Modern Stories : The Magic Hole

Penny was a little girl who lived in Alaska. It was ice-cold there. She kept praying that she wish she could play in the lush, green and warm gardens like we do but of course, she couldn’t.

Her father, like all the men there, didn’t have a job. He hunted seals and caught fishes as was the custom. So her father hadn’t even heard of money and even if he had money, there weren’t any aero planes to take them abroad.

Now somewhere near Penny’s house was a deep, dark forest. Everyone was afraid to enter it. They said that whoever entered it would be sucked in by a great hole.

One day, Penny was playing with her Eskimo friends when one of the boys shouted “Hey, I dare one of you to enter the magic forest."

No one dared. Penny picked up a twig and threw it at the edge of the forest. Nothing happened. Penny was astonished. It’s all a legend! We can play hide and seek in the woods if we want, she thought. She walked slowly towards the woods. It was getting colder and colder she took each step. She walked right into the middle of the forest.

There was a small hill with a great big hole right in the middle of it. She wanted to jump into it. She took a big, deep breath and jumped.

There was a sinking feeling in her stomach. She realized that she falling down deep some where. But she did not land. She went spinning and suddenly all here fur clothes vanished and there was a skirt and blouse instead of it .She was at the beach.

She found that she had a bag with her. Inside the bag there was a swim suit, a mattress, a book, a bottle of lotion and a towel. She took all these out. And lo and behold!

Her parents and her elder brother were standing there. They helped Penny to spread out the mattress and they had a basket full of fruits which they put on the mattress. Penny and her brother ran joyously to the warm sea. Oh! What fun! She wished it would never end.

But after exactly one hour, it all vanished and she was back in the forest. She hurried home. Her parents didn’t ask her anything. She looked at the watch. Only five minutes had passed since she had left. Now that was strange! 1 hour had passed! She was sure.

She had looked at her watch at the beach.

She was confused. ‘Huh! Mama! Papa! Didn’t you miss me?’ she asked her parents.

They were surprised to hear her story. They went to the magic hole together. They jumped into the magic hole one by one. At once they were at the mall. They wore the same clothes as anyone else. When they came back, they didn’t tell anyone. Now they go there often.

It is their favorite picnic spot