MYSTERY OF THE MISSING CHOCOLATIER: By Anwesha Chandra

Once upon a time, there lived a small shopkeeper who used to sell homemade chocolates. His name was Kushal. He was not satisfied with his life and had an itchy palm. He wanted to do something different, something big which could make him rich quickly. He had two children who were not much interested in chocolates. He wanted to make his kids interested in chocolates as selling chocolates was his family business. For this, he was always on the lookout for creating new flavors which his kids would like. He kept on experimenting in his small shop which was also his makeshift lab. 

One day, he went to the lakeside for overnight camping with his family. The lake was situated deep inside a thick forest. While they were having a bonfire in the night, a very old person who resembled a saint, suddenly appeared out of nowhere. He told Kushal that he knew of a special tree that only grew in this forest and bore fruits only once in a hundred years. He further said that this year the tree had borne fruits. He then took one fruit out of his cloth bag and handed it over to Kushal. When Kushal’s gaze shifted back from the fruit to look at the old man, he found him disappeared into the deep dark forest. 

The next day, Kushal was back and was sitting in his shop when he suddenly thought of the fruit. “Why not try making a new chocolate flavor out of this fruit?” Kushal wondered. In the evening after closing his shop, he took out the juice of the fruit and mixed it with the hot chocolate to make a new flavor. Before putting the mixture into the refrigerator, Kushal just dipped his index finger into the liquid chocolate and tasted it. “The taste is really awesome,” Kushal thought. When he was putting the tray inside the refrigerator, he heard a knock on the door. “Who could be there at this time?” he thought. Kushal opened the door and found Mr. Gupta, who owned the next shop, standing right in front of him. Mr. Gupta looked very surprised. Kushal asked Mr. Gupta the reason for his arrival but it seemed that Mr. Gupta couldn’t hear anything Kushal had said. In fact, he was able to hear Mr. Gupta murmuring, “Who opened the door and where has Kushal gone?”

Kushal was very puzzled and tried desperately to talk to Mr. Gupta, but he just couldn’t. He then suddenly happened to see a mirror that was hanging on a wall in his shop. He couldn’t find his reflection in the mirror! Kushal was shocked and perplexed. He pondered over the turn of events and concluded that it must have been that ‘special’ fruit he got from the saint last night which made him invisible. He then got worried and thought, “What to do next?” He then thought that his family would get concerned when they found him nowhere. He sent a message to his wife that he had to go out of town for a few days to attend the annual chocolatiers conference so that she wouldn’t be worried about his disappearance. Although, he felt a little guilty about lying to his family. 

He came out of the shop and started walking on the street without knowing how to come out of this peculiar situation. He then thought to go back to the forest and hoped to meet the same saint and ask him to help him come out of this situation. He checked his wallet and realized that he needed to have some money for the journey, so he entered a bank. He went to the cashier who was busy in his work leaving a pile of cash on his table. On seeing this, Kushal's greed took over. He quickly picked the bundle of cash and came out. No one including the cashier noticed anything unusual. After coming out from the bank, Kushal started jumping with joy. His mischievous mind started thinking of other ways to become richer. He then entered a jewelry store and stole some gold and diamond ornaments, again without getting noticed or caught.

This continued for a few days. Kushal was quite happy with his new power. He was even able to spend his nights in 5-star hotels, sleeping for free in the rooms which were unoccupied. He also went to new places without spending on air tickets or worrying about passport and visas as he would just board a plane and reached different exotic destinations. The luxurious life he was living completely changed his way of thinking. He was not even bothered about coming back in the old form. In fact, he started worrying about losing his power one day. He had sent one more message to his family saying that he was going for a 3-month long chocolate-making training in Belgium. 

Few more days passed like this. Kushal had now started becoming used to the new lifestyle. He started now thinking about using the money and gold he had stolen for purchasing other things. He always fancied big houses and expensive cars. He also started missing his family a lot. But for this, he needed to come back to his original form so that he could use his ill-gotten wealth to make his dreams come true. He thought that without showing off the luxuries to others and sharing them with the family, the money had no meaning!

He then convinced himself to go back to the forest to meet the saint in order to get his old life back. He quickly calculated in his mind that he had now enough wealth to live a luxurious life, although he was still not content somehow convinced himself to come back in his original form. On reaching the forest, Kushal directly went to the same spot where a few months ago he met the saint. But this time, he couldn’t find anyone there. He frantically searched the entire forest for 3 days but couldn’t spot a single soul. On the 3rd day, he found a woodcutter chopping a tree. Kushal enquired about the saint from the woodcutter and came to know that the saint had died a few days ago. All hell broke loose on Kushal on hearing this! He thought to himself that he could never come back in his original form and must spend his entire life being invisible. 

While he was coming back, the woodcutter called out his name. Kushal was very surprised to hear his name and thought about how the woodcutter knows his name. The woodcutter then said to Kushal that when the Saint was ill and on the deathbed, he told the woodcutter that a man named Kushal would come after a few days asking about him. The saint had told the woodcutter that all of Kushal’s problems could be solved when he returned all the stolen money and gold. He also needed to sow the seed of the fruit he ate back into the soil of this forest. 

Kushal was now regretting all his bad deeds and learned the lesson. With heavy heart, he returned all the cash and gold to the bank and jewelers the same way he had stolen. He then went back to his small shop, found the seed after a lot of searches, went back to the forest’s core, and sow the seed back into the soil. After sowing the seed, he felt thirsty and went to the same lake where he had had the picnic with his family. He bent down to take a handful of water. He could now see his reflection in the water of the lake. He started dancing with joy!

Kushal then came back to his home and met his family. His family was delighted to see him after a long time. 

 

1 Year Later….

 

Kushal is now completely satisfied and content with his life. He works very hard and believes in earning money the right way. He has also created and filed a patent for a couple of new chocolate flavors which he invented with his children’s help who are now also helping in expanding the family business. 

Written by:

Anwesha Chandra

(For the StoryWritingCompetition)

 

 

The Mystery of the Missing Chocolatier: By Aanya

 The Not's detectives were dining out at Mama P's when Dean read from The Guardian Paper, ‘Missing Chocolatier Will Fred.’ “Interesting, we must investigate this case today." said Addison after hearing what Dean said. After having some cinnamon rolls and coffee, they went on to investigate the case at Fred's House, where Fred was last seen by his servant Rosa. The house was massive, old, white, with stains all around the walls. The Not’s went into the house and questioned Rosa. She said, "I have n-n-no cl-clue where Fred went. When I l-l-last saw him, he was in the cottage n-n-next to the h-h-house making c-c-chocolates." After hearing what Rosa said, Not’s decided to go to the cottage.

 

The cottage was brown, made with logs. It had stains of chocolate, and there were cocoa beans, machines, moulds, and some utensils lying around.  When they reached the door of the cottage, Dean saw that there were big, muddy brown footprints leading to the door from the furnace. Dean and Addison followed the footprints that lead to an old trapdoor behind the colossal, white mansion. The trapdoor was old with rusty hinges. It was big enough to fit only two adults. The Not's looked in the trapdoor and saw a huge black hole emanating nasty odor.

 

They exchanged looks and decided to jump into the stinky trapdoor. They closed their eyes and jumped from the imposing height. They landed with their bottoms on the hard floor. When they opened their eyes, they noticed a room that had filthy, antiquated, rusted utensils that were inside half-opened barrels. They saw many butter dishes lying around. After investigating the stinky area for about half an hour, they found some evidence of Fred being there and searching for something important. They even found a secret tunnel leading to somewhere. The Not's decided not to go in the secret passage that day, as it was getting late. They planned to return the next day. They went back up using a ladder they found lying around near the barrels.

The next day they met in Mama P's café and had a banana smoothie and delicious butter croissant. They went to the trapdoor near Fred's house. After reaching the trapdoor, they jumped inside it once again. On landing, they went into the tunnel. They suddenly noticed a glove lying with something brown covered on it. Addison picked up the glove, smelled it, and figured out that the brown substance was chocolate. Dean saw a few drops of chocolate which were further ahead in the tunnel. They followed the drops. After following the drops for some time, they sensed someone following them. They turned back and saw Rosa. They saw that she also had some chocolate sticking on her hand. They questioned her and asked her where she was going. She said," I-I-I w-w-was uh j-just d-d-doing w-what f-Fred told me to do."

“Where is he and what did he tell you?” Dean interrogated.  “I don't know where he is, but he called me and told me to follow this tunnel.” Said Rosa. On hearing her response, Addison said, “Let's just follow this tunnel and see where it reaches.” They continued to walk in the tunnel until they reached the end and looked up. They saw another trapdoor on the top. Rosa said, “Probably here's where Fred wanted me to come.” Addison opened the trapdoor and heard some loud music. They all went up and saw a wise, old man sculpting some chocolate. The old man stopped, looked behind, and said, "Oh, there you are Rosa! I have been waiting for you for so long. I have a surprise for you, we are opening a new store, and I am almost done setting up for it.” Then Dean asked the old man, “Are you Will Fred?”. Fred nodded in agreement. They questioned Fred for a while and understood that Fred was never missing but was just preparing for the grand opening of his new Chocolate store in isolation.

Written by:

Aanya Rishi

(For the StoryWritingCompetition)

 

 

The missing chocolatier: By Tia

 Mark was my best friend. Mark was kind and a naughty friend. Mark’s dad was a dentist and his mom, a doctor. His dad never allowed Mark to eat candy or chocolate or licorice or any junk food you could think of. That’s why Mark always scored the highest in the health test. Mark and I were at St. Alexander Wonder School in London. Principal W was a strict man. If you got a minute late. you’d have to sit like chickens outside the classroom. Mrs. Janice was the only kind teacher we had. She taught English and didn’t scold us.

Right next to our school there was a chocolate shop called ‘Sally’s sweet tooth’. Sally’s shop was the only chocolate shop we had right next to our school. Sally’s shop helped our school on special occasions. But one special day, a boy named John ate too much of  Sally’s chocolate without anyone noticing and got a stomach ache and blamed it all on Sally’s chocolate that it had something wrong with it. Principle W told Sally to never enter the school after that day. I guess Sally lost her one and only highest paying system. No one actually liked her and neither did she. She was clumsy and mean.

One rainy day after school, Mark and I went to Sally’s shop to buy a chocolate bar. It was a cloudy and cold morning. I insisted mark to eat chocolate, but as usual, his answer was, “No!” As I entered Sally’s shop with Mark, I was scared that Sally might shout or not give me any chocolate. Mark and I got into the shop and went to the chocolate bar section.  We selected the Hershey’s chocolate bar and put it on the billing counter in front of sally. I took out my one pence and gave it to Sally. I thought that she would not give me the chocolate, but she did. She did a small smirk, I knew something wrong was going to happen. As soon as I left the shop with Mark, she shouted, “Thieves! Thieves!” I thought she was shouting at someone else, but as I turned around, she was pointing at us and there was a group of people chasing us. Mark and I ran through the busy street and the dashing rain. I found a small hiding place next to the broken houses and hid there with Mark. Soon, as the chasing people left. I went home. Mother scolded me for missing afternoon supper and told me to go to bed. 

The next morning I went to Mark’s house. While going, I thought of yesterday’s incident, thinking of how Mark and I managed to get rid of those chasing people. I approached Mark’s house and knocked on the door. Soon, Mark opened the door and told me that he was sick after yesterday’s running and couldn’t go to school. I walked to school alone thinking of revenge on Sally. I came back home for supper. After supper, I spent my whole day thinking of revenge. Suddenly, a lightbulb lit up in my mind. I called Mark and told him about the plan. The next day was a holiday and a great day to pull the trick. I woke up and got ready and went to Mark’s house. He was still eating breakfast. I pulled him out of his house and told the instructions again. We had to get the dead rat before Sally went for lunch. It was half-past twelve and we were getting ready. We just needed the rat. I went to the fishing supply store and got the rat. With the dead rat ready, we went to Sally’s shop. We hid next to the shop. As soon, as she went for afternoon supper, we got in quietly and put the dead rat in her bubble gum specials jar, and closed the jar. We went out quickly as she was coming in. Just as I stepped out, I realized I had forgotten my watch inside. It was loose, but Mark pulled me outside as she was coming. We managed to get out quickly before she came.

The next day a large crowd was next to Sally’s shop. I realized why the crowd was there. It was about yesterday’s trick on her. It seemed that she had called the police. She told that the dead rat couldn’t have come inside the jar and closed the lid by itself. I was worried about my watch. Did they find it? Was it still inside the shop? I got scared that the police would anyways find me, so I went to school in a different way. The next day, there were fliers on Sally. Apparently, she had gone missing. I was shocked. Was she tired of us? Did she not like our town? Or did she just vanish? I guess she was just missing.

Written by:

Tia Shrivastav

(For the StoryWritingCompetition)

 

 

THE MYSTERY OF THE MISSING CHOCOLATIER: By Ashwal Bolla

  

“Thank you, sir! Oh, hello! Would you like to taste my best candy ever? Blue’s Chocofun! It has my best flavor- Aqua Chocolate!” said Mr. Andrews Blue. His shop, Choco Cloud, was doing so well. He sold stacks and stacks of wonderful candies every day to every customer. His stocks were running low though; with all the people coming, his stock of candies decreased, and he had no time to make more. So, he had to do something terrible. He had to close his shop for a month! Otherwise, he would run out of candies to sell, and the funds he was raising for The Children's’ Hospital would perish! So he closed the van window and sneaked out with tippy toes. He ran to his house, where he made chocolate. Just as he was about to bring out his chocolate-making set, everything blacked out.

 

When he woke up, he was in a dark place. In an abandoned warehouse, in fact. “Ey, he’s woken up. Max, he’s woken up. Should I punch him again?” said a man. A robber, that was. “No, Robert. We need to know where he hides his chocolate stocks. Then, we can sell them and become rich!” said the other robber Max. Luckily when Max said it, both of them were looking in their van for something. That was Andrew’s opportunity to find a way out. After that, Andrew would call the police. He slowly untied the ropes with his legs- that was a trick he learned from movies! And he slowly went out. Suddenly, something pounced on him.

 

Adam was feeling weird. And his brother’s chocolate always helped. But when he knocked on the door, he found a note. It read: We have kidnapped him. Come to the warehouse at Emerald Valley. We wouldn’t tell you this, but we really do love challenging people.

Anonymous

That was it. Adam reached the warehouse and saw his brother on the ground near the exit. But when he touched his brother, things rippled. Was this a dream? It was.

 

Adam woke up. He still went to Andrew’s house and found that the dream was right about reality. The same note from Anonymous was there. He ran to the warehouse but found no one there. Next, he went to the chocolate shop. And there was no one there either. Well, the customers were. But Andrew wasn’t. He remembered the robbers’ faces in the dream- They looked like his other two brothers: Steve and Chris. He went back to his house. He had left his phone in the basement, and he had to find it.

 

“SHH! Adam needs the surprise!”, exclaimed Chris. They had covered everything in color paper and stickers and switched off the light. Then, the door creaked. Creak. Clippety Clop. Click. Finally, Adam was here. At last, they switched it on. The lights went on, and then they said, “HAPPY BIRTHDAY, ADAM!”.

 

That was why Adam felt weird. He forgot it was his birthday. And the people who wished him were his brothers- Steve, Chris, and Andrew. They cut the cake, and the flavor was chocolate truffle. Adam’s brothers even put the cake on his face. Adam washed it off. Andrew, the world-famous chocolatier, Adam’s brother, wasn’t missing. It was just a dream. The note was to build a mystery on his birthday. The joke of the day was The Mystery Of The Missing Chocolatier.

Written by:

Ashwal Bolla

(For the StoryWritingCompetition)

 

 

The mystery of the missing chocolatier: By Adviti Garg

Famous Chocolatier Goes Missing

One day, when I was busy thinking about the mystery of the missing stone, my telephone rang. It was the city inspector on the phone. He told me that the town's famous chocolatier had gone missing. The chocolatier was famous for the nice chocolates that he got from Chocolate Land. The city inspector wanted me to help in finding him. Now, I had another mystery to solve.

I thought the first place I should look for him was the chocolate land. So, I went there. When I reached there, the security guard stopped me. Only a few special people were allowed inside the Chocolate Land and they had a special card. He showed me the special card and asked, “Do you have this type of card?” I thought that if I said no, then he wouldn’t let me in. So, I told him that I had forgotten to get my card along with me. The security guard was new, and he didn’t know what to do in such a situation. He thought for a while and then he let me in.

Going Through Chocolate Land

When I entered the Chocolate Land, I was totally surprised. I just couldn’t believe my eyes! Everything in Chocolate Land was made of chocolate. Even the trees and houses in Chocolate Land were made of chocolate. The leaves of the trees were also brown because they were made of chocolate. There was also a river that had melted chocolate. I wondered if it rained in Chocolate Land, it would be so slippery here. 

 

I felt very thirsty, so I drank a little melted chocolate from the river. After drinking the melted chocolate, I realized that how much ever sweet and tasty chocolate was, nothing could take the place of water. I felt cold and started to shiver as there was no sunlight in Chocolate Land. Had the sun been there, then all the chocolate would have melted by now. 

 

While looking for chocolatier uncle, I saw a statue of him made of chocolate. I felt slightly odd because there was only his statue and statue of no other people. I thought that he was so famous that somebody made a statue of him only. I continued looking for him.

 

Meeting New Friends

  

It was a lucky day for me. While searching for chocolatier uncle, I met my favorite book characters - Joe, Beth, and Fannie with their friends - Saucepan Man, Silky, and Moonface. I did not know that they existed in real life. I was so excited to meet them.

 

Saucepan Man is always covered with kettles and pans, and he always made clanging noises when he walked. Silky was a tiny fairy. We searched together in every place. We searched in the houses, behind the trees, and many more places, but we couldn’t find chocolatier uncle. We rested for a while and then continued searching again. Joe and Beth told me about all their adventures while we were looking for chocolatier uncle. They told me about ‘The Land of Spells’ and '’The Land of Goodies’. I had fun hearing about their adventures, but the land was about to move so they had to go home. Saucepan Man noticed that he had a candle in one of his kettles. He gave the candle to me and told, “It’s getting dark. You might need this candle”. Then they left.

 

What Discovery!

 

It was starting to become dark, and I began to lose hope. I had searched for chocolatier uncle everywhere in Chocolate Land, but I still couldn’t find him. I was too tired, so I rested under the statue of chocolatier uncle. Since it was dark, I lit the candle that Saucepan Man had given me. After a few minutes, I felt a drop of chocolate on my head. I looked up and to my shock, I saw chocolate dripping from the statue itself and human fingers moving. It was then that I realized, it was not a statue. It was chocolatier uncle himself, covered in chocolate.

 

I melted all the chocolate on him using the candle’s warmth. I enquired how he got covered in chocolate and got stuck there. He told me that he had come here to get some chocolates as usual. However, the river overflooded, and all the chocolate came on him and it was so cold that he froze. I told him that everyone in town was worried about him and eagerly waiting for him to come back. He was relieved and happy to be safe.

 

Back in Town

  

When we reached back in town, the news spread like fire. The news of the town’s famous chocolatier being rescued by me came on every news channel and the local newspaper. I became very famous in the town. 

We had also brought some nice and tasty chocolates from Chocolate Land. To share his happiness with the kids, the chocolatier gave the chocolates to the children. The chocolatier thanked me profusely. I told him that it was my pleasure. It was a great experience and a fun adventure fun looking for him. 

I felt proud of myself for saving the town's famous chocolatier. All the people and children in town crowded around me for my autograph. They started nudging me for attention. Then I felt a hard nudge on my hand. It was my mom who was trying to wake me up from my dream!

Written by:

Adviti Garg

(For the StoryWritingCompetition)

 

 

 

Mystery of the missing chocolatier- The winner story by Parin Kishore

 

It was a dark and stormy night when my friends and I were discussing something very important- the missing chocolate seller. He used to come every week to sell chocolates at people’s houses, but one day, he stopped coming. At first, it did not bother us, but then later, we felt that something terrible had happened to him. The next morning, we went to the park to discuss what could have. After hours of brainstorming, we decided to take a break, so that we could refresh our minds. We started walking towards the juice vendor when we suddenly spotted a handlebar sticking out of a bush. When we went closer, we found out that it was a bicycle.

We took the cycle out of the bush and saw the black box that chocolate seller used to carry everywhere he went. He used to put money inside it. The box was tied on the back of the cycle. It had a lock that required a key. I knew how to open locks using paper clips and other tools, so first, we drank some juice, and then I started picking the lock. When I opened it, there was a note that contained a map and an address. The map looked like there was a treasure chest hidden somewhere, but unfortunately, none of us knew the address. All of us lived in Derry. We tried searching for it on Google and found out that it was known as The Old Town Road. It was not very far from here, so we started asking people if they knew about this road. Most people said that they did not know about it. 

We did not give up and continued to ask people until an old lady overheard us and told us that that there were many criminals and murderers who lived there and lurked in the shadows. After hearing that, we went back to the park and started discussing whether to go there or not since we would be in great danger if they found about us. We took the risk and went there by cycling. It took us about an hour or so. Once we entered The Old Town Road, we felt scared to death by looking at the condition of the place and knew that we had made a wrong choice. But since we had reached this stage of the investigation, we did not give up.

We dropped our cycles under a bush and started to search for that address. It took us a while to find the address even though it mentioned that it was near. We started searching all around the house for clues when suddenly we heard sounds of plates breaking, stairs creaking, and mice rattling. We peeped through a window and saw two men with guns running all over the house searching for something. One of them was opening drawers and almirahs while the other was searching shelves and suitcases etc. We were observing everything when suddenly a big ear breaking sound scared the souls out of us.

It was as if someone was banging a door and trying to get out. The sky turned dark and everything seemed scary. We waited for them to sleep, and then we slowly opened the door and crept inside. We went inside and followed the map that we had. It led us to a big wooden door. I used my skills to open the lock. When we entered the room, the chocolatier was tied up and his mouth was covered with tape. We helped him up. He started crying since we came to save him. We slowly sneaked out of that house and went home. We called the police, and they came and arrested the criminals. The chocolatier said that there used to be an old man who gave this map to him. The old man mentioned that the treasure should be given only to him. The chocolatier became rich and gave us chocolates and ice-creams every week.

Written by:

Parin Kishore

(for the StoryWritingCompetition)

 

 

The Mystery of the Missing Chocolatier: by Rishit Garg

  

Chocolatier Goes Missing

 

       It was a lovely silent afternoon in Kalakh. Rustic cabins dotted the grassy hills as trees stood up like spikes, zigzagging the border of brick roads and unpolished homes. Birds flew in the deep blue, cloud infested countryside sky.

 

Ramu was a ten-year-old boy who lived in Kalakh. He had mischief in his eyes and a heart of gold. His skin was tanned, and he had curly black hair. He loved cracking mysteries. It was his birthday today and his mom had allowed him to buy loads of chocolates from choco uncle. Everyone in the city called the local chocolatier, Choco uncle. He was a great friend, and his companionship endeared him to the children.

 

 At 8 in the morning, when Ramu reached, he was bewildered to see Choco uncle’s house in shambles. All the books were fallen, the curtains were in tatters, and all his prized chocolates were squelched on the floor. Ramu almost got lacerated by the broken glass window. Fluffy, choco uncle’s dog, was holding a piece of red cloth that Ramu assumed was from the curtain. Ramu scrutinized the floor and noticed faint, chocolaty footprints leading to the back door. 

The New Friend

 

The footprints ended next to the door. Ramu trudged forward on the lookout for any traps. There were fresh tyre prints right before him. They led to an uninhabited house. The house was draped in dust, and it reeked of the worst odor Ramu had ever smelt. It was musty, dry, and moist. Ramu could see a seepage in the roof. He glanced at his watch; it was already 9:45! He made a mental note to look around the place after lunch and rushed towards school. 

 

It looked like it was quite an eventful day. There was a new joinee, Rahul, who had joined his class in the middle of the year, which was quite unusual. He sat next to Ramu and within a few minutes they were chatting as if they had known each other for years. Ramu’s eyes went on his clothing, and he noticed that one of his sleeves was ripped off. Rahul hesitated and then told that he had a dog who had torn it. 

 

During the lunch break, they could go outside school. So, Ramu thought of going to Rahul’s house and later sneaking back to the abandoned house. Rahul’s house was marvelous. Inside, there was a fireplace, a dining room, and a shelf filled with antiques. An odd-looking camera caught Ramu’s eye - Choco uncle had the same one. When Ramu mentioned that, Rahul started feeling queasy. Ramu couldn’t understand Rahul’s reaction, but he chose to ignore it.

The Escapade

 

Rahul told Ramu that he wasn’t feeling well and needed to rest. Ramu felt bad for the boy, so he stayed for ten more minutes. During that time, he made some soup for Rahul. He then remembered that he had to look around the suspicious house, and he had only 15 mins left. He waved goodbye in a hurry and dashed to the house with the intention of getting to the bottom of this.

 

The house was filthy. Someone had been here and left a mess. There was chocolate syrup everywhere, the carpet was filled with all kinds of disgusting food, and everything was on the floor. It was like a mission for Ramu to get out of that house safely without having stains on his clothes. Ramu was famished. He hadn’t eaten anything since the morning. He went to the kitchen hoping to fix himself some food. The kitchen was even worse. There were breadcrumbs on the kitchen table and juice spilled in the fridge. He lost his appetite instantly. His eyes went on a calendar on which it was written and circled - ‘Ransam for keednaping that choclater, on majic hil at 4 o cloc’. These kidnappers clearly didn’t know English, but Ramu didn’t have time for guffawing at their stupidity. His friend had been kidnapped!

The Surprise

 

He went to school with his shoulders drooped. He was down in the dumps the whole next period, thinking of what to do next. When Rahul tried to talk to him, he shut him off one way or another. He, who was the first one to answer in the class, didn’t answer any of the questions. After some hard thinking, he decided to go to Magic hill and hide to see what happens.

 

No sooner did the bell ring than Ramu sprinted to Magic hill. He reached there at exactly 4 o’clock. Ramu was awe-struck by what he saw. All his friends were there, with a birthday cake and banner, candles, balloons and in the middle of all this, was standing their beloved Choco uncle. Ramu stepped out of the bush, and everyone shouted, “HAPPY BIRTHDAY RAMU!”.

 

He couldn’t believe his eyes. In the afternoon, he was sitting in the back of the class sulking, and here he was partying with all his friends. He was amazed at how perfectly they had arranged everything to lead him here. They played games, cut the cake, and filled themselves up till they couldn’t eat another bite. Choco uncle would have taken pictures of all this, but he couldn’t find his priceless antique camera and that bothered him.

The Twist

 

Ramu thanked all his friends for the surprise and for hosting such a fantastic party. Ramu told Choco uncle that the idea of chocolaty footprints and the messing up of his house was spectacular. Choco uncle was confused. He told him that they were the ones who had put the footprints but hadn’t messed up the house at all. Ramu frowned. It was peculiar because Choco uncle normally kept his house spick and span. Who on earth would have messed up his house for no reason!

 

Then Ramu began to piece it all together. Choco uncle’s camera was missing, and Rahul had the exact same camera at his house. There were other antiques of the same kind too. When Ramu mentioned that Choco uncle had the same camera, Rahul didn’t feel well. Fluffy had a red cloth in his mouth. A part of Rahul’s red dress had been ripped apart. Rahul had hesitated that time and had told his dog had torn it. Could it be Fluffy? Rahul did not have any pet dog as well.

 

So, was Rahul part of a stealing gang and had stolen Choco uncle’s antique camera? But these were just assumptions, without any proof. He had some investigation to do, and this time it was a real case Ramu had to solve!

Written by:

Rishit Garg

(for the StoryWritingCompetition)