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Mamta was crying so loudly. ‘All right,’ she said. ‘I-I think I’ll go now. But I’ll come back if
I want.’

‘Whenever you want…’ whispered the tree. It opened up its trunk. Shanti stepped out.

She walked to the house slowly and rang the bell. Chacha ji opened the door.

‘Shanti?’ he asked. ‘Where were you?’

‘Visiting a friend,’ she said. ‘I was tired. And…I
broke a plate by mistake. I was afraid Chachi ji

would scold me.’

‘Shanti!’ Chachi ji cried. ‘Where were you?’

‘Visiting a friend,’ Chacha ji said. ‘The poor girl
gets tired of working all the time. She’s just a
child. So what if she broke a plate? It can happen
to anyone.’

‘Yes,’ says Chachi ji slowly. ‘She’s just a child. So
what if she broke a plate?

Shanti, will you hold Mamta for a while? I’ll
make a cup of tea for you. Then I’ll cook dinner

while you play with Mamta.’

Mamta stopped crying. She said, ‘Agh-gha-gha,’
and held her arms out to Shanti. Shanti tickled
her and made her laugh. What kind of

Chacha ji smiled and said, ‘She missed you so much that she emotions emerged with-
in you for Shanti after
didn’t stop crying.’ reading this story?
Let’s connect
‘Mamta likes me,’ Shanti said. life skill emotional intelligence

Chachi ji said, ‘Don’t go away again, Shanti or Mamta will cry. And…we like you too.’

Then Chacha ji said, ‘Another thing, Shanti…tomorrow I’ll find out about the school.’

Shanti looked out through the window at her friend, the tree. She smiled and didn’t say
anything. Now she would never be scared again. She had found a safe place which would
always be there for her.

—Deepa Agarwal

About the Author
Deepa Agarwal is an Indian author, poet, and translator who writes for both children and adults. She has over 50
published books to her credit and is the recipient of the NCERT National Award for Children’s Literature. Her recent
books are The Begum, Blessed, Friendship Stories, and Journey to the Forbidden City.

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