The Desert Adventure

By Vani Balaraman and Dhruv

Water ! Water ! Give me some water !, I am doing to die of thirst, cried Babloo.
Here ! Take this. But please dont sip all of it , ok ! , said Bintoo , handing over his water bottle to
Babloo.
I wish I had something to eat too, I only have two biscuits left in my pockets , sighed Babloo again.
shh ! Stop talking and whining all the time , Babloo !
Look ! The leader has something to say , said Bintoo.
Babloo and Bintoo were in the Thar Desert. They were on a hunt a treasure hunt , led by a leader.
The leader held a blue map in his hand and was charting out plans.

Babloo and Bintoo were the youngest in the gang. So they chose to stand away from the trekkers who
were now peeping into the map the leader was holding .
Which route should they take ? The North, East , West or South ? Which of these routes would lead
to the treasure, the leader was having a serious discussion with his team mates.
Everything looks the same here , exclaimed Babloo.
Sand , sand and more sand ! , and he kicked his foot hard on the sand , which resulted in sand rising
like a cloud and blinding him.
Bintoo began to cough and chided Babloo.
Cant you ever stop whining Babloo !
No I cannot. I am running out of water, I am running out of biscuits ! and I think I am going to die
here and the eagles are going to feast on me ! , cried Babloo.
I wish I had never listened to you , continued Babloo.

I wish we had never listened to that Potli Baba ** .

I knew the magic stone he held in hand would put us into deep trouble !
.. and look now, here we are in the desert . Even if I had to cry , no one would come to help us ! , burst
out Babloo.
For once Bintoo felt sorry .
I am sorry Babloo. I thought the only way we could escape that Geography exam was to find some
thing magical which would transport us to a different place , sighed Bintoo.
I had no clue we would be transported to a desert , continued Bintoo.

**Potli Baba is an old man carrying a bag, believed to have magical powers

Babloo was feeling home sick . How he wished he could get back home.

His mother would have returned from the fields, and must have put the pot out to cook dinner.
His mouth started watering at the thought of the rice and dal she cooked each night.
He grew sad thinking how much he made a face every night to eat the dal she cooked .
..and here he was , with just two biscuits left in his pocket and his tummy growling for food .

His pet dog , Minnal too would be waiting at the gate for him.
How much his dog loved him! How much it licked his face when he returned from school !

.. and how much fun he and his pet had when it chased the chickens in the farm.
He remembered how his pet dog once chased the chickens and gave them a fright . That was when he
named the dog Minnal, a dog that chased and frightened chickens like that can only be called lightning
!
The sun beat down mercilessly.
The desert troupe waddled along aimlessly with no sight of the treasure.
The sun had begun to set .
The hunt party decided to camp under the open skies.
The night sky was lovely . Tiny stars twinkled from above like diamonds on a necklace.
Babloo and Bintoo drifted off to sleep, so tired were they , they sweared even a desert monster would
fail to wake them up.
Babloo had just closed his eyes when he felt something crawl on his hand.

He woke up with a start , still rubbing his eyes .

It was a scorpion ! A giant scorpion !
He let out a cry.
aaaaaaaaaaaarghhhhhh. Helpppp !

Babloos father came rushing into the room.

Babloo Babloo! , is all fine, and why are you sweating profusely ? , asked his worried father .
Babloo rubbed his eyes .
Yes Indeed., He had been sweating ! . and his shirt was soaked in sweat.
He looked at his desk and found his Geography book .

He had been reading about the Thar Desert before dozing off !
..and he was glad the desert experience and the scorpion was only a dream !
ZzzzzzzzzzzzND!