Friday, July 22, 2016

A Magical Story

Every night before I tuck him into the bed, I have to read my seven-year-old a story. The same old story books are taken out every day and the same stories get reread. The tormented reader tries to cheat every now and then by skipping a few words or sentences, but the enthusiastic listener protests if even a single word is out of place. So a bleary-eyed me goes through the ritual every day. 

Sometimes it is the ‘Cat in the hat’ who takes center stage whereas sometimes Winnie the pooh sets out on an adventure with his friends. Lightning McQueen roars down to finishing line at times and on some other nights Peter Pan takes us to Never Land to visit the troublesome Pirate Captain Hook.
I close the book and switch on the night light preparing to sleep finally and that is when he unfurls his own bundle of stories. Mostly the cartoons he has watched or his classmates star in the story. Some are imaginary and some are real incidents.

His favorite introduction is, “I have something to tell you.” I smile hearing it and prompt him to talk. Sometimes hours pass before we finally sleep. And sometimes he sleeps midway through a story. Whichever way, the day ends with stories; colorful and full of life.

Characters getting ready 


When I found characters hiding in the Colgate toothpaste wrappers, I immediately asked him whether he would like to create his own story. He was ready. I cut out the characters and made them ready for taking on their role.  His father also takes the seat in front of the tiny story teller. When he begins, we are mesmerized. We were in for a treat when the ready-made character cutouts starred in his story.This is the story that he tells us.

Captain Blackbeard along with his trusted mate Sadie set out on a treasure hunt at the start of the story. He hopes to involve the magical sea creatures including a mermaid to aid him in the hunt for the treasure which is part of a shipwreck. Another story thread involving the crab and mermaid takes off in another direction in the next scene. The crab is in love with the mermaid apparently and the Shark is the villain who bullies every sea creature. With the arrival of Black beard, chaos reigns the sea world as everyone wants the treasure. Now some real Bollywood drama happens with the Shark and Orca whale taking up sides with fist fights and fin fights. Then the Shark goes to sleep and has a nightmare where he dreams that every sea creature has become his enemy. He realizes that bullying is not a good habit and he wakes repentant. He decides to help Blackbeard to the find treasure along with help from the other sea creatures. They all agree to the mermaid’s thought that the treasure is useful for Sadie and Blackbeard whereas they are only shiny things for them. After finding the treasure by following the treasure map given by the mermaid, Blackbeard and Sadie return home to live happily ever after. The END.

When he finishes, we clap happily and he beams. He promises to create a new story using the same characters tomorrow. ‘Maybe I can skip the treasure hunt part in the next story.’ He muses.

Thank you, Colgate, for showing us the creative side of our child. This is such a magnificent idea. I am going to write down the stories he tells in a notebook. It is such a treasure.

This story is part of #ColgateMagicalStories sponsored by http://www.colgate.co.in/en/in/oc 




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