podgy?” asked Dodgy.
Podgy shook his head and said, “No”.
They exchanged inquisitive looks and went to explore the mysterious looking shop.
As they stepped inside, someone yelled…. “HEEYYY!! Who are you? Interfering children! Shoo! Shoo!”
An old man suddenly appeared from behind a shelf of books.
The children were taken aback. “Calm down Sir! Calm down!” said Podgy, “We have just come to explore this new shop. And Sir, it’s a shop! It’s but natural for people to drop by! We won’t do any harm!”
The children found the old man (owner of the shop) a bit funny. He was short, thin and had big pointed ears. He had a long beard, which almost touched the ground, and his spectacles magnified his eyes so much… he resembled an owl.
“I don’t know any children in the world who are non-interfering or not up to any mischief!”, barked the old man.
But Dodgy and Podgy weren’t paying heed to this old man. They were wandering around the shop, looking at the peculiar things showcased there.
Everything they saw, made them jump with excitement. “Cool!”, “Amazing!” they exclaimed.
Suddenly, Dodgy’s sharp eyes spotted something kept in a corner of the shop.
It was a peculiar table with plates and glasses already attached to it. The table looked very old and had few dents on it. And, in an old piece of yellow parchment, it was written – “Sale! Sale! Only 3$”
Dodgy was amazed and said, “Hey Podgy! Come here, and see what I have discovered!”
Podgy came, hurrying.
“See! See! This table is so wonderful and the price of it is just 3$! Can you imagine? Isn’t it wonderful!”, said Dodgy excitedly!
Podgy was, however, in doubt. How could they sell a table for so cheap a price?
However Dodgy kept on insisting that they buy the table. “It’s amazing! Well, I think we should buy this table because the table at our home is so small and mom occupies half of it. Therefore, we have a lot of problem to…”
Before Podgy could complete his sentence, the old man screamed, “You monkeys! You insects! Interfering children! Don’t you ever think of buying the table!”
“But why sir? Let us have it!” pleaded Podgy.
The old man was not convinced.
The children weren’t paying any attention to the old man. They were discussing something very quietly and secretly.
Then Podgy said “Ahem! Sir. The price of this table is 3$. But we are ready to give you 6$! Deal?”
These words had an instant effect on the old man. He suddenly smiled and his eyes began to shine with delight. He said “Well, since you are insisting so much, I am ready to give you for 6$.”
“Woohooo! Thank you so much!”.
Soon, the man packed the table for them and the children took it home.
Their mother was very surprised to see the table.
“Hey, where did you bring this table from? Huh? Did you steal?”, shrieked the bad-tempered Mrs. Puddy.
“Oh no mom! we bought this table from an old man for 6$.
“Oh! Even I saw an old man selling things yesterday but I didn’t know that it would be so cheap! I am delighted!”
The children took the table to their playroom, not knowing they were soon going to get a surprise of their life!
Dodgy and Podgy had just started examining the table when their mom said, “Dodgy, Podgy, I am going to meet Mrs. Top -a- Bun. Please behave till I come back”.
Saying this, their mom went away.
“Yippee! Hurrah! I feel so happy when mom is not at home!”
“Come on let’s use this table!”, exclaimed Dodgy.
“But we don’t have anything to eat, Dodgy!”, said Podgy sadly.
“Oh no! What luck! I was just feeling like having some hot buttery pan cakes and orangeade!”
And hey presto !!! As soon as they said these words, some pancakes and 2 glasses of orangeade appeared on the table.
“OH MY GOD! Am I dreaming?”, asked Podgy, who was baffled with the incident.
“No, we are not!” shouted Podgy.
“OH MY GOD! It’s a miracle!”
“Of course, it is !!!”, shouted Podgy jumping up and down like a ping-pong ball.
Ha! Ha! Ha!
Without wasting any more time, the children attacked the pancake.
“Let’s try to order something else and see… If this table fulfills our wish, then we will be confirmed that it’s a Wishing Table!”, said Podgy excitedly.
They said together in unison, “2 Pizzas and 2 Lemonades!”
And within a second, the smell of hot Pizzas filled the room.
“Mmmm! Yummy” said Dodgy as he took the first bite.
“Good heavens! It is a wishing table! I don’t think we should discuss this with anyone. Anyone means anyone! Not even our mom! Or else, she will spread the news to everyone from MRS. TOP-A-BUN to MR. STINGY LU-LU and in no time, we will have the whole village bustling into our tiny house!”, said Podgy.
“Hmm. You are right!”
“When mother comes back, we will pretend that it’s just an ordinary table”, said Podgy.
“Come on! Let’s order as many things as possible, before mum comes back!”, said Dodgy.
During the next few hours, the children kept on thinking what to order, and finally they ordered cheese muffins, cheery cake, choco lolo, lava brownie, cheese sandwiches, spark a bit biscuit. Now you must be wondering what spark a bit biscuit is? Let me tell you…… It is a special type of biscuit! As soon as your saliva touches the biscuit, it gives sparks to your tongue!
Thus, the children are having a great time ordering sumptuous food from the table while I make plans on how to steal it!
SHHHH!