Money Fails Here

It’s chilly, damp, and nearly flooded outside. The persistent rain over the past five days has brought the small town of "Madhupur" to a standstill. People are venturing out only if absolutely necessary. Numerous puddles bewilder passers-by with sudden splashes. Umbrellas and raincoats are no match for the furious gale. Those compelled to venture outside eagerly await the taming of this monstrous weather. However, the sky remains black with heavy clouds, and the frequent thunder and lightning are so frightening that children have lost interest in playing in the rain. Rosey dislikes cold and wet conditions immensely, finding them both sickening and saddening. At this hour, she sips hot coffee, seated on her plush couch, and gazes outside through the open window. Growing drowsy, Rosey reclines on her bed. Although she recently recovered from a severe cold, her energy remains depleted after two weeks of fever, leading her to doze off. And thus, a delightful dream unfolds...

‘Rosey, hold my hand,’ Orna doesn’t wait for her response and seizes Rosey’s hand just in time, preventing her from slipping on a stone. The surroundings are mesmerizing, with a clear brook adorned with various shaped and colorful pebbles and stones. The burbling sound casts a magical spell on Rosey, making her carefree as she steps on the stones. Farah, Ela, Sahil, and Taiehan wait on the other side of the brook, sitting on the grass and sharing laughter. Rosey observes that the grass there is blue! A splendid, round rainbow arches overhead in the sky, and a peculiar aroma wafts gently through the air, making the place feel otherworldly. Rosey and Orna cross the brook to join the others. Feeling thirsty, Rosey returns to the brook, cups her hands, and takes a drink. Just as she's about to drink, she hears a whisper.

‘Drink as much as you want until your thirst is quenched, but don’t forget to do something in return.’

Startled, Rosey drops the water and turns back to see her friends a few yards away, engaged in conversation. Confused and scared, she attempts to drink again.

‘I don’t mind if you drink from me, but you need to do something in return.’

‘Who is it? Who is speaking? What is this place?’ Rosey whispers with a frightened mind.

‘It’s me, the Brook. And this is a place beyond your understanding.’

‘Tell me more… by the way, I’m super thirsty. Can I drink some water? I’ll do what you want me to do — perhaps I have to do something for you first, right?’

‘I’m not mean,’ the brook chuckles, and Rosey hears it clearly. ‘Drink first, you can pay me later, but you must.’

Rosey drinks the water, feeling incredibly refreshed. Grateful, she asks, ‘Thank you so much. What can I do for you?’

‘I want some red pebbles.’

Looking at the brook, Rosey notices it has numerous colorful pebbles, but strangely, no red ones.

‘Do you need those or just want them? And where can I get those pebbles?’

‘I demand them,’ the brook says calmly. ‘But I don’t know where you can get them.’

‘Okay. My friends and I will find them. Can you wait for us to return?’

‘Sure.’

Rosey rejoins her friends, who convey a message without speaking. The bluegrasses are crying. What's happening?

‘We were green until that wind blew on us. It killed all the flowers, bees, butterflies, and birds and left us sad. Sadness turned us blue. If you want to take some of us to surprise your friends, replace the empty part with green grasses that have flowers. We will turn green again.’

Determined, they agree to bring green grass with flowers for the bluegrasses. Taiehan touches the grasses and promises, ‘Trust us. We will not disappoint you.’

‘We believe so,’ the bluegrasses nod.

‘What a mysterious place!’ Farah exclaims. They've never seen such a wondrous forest. Everything seems possible, or perhaps, the occurrences are entirely natural. They embark on a quest to find red pebbles and green grasses.

After walking for a while, they lose track of time, and their wristwatches aren't working. The landscape is barren, with blue grasses and a few uprooted trees on the right side, while tall trees on the left side are laden with fruits. The aroma leads them to the left, where they discover a bountiful array of berries, bananas, papayas, mangoes, and more. They indulge in a feast, and after some time, they are back to their normal state.

‘In my life, I’ve never tasted delicious fruits like these,’ says Sahil. Ela agrees, and the others, now tired, lie down on the giant roots of the trees. Before sleep takes over, they hear a deep, cold voice.

‘Have we seen any humans lately?’ The deep voice echoes.

‘No. We saw them last when the evil wind blew on us,’ a soft voice replies.

‘Humans are so forgetful and ungrateful,’ the deep voice sounds disappointed.

‘Yes. Cruelty is a part of their nature,’ the soft voice releases a long sigh.

‘Have they found any red pebbles or the green grass yet?’

‘Don’t think so. Humans are lazy and irresponsible too.’

Sahil interrupts, ‘No. It’s not always true, not everybody is the same.’

They explain that despite careful exploration, they haven't found red pebbles or green grasses. The deep voice chuckles.

‘Humans are helpless too,’ the deep voice says sarcastically.

‘Look, we are from another world and have no clues about this place. We don’t even know how we got in. You must help us if you know anything.’ Rosey pleads.

‘Shall I?’ the low voice asks for permission.

‘Certainly,’ the deep voice speaks softly.

‘Ahem…’ the low voice clears its throat and then says:

“Find the otters, the best of the friends

Unlock the mysteries, end the game,

Know your power and the flaws

The secret lies in the name.”

‘Otters, we have to find them!’ Orna finally sees a solution.

Rosey recalls their exchanges so far and asks, ‘Please tell us what we should do for you.’

‘Are you talking about trade?’

‘Yes. We can’t enjoy anything for free. That doesn’t sound fair.’

The trees chuckle.

‘Then take the seeds. Time will tell you what to do.’

‘Wish us good luck.’ Ela looks around, and the trees shake some leaves. They collect the leaves and seeds and wrap them together.

‘Goodbye, big trees.’ They feel no longer like invaders.

‘May nature guide you. Goodbye.’ The big trees smile at them.

Rosey and her friends are now terrified of being lost forever. Moreover, no progress in their promises, so they will prove themselves useless, unkind, and ungrateful. How frustrating! They walked a long way by the left side

 of the brook. No signs of any otter!

‘Maybe we should search for them on the other side,’ says Orna.

‘This side is promising; everything that we got, we got here,’ says Ela.

‘Who knows, we are wasting our time on the wrong side,’ says Farah.

‘Might be. I feel the barren part has some secret hidden,’ says Taiehan.

‘Yes. We need to check the other side,’ Sahil feels the same.

‘Look, the rainbow is still there! Doesn’t the rainbow come after the rain? Did we get rain all this time?’ Rosey looks at them with a question.

‘No. So, it rained somewhere else!’ They all said it at the same time.

They take their bags and dash to the other side. They don’t know whether they already missed the right place, but it’s not the time to look back. They are now walking as fast as they can and looking around like eagles when they search for their prey. Luckily, they see the green grasses with various flowers right over there, just a few big jumps away! And some big trees as well! But they all seem hazy. How strange, they can’t move anymore! Ela notices a big stone is there right in front of a small mouth of a cave. They all struggle a lot to remove it aside, but successfully they could do so. A fresh air touches them.

‘I’ll go first,’ says Rosey. She waits for none to approve her decision. She crawls inside the narrow passage of the cave. How sweet! It’s not even a cave in the real sense. It’s more like a gate. She stands up, and what she sees makes her speechless. By this time, the whole team crosses the cave passage and encounters a new surprise. They smile at each other.

‘Look at them! So adorable!’

The otters are staring at them with utter surprise. They are many in numbers. Some are fat, some are babies, and some with flower garlands around their necks. Looks so cute.

‘Hello,' they greet the otters as they know they can speak. Here, everybody can.

‘Hello Forest,’ they greet them back altogether.

‘Who’s Forest here?’

‘You.’ It doesn’t make any sense to them. Anyways, the otters look so friendly like the big trees said before.

‘Are you humans?’ asks one baby otter holding red pebbles in its hand.

‘Yes. We are!’ Rosey sees the pebbles and replies with excitement.

They look around. Ahh! Red pebbles are resting here and there like ordinary ones. The green grasses are turning and tossing their heads with the gentle breeze. The otters made beautiful houses, like a colony designed by an expert architect.

‘We are glad to meet you. Tell me, what can we do for you?’ The kind, old chief is looking at them for the answer.

‘We need some red pebbles and some green grasses with flowers,’ says Sahil.

‘Also, we don’t know what to do with these seeds,’ Orna shows him the seeds.

‘Well, take the red pebbles as much as you want. We don’t mind,’ says the chief casually.

‘What do you want us to do in return?’ asks Rosey.

‘See, money has no value here. It’s useless. Moreover, you don’t have to do anything as you already did.’

‘What did we do?’ They all ask together. ‘We just met. Didn’t even get any chance to do anything for you guys.’

‘No. You did. You removed the stone. That’s the help we needed for a long time. Now, it’s our turn to pay you back, “Forest”.’ The chief smiles at them.

‘Who’s Forest?’

‘Come with me.’ They follow the chief. The otters follow them. They can see the place clear now! It is no hazier. But, oh, it’s sandy and dry.

‘See, it’s covered with sand mostly. It needs to become soil. Put your both hands together on it, and see the magic.’

They are super excited. As soon as their hands touch the sand, it turns into soil.

‘Wow! What has just happened? How?’ Their joy knows no bounds.

‘Think about the first letters of your names, and arrange them carefully. What comes?’

‘Oh my God! It’s forest!’ Rosey jumps high.

‘You unlocked the mystery. Now, plant the seeds.’

They have never felt so happy to plant anything before! The seeds start growing immediately!

‘Take the red pebbles in your bags, and the green grasses with flowers in a pot. Let’s have a walk.’

They finally reach the blue grassland.

Taiehan says to the bluegrass, ‘We don’t want to disturb you by plucking anything. We want to plant something here.’

Then he plants the green grasses with flowers in a corner and touches the blue grasses. Within a while, the whole grassland gets back its green color.

‘You kept your promise. Thank you so much.’ Says the grassland. The baby otters are so happy to see the huge forest, they are playing like small children in the grass, and are happy to see the brook.

‘Hey Brook, look, what’s in the bags!’ Rosey shows the red pebbles and drops a few in them.

‘Yeeeeee … …’ Brook splashes water high up out of happiness. Rosey drops more red pebbles into the brook.

‘Brooke, are you happy?’ She asks.

‘Very much indeed. Thanks a lot.’

Suddenly, Rosey feels everything is fading. So do the others. What’s wrong?

‘My dear friends, it’s your time to go home.’ The otters wave their tiny hands to them.

They all are waving to each other --- it’s heart-breaking to say goodbye to these fellows, to this place.

‘We’ll miss you --- Rosey feels a soft touch on her forehead. She slowly opens her eyes and sees her mum leaning toward her and checking her body temperature.

‘Not much warm. I think your fever is gone.’

Rosey looks around, bewildered and upset. She didn’t want her dream to be over.

‘Are you still feeling weak?’ Mum sounds tense.

‘Don’t worry, I’m fine. It was a dream --- but so clear.’

‘Rosey, I need to go shopping. It won’t take me much time. Your brother will come back by this time, I hope. Can I go outside now? Will you be alright?’

‘Mum, I’m not a baby. I’ll be fine.’ She smiles. The word “shopping” suddenly felt so weird to her. She stares outside through the window. It’s drizzling again.