A Child’s Diary: Shivan Sharma’s Corona Lockdown Days in Kathmandu, Nepal

September 3, 2020

I have participated in monthly story-telling group. I had to write a fairy tale story about Ananya. Here is a story

Ananya was watching Harry Potter and the Philosophers stone as usual. As she was watching, Poco, her dog, started barking differently. Ananya went towards Poco and groaned “What is it Poco?”. Poco sprinted as Ananya followed him. As they reached the forest near their home, and a dense one, there was some kind of strange music. Ananya loved it.

All of a sudden the music stopped and there was a different silence, somewhat creepy. But what was about to happen, was much scarier and unbelievable. Ananya was flawless at making strategies, even impromptu. So, she gathered her courage and walked towards a light a little ahead. Ananya was panicking as she had never been this far from home. With the hope that everything will be OK, Ananya kept running with Poco, without looking back. Finally, they reached the light and found out to their surprise that they had entered a completely different place.

A valley was in front of the eyes of Ananya and Poco. Then, unknown to Ananya, a voice said, “Ahhh!! I love home!!”. Ananya was astonished. There was no one near them. Only Poco was there. “I am surely hallucinating, a dog can’t talk!!” Ananya spoke to herself in the heart. Then, Poco looked at Ananya and said “No!! You are not hallucinating!! You are in WonderLand.” Ananya was speechless. She thought that she was the weirdest, but this was something even out of her weirdness. “WOW!! What kinda people stay here?” Ananya asked curiously. “Name it!!” Poco said. 

“Nettie Thump from the book Trolled” spoke Ananya, looking doubtful. Poco started running towards the low-height mountain ahead. They walked for a minute, and they were there. Ananya was wonderstruck. The hill seemed to be quite far and how could they reach in a minute? Even in her Binge Watching of movies of Harry Potter or in Magic books reading, this kind of magic was unique to her. Poco said in a tiring voice “Ha!! That was a long walk”. “What do you mean!!?? We just walked for a minute!!” Poco looked and said “Listen, kiddo, you are in a world of magic. There will be magic in the timing. Well, your one minute is one hour for us!! Do you get it now?” Ananya nodded. She was perplexed. First, she is with a talking dog. Second, she is going to meet a fictional character.

Poco went towards a dead end and chanted a spell. “Oh the mountain of the ferocious trolls, the ancient Groundhog is here. I bring a guest who shares the blood of catronophs, so no need to fear!!” Ananya giggled. “It’s just a spell to open this door.” Poco cried out. There was a rumble, a huge one. Poco was not frightened, and neither was Ananya. Being used to this, all Ananya did was she just tried to balance herself. The rumbles stopped. Then, the rock that was in the wall faded away. “Holy Moly wack-a-moly!! It’s Troll mountain.” Ananya burst out with joy. Poco was cross. “We’re not stopping here. Let’s go.”

As they walked, there was a massive rumble. It occurred once in 3 seconds. Ananya fell and asked, “What is it with all this rumbling?” A gigantic Troll showed up in front of them. It was the mother of Nettie Thump. Ananya kneeled “Your Highness!!” The gazing monster shouted out “Who is this creature Groundhog?” Ananya stood up and said “Myself Ananya and I come from the human world. I have read about your Daughter.” Poco interrupted and started speaking “She is a Catronoph.” And they got a glimpse of Nettie Thump. Ananya was so happy to get an overview and walked away.

Now, she was so pleased that she fainted outside the mountain, she woke up half an hour of the magic time later. Poco was nowhere. She screamed out “HELP!! Somebody Help!!”. A blue floating object came in front of her eyes. “Hi, I am The One. I think you know me. Right?” Ananya never in her life of magic sneakers had heard of The One. “OK!! Never mind. You haven’t. I am a Demigod…” The One said. “No way. I know about Demigods. Amazing they are. Reading minds, teleportation, size changing, and so many more.” Ananya interrupted. “You are right” The one spoke out. “So, are we friends?” Ananya asked. “I guess..”

And so they became friends from the moment. As they were walking, Ananya asked, “Did you ever listen to music?” “What is music?” The One asked curiously. “Here, listen!! It’s amazing.” Ananya put some Air pods in the ears of The One and played some Jazz music. And slowly, the night was there. They built a tent and Ananya was about to go to bed. “I want to go back home. Do you know about a way to go back home?” Ananya spoke out, desperately. “I don’t. But I could find one!! It would take time, though.” The One Said. Ananya went to sleep.

It was the next morning. Ananya opened her eyes and saw that The One was heading somewhere. She immediately ran and asked where he is going. The One Replied, “To get someone home”. Ananya was confused. I think he is just searching for my way to go home. Ananya went to explore more of this magical land. And, for some reason, she realised she had something in her pocket. She grabbed it saw. She was full of joy after she saw it. It was her dad’s tracking device. “I am keeping this in the tent.” she giggled. Her heart was trembling, though. She was fearful that she would break it. But, for safety, she kept it under the pillow. She was relieved now.

Ananya started exploring. First, she went to the jungle with which she got attracted. There were some pixies. One said in a pink dress “Hello!! What brings you here?” The pixie asked. Ananya fell and said “DELORES UMBRIDGE!!”. Suddenly, Aurora, from the movie Maleficient arrived “What happened aunty?” Aurora asked. “Wait…. Oh!! Now I get it. It’s the place where Maleficient lives. What was the name? Ashridge, I think.” Now, the black creature came forward and said: “How do you know me?” Maleficient burst out “You have been written about in two books and shown in 2 movies.” Ananya spoke out confidently. “Movies?? What are movies? What do you mean?” Maleficient angrily said.

And as Ananya was about to leave, fearful of a curse, Maleficient put a barrier around Ananya and said “You seemed confident. I am happy that a human can be this sweet. Well, I reward you. You can always realise what is right and what is wrong. You may leave now.” Maleficient said, in a pleasant voice. Ananya felt very happy and returned.

The One had returned. He was waiting for Ananya. He said “I have made a way to return to the human world. You can leave at dawn. I will teleport you there.” As soon as he said that, Poco arrived “Thank god I found you!!” He yelped out. “Ananya, I found this tracker in the pillow. I thought you dropped it.” The One showed it to Ananya. “Oh!! That was in case I get lost I could track the co-ordinates. It’s of no use now, but I need to take it back.” Ananya replied and snatched the tracker. And it was Dusk. It was also the most beautiful sunset ever.

After the night occurred, The One asked: “Anyone want anything for dinner?” Ananya, who was starving at the time ordered, “Can I have one pizza, please?” A plate of it came right on her hands. She started eating like as if its been years since she had food. She finished it in five minutes. Ananya was full. She had enough “I am going to sleep!! Good Night!!” she moaned. And so, she went to sleep. It was the third morning, and she was going home.

And she just could not wait to share this story to Kavya and Sakira, her besties. She woke everyone up and saw that The One was just sitting there, and Ananya asked: “Didn’t you sleep?” The one said “We Demigods never sleep. Even we don’t know why!! It’s a mystery!!” And Ananya became speechless. She had so many questions, but just could not ask them. Then, The One went away. “I know you can read minds, then tell me what are you hiding from me?” The One angrily flies and says: “I do not want to live in the Wonderland. I want to be in the Human World. But, I can’t cross the barrier, I’ll lose my powers.

Suddenly, as he told that, a huge army came over there. It was like Groot, but a female who was leading that army. Then, Poco turned green and huge. Ananya gasped “You’re Hela’s Dog. But, who is that?” Ananya was surprised and curious. It seemed like a familiar face to her. Then, The One said “That is Hela’s sister there. Only you have the power to beat her, but, have not got it yet. Groundhog, secure her. And Ananya, dig deep and scream as loud as you can.”

Ananya went towards the tent herself and tried what The One had told. The war commenced. The One, who was the size of Mt. Everest right now, was squishing at least a thousand people in his foot. And Groundhog was eating the soldiers as if they are Sugar pieces, but, Hela’s sister, Mira, was so powerful, she was already taking out her sword to kill The One. As soon as Ananya saw that, she was fuming. She screamed so loud that radiation energy came out of her body and there was a nuclear explosion. Half of the army died. Only Mira and five soldiers were left. The One killed the remaining soldiers, and Mira went towards Ananya.

Ananya jumped and created a force field around Mira. Then Mira yelled, “You will never beat me!!” “Then, what am I doing right now? Sleeping. And you don’t know my anger.” Ananya threw the force field. Mira landed and ran at full speed. So did Ananya. They crashed at such a massive force that The One got shocked. Ananya tried her best to protect her friends.

And now, this time Mira was about to crush Ananya. But, Ananya was already furious. She got even angrier that the same kind of substance of her Magic was even in her eyes. She spoke the words, “Legends!! Never!! Die!!” And blast such power from her eyes that Mira turned into ashes in seconds. Ananya gasped. “So, this is my power capable of killing her?” The One simply nodded. He was still so shocked by the fact that he got shaken. He was never even touched. And Poco was so scared with Ananya that he somehow made up his mind that he won’t go back. And as soon as it was about to be dusk, Ananya packed her bags. She was ready to go. The One was now happy because there was a way he could go now. He had got a curse by an ancestor of Ananya that he will be powerless if he crosses the Human barrier. He ran to Ananya and asked for a favour. He asked Ananya to put her hand on the ground. And The One touched Ananya’s hand.

Then, The One said, “I will go to the Human World with you.”. “But didn’t you say…” Ananya said. The One interrupted and said: “You revoked the curse” Ananya was perplexed. But, she just went, and realised “What about your form?” Ananya asked, expecting to see some magic. And then The One turned into a boy at least three years older than her. And so, they teleported to the entrance. Ananya walked past the barrier, and so did The One. And they went back to the Human World.