Once upon a time, there was a garden full of beautiful tulips. They were like small lights standing in a queue wearing pink, yellow, white, red and purple coloured dresses. Among them were white tulips, really special for some reason.
Near this wonderful garden was a small villa. In the villa lived two little children, Riju and Aarna, with their parents. It was a spring afternoon when Aarna came to Riju’s room and said, “Brother, let’s go and play in the tulip garden.” They both went to their parents’ room to ask for permission. They saw their mother reading a book and asked her if they could go. She asked them, “Have you both finished your homework?” They both nodded and were allowed to go. They went out happily.
After a couple of hours, it was time for the sun to set. They stopped playing and decided to rush home. But they were tired so they decided to rest for a while beside the white tulips. They went close to the tulips to smell them. When Aarna smelt the white tulips, tiny sparks flashed from them. Both Riju and Aarna were surprised but it was already late and so they went back home.
After their evening snack, some-thing strange started to happen. Aarna started to get taller and taller with every passing hour. Nobody could understand what was happening. And by dinner time, she had almost reached the ceiling. Their mother was crying and their father was clueless about what to do!
Then Riju suggested, “Let us all go to the wise old couple who lives in that cottage near the fountain.” They had no other choice but to do something so the full family went to the wise couple. When Riju explained the whole situation to the old couple, the grandpa smiled at them and offered them four big cups of hot chocolate. Grandma asked them to tell her what happened in the garden. Riju and Aarna narrated the whole incident of the evening. Then the wise old grandma closed her eyes for a while and then asked Aarna what happened when she smelt the white tulips. Riju and Aarna both said, “They sparked.”
Grandma and grandpa smiled and said, “They are not ordinary tulips but Teacher Tulips.” “Teacher Tulips?” everyone asked together with surprise in their voice! The wise old couple said, “Yes, if an honest person smells them there will be no change but if a dishonest person smells them, the person will get taller with every passing hour until they become truthful.” Now everyone was looking at Aarna and waiting for her confession.
Aarna said slowly and sadly to her mother, “I am so sorry, mother, I did not finish all my homework, but I really wanted to play with Riju. I thought I would complete my homework before dinner.” Suddenly, like magic, Aarna was back to her previous height. They thanked the wise grandpa and grandma, finished their hot chocolate and
headed home.
Moral of the story: Be honest all the time.
