Characters
- Sheru – The Lion (King of the Jungle)
- Chintu – The Mouse (Small but Clever)
- Milu – Little Deer (Kind and Brave)
- Bobo – The Monkey (Fast and Funny)
- Raju – The Elephant (Strong and Gentle)
- Kalu – The Bear (Big but Friendly)
Story
One evening, the jungle was very quiet. The sun was going down, and the river water looked orange and gold.
Milu the deer was drinking water when she suddenly froze.
Across the river, she saw a big dark shadow moving.
She ran back quickly.
“Sheru! Sheru!
There is a monster near the river!”
Milu said, breathing fast.
Sheru the Lion stood up.
“Monster? In my jungle? Let’s go see.”
Chintu the mouse jumped onto Sheru’s back.
“I will come too. Monsters don’t scare me,” he said (but he was actually a little scared).
They slowly walked toward the river. The sky was getting darker, and the shadow looked bigger and bigger.
Behind a tree, Bobo the monkey whispered,
“I think we should go back…”
But Sheru walked forward bravely.
The shadow moved again.
Splash… step… splash…
Everyone stopped.
Then suddenly Sheru started laughing.
“It’s not a monster,” he said.
Everyone came closer and looked carefully.
It was Kalu the Bear!
He was standing in the water trying to catch fish, and the sunset light behind him made his shadow look huge and scary on the rocks.
Kalu turned around and said,
“Why are you all looking at me like that?”
Chintu laughed. “We thought you were a river monster!”
Everyone started laughing loudly. Even Kalu laughed so much that he fell into the water with a big SPLASH!
That evening, while walking back home, Sheru said:
“Sometimes the shadow is more scary than the truth.”
Chintu added,
“And sometimes, the monster is just your friend catching fish.”
The Lesson
Don’t be afraid of shadows.
Many fears look big from far away but are small when you go closer.