Dimdima
Online Children's Magazine from India
Dimdima
Online Children's Magazine from India
There was a knock at the door and Mr. Quibbles woke up grumbling from his deep afternoon slumber.He was a short-statured man with a bald head in his mid-sixties who wore half spectacles. He lived alone in his huge mansion. His children-two sons and one daughter were the only family he had left. His sons were abroad living their own private lives and had got his only daughter married off last month.Now,it was him and his maid servant Mrs. Pebbles who lived in the luxurious mansion.Mrs Pebbles was a kind old lady in her mid-fifties who took care of Mr. Quibbles and supervised his servants.Now,Mr Quibbles was a grumpy old man.All his life he had made money.Money,money and more money!He never mingled with anybody and was never fond of crowded places. His only close comrades were his children whose presence kept his grumpy nature somewhat under control. But with the departure of his daughter, he had become lonelier still which had made him all the more grumpier.Now back to the point in our story where there was a knock at the door which hindered our Mr. Quibbles sleep. He got up and shouted,”Mrs. Pebbles! Could you check who’s at the door? It must be the neighbourhood children collecting funds for their annual school play! These little devils I tell you, they have no work! Spoiling an old man’s sleep is what gives them pleasure. Hmph!” Saying thus, Mr Quibbles grabbed his newspaper and started reading.Mrs Quibbles went and opened the door.True to what Mr Quibbles had said there stood 4 little children from the neighbourhood -Martha,John,Patrick and Jessica.Martha exclaimed,”Good Evening Mrs Pebbles!We are collecting funds for our annual school play.Could Mr Quibbles be kind enough to lend us some money for that?” Mrs Pebbles smiled and said,”My Dear!Its such a pleasure to see all of you actively participating in your school activities.But I am afraid,your constant knocking woke up Mr Quibbles.Let me see if I can persuade him to help you all.”With this,she invited the children inside,gave them some hot chocolate to drink and went upstairs to find Mr Quibbles.She entered his room and said”Sir!There are children to see you.They need some money for their school play.” The old man frowned and said,”Here!I have 20 dollars.Just give it to them and make them leave!” Mrs Pebbles smiled,took the money and came out of the room.She went up to the children who were chit-chatting and enjoying the hot chocolate and remarked”My children!Here you are.20 dollars from Mr Quibbles.” The children looked at each other.They were so disappointed!John said,”20 dollars only!Mr Whiskers from across the street gave us 50 dollars.” “Yeah!” chimed in Jessica,”What a miser!” And all their little faces fell.Mrs Pebbles said”No Dear!Mr Quibbles is a nice man.He is just lonely in his life.All he needs is someone’s love and care.Do you know its his birthday next Friday and on his birthday every year he donates a huge sum for children’s orphanage?” The children were surprised to hear that.Their old Mr Grumpy Quibbles(as they called him) was a kind man at heart!Nevertheless,they thanked Mrs Pebbles and went off to play.
“So Mr Grumpy Quibbles is not a bad person at heart!” exclaimed Patrick. “I was surprised to hear that he likes giving donations!” joined in Jessica.”After what we got as our school play fund,I doubt he donates more than 500 dollars for the orphanage.He seems to hate kids!” complained Martha.”No guys!Remember what Mrs Pebbles told us?He is a nice person at heart who’s lonely!Maybe we could do something about it?” said Patrick.”I have an idea!Let’s have a surprise party for him!” said an excited Martha.”YES!” They all said in unison.And so our little group of kids met Mrs Pebbles and told her about their plan.Needless to say she was very happy to hear about the surprise and agreed to help them.On the morning of Mr Quibbles birthday,the old man woke up,changed his clothes ,grabbed his car keys(he liked to drive himself) and set off for the donation work at the orphanage.The children,who were waiting for this very moment, entered his house and with the help of Mrs Pebbles and the servants, decorated the entire mansion.Lights were lit up,balloons were blown and a huge chocolate cake was prepared.Finally, it was time for Mr Quibbles to return and what do you think he saw when he came back?Well,he got the shock of his life to see the decorations and the children and everything they had done for him to make him feel special.He was overjoyed and said”Oh My My!You people did so much for me.So much for a person who never quite properly behaved with you.” “We did it all to make you feel special Mr Grum…uh Mr Quibbles!” said John mischievously.Mr Quibbles looked at him angrily and then burst out laughing.Just as he was smiling at everyone, he saw a figure appear from behind.Who was that? Yes it was his daughter Betty who had come to meet her father!Mr Quibbles was overjoyed.He hugged his daughter and Betty remarked”Father!Happy Birthday.The kids called me up and invited me here.” Mr Quibbles’ eyes welled up with tears.He said”Thank you dear children.You have given me so much of happiness.I hereby announce to sponsor your annual school play everywhere!” This made the children cry out joyfully and from then on,Mr Quibbles became their favourite neighbour and they started spending time together and Mr Quibbles was no more alone.
Sukriti Jaswal
ESHANK
Its a great story. I specially liked the way the kid says "Mr Grumuh Mr Quibbles". Good one. I hope you write more
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