By Rossana Favero-Karunaratna

What is a mongoose? It sounds like a Chinese goose or even a mango mousse!
I am a mongoose, an animal with a pointy head and curious eyes. Sometimes you see me crossing dusty roads. I will tell you the story of how I met Kumar.
One day I found a hollow tree. I am naturally curious so I felt compelled to search inside, determined to do it no matter what.
There was a path. I continued to explore it and I was next to a tooth-pick shaped old man.

I was inside a room. He was seated on a tall chair reading a book. He did not notice me when I tried to find something to eat. I managed to escape through the door, which was partly open. It took me to a garden. I found some mangos still untouched and full of flesh on the ground. I took one with me and then another one. They were so sweet and helped me realize I was starting to like this place.

I thought it was time to leave and while trying to find a way to go back and out of the house, I saw the old man again carrying a box of books from his car to the house. Apparently the boxes were heavier than what he had expected them to be and it seemed like he was going to collapse. A boy suddenly appeared with a familiar gesture and asked to carry the boxes for him. I hid myself behind some bushes.

Kumar was not surprised to see more books to be taken into the house. Mr. Ajith – that was the name of the old man – already had so many of them in his house. There were books on the floor, on the chairs, and – obviously – on the shelves. In fact Kumar started wondering where to put the new books.
“Are you going to read these books too, thatha?” Kumar asked curiously.

“Yes, my son, all of them; you know they are my treasure. I am a rich man indeed,” he chuckled.And the old man started to explain – again – how he got his first book, how he learned English reading Enid Blyton’s stories and how sometimes he escaped some embarrassing situations because of being keen of learning new words. “Read, my child. Read everything you can find and you will conquer the world. Long time ago thieves broke into our house. They thought they took some valuables, but the truth is, they did not touch my precious books. I was lucky.”

Kumar placed the first box next to a green striped sofa. Suddenly I noticed that everything in the room reminded me of my green paradise.“Here is fine,” said Mr. Ajith, recovering his voice “Thank you son and to your new friend too!” the man said.And that was the moment when Kumar noticed I was there. From that day onwards I listened to fantastic stories, including one about a poet who lived in Colombo with a mongoose by his side!

It all happened very quickly and my life changed. It all worked in my favour because Kumar’s mother started to feed me with roti every morning. My agility known to many as the most effective weapon against poisonous snakes became handy as I was able to rapidly jump and pick a couple of roti every day directly from the small table next to the door. I was able to taste their unmistakable coconut flavour. First Kumar’s mother had to shout and call me to get them but after a week she would leave a couple of roti at the entrance of the kitchen.

Then I realized I had been finally domesticated! Kumar soon started to search for information about my species. He read that “a mongoose symbolizes the ability to overcome hatred and to confront the forces of adversity “. He read Kipling’s famous story of how a mongoose had saved a family from the threat of a cobra. Somehow he started to feel more and more identified with me as if we were both part of a puzzle yet to be understood. We became friends forever.

Kids Essays