Young Writers Society

Reason behind the story: - My sister gave me an assignment, she told me about this place with barren land, and on this land stood a long pole. But after 100 years this land had luscious green grass. How? That’s depends on how I want to explain it. It could be a scientific reason or even something magical. So here goes….. (It’s a narrative)

Greener Grass on the Other Side

“Long long ago in a far away land; greenery was as rare as finding a needle in a haystack. The barren land which was once known as ‘Barrenisia’ was now all filled with luscious green grass. It had inhabitants such as you and I living,” recited Maria, pointing towards all the children gathered around her.

Maria was a teacher. She was young, energetic and a free-spirited lady. Story-telling was one of her greatest interest. She could sit for days telling people about her stories. Today she had gathered a group of young children; to tell them the story about ‘Barrenisia’.

She continued, “Barrenisia was the most barren land in the world. The ground was never fertile. There was never enough water. The scorching sun would shine down and suck up what’s left of the water. The land had cracks in it. There stood a long ‘pole’ amidst all this barrenness. A pole so long that it touched the surface on the sun; when looked from below.

How the pole was there? Who put it there? Nobody knew!

It was just there. It had always been there. How? Who? When? Why? Nobody knew!”

“A few years passed and there was still no life in Barrenisia. No animal lived there. No plants grew there. Not even a cactus grew there.”

“The lack of water made Barrenisia a place unfit for humans, animals and plants. The pole however was still there. It had survived the hottest summer, the hotter spring and the hot winter. It appeared as if the pole was made out of an un-tamperable material.”

“More time passed… Barrenisia’s state was not getting any better. The pole however still stood tall and unharmed.”

“After what seemed like a 100 years, A Man; no, a Wanderer stumbled onto the land of Barrenisia. The poor fellow must have been lost; for he was so far away from civilization. He would never survive this place.”

“He looked around for something. What was it? Was it food? Was it humans? No! It was water.”

“For days he wandered around Barrenisia in search of water. He never found any. His throat was so dry; he couldn’t find the strength to talk.”

“As he now dragged himself around Barrenisia in search of water. He chanced upon something; something ‘incredible’. It was the ‘pole’. It had been there all this time. It was tall and unharmed. He moved towards it; slowly but gradually he reached it.”

“At first he was astounded. As to how could something survive in this land?”

“Somehow he found the courage to touch it. To his surprise; it was cold. Not freezing cold. But, cold enough to make a chill run down your spine.”

“He then bent down to touch the ground around it. The ground was hot. So hot that it almost burnt his skin; the area around his hand was all red.”

“He was taken aback. He wondered as to how a pole could be so cold when the ground it stood on was hot?”

“It then struck him that there had to be water below the pole.”

“He got down on his knees and dug around the pole. He dug deep; till he was sure that he had dug deep enough.”

“Once he was done he stood up and pulled the pole out. At first it wouldn’t budge. But, he gave it a million other tries. And after what seemed like the umpteenth time he pulled the pole out of its epicenter.”

“To his dismay there was no water.”

“After what seemed like a minute; the ground below him crumbled. And He fell!”

“He probably would have considered the fall to be his doom. But, he was wrong; his fall was cushioned by what seemed to be as ground. And not any ordinary ground but a luscious, green grassy ground.”

“He looked around the alien environment. His eye caught hold of a huge pond; a pond with sparkling blue water. He got off his butt and ran towards it. As soon as he reached the edge of the pond he took one of the greatest dives into the pond.”

“The water was….delicious. It was sweet; and it was just the thing that he needed.”

“When he got out of the water he looked around the place. There was a lot of green. And there was a lot of water. The land below the pole was a magical land. Well it seemed like it atleast.”

“Soon the word about the land below the pole spread. It was inhabited by people. Civilization had come into being. The land below the pole was a very fertile land. Different crops could be grown. The land below the pole seemed like a good place to settle.”

“A lot of debate took place as to what shall the land below the pole be called. After a lot of thought the land below the pole was called ‘Poland’.”

“With that I come to the end of our story. I hope you all enjoyed it,” said Maria with a bright smile on her face.

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