Tuesday, January 5, 2016

The Smilepicker and his bag of smiles ...

Once upon a time, long long ago, very long ago, so long ago that no one knows how long ago ... there was a beautiful land of smiles. In that land, everyone smiled from morning till night in that land. No one knew what a frown was. All the happy people of the land woke up with smiles, shared smiles and went to bed with a smile. Every mile of the land was filled with smiles alone. Yeah ... Like the one you wear now while reading these lines. Thank you for that.

Into that land came a wind from the Angry land carrying all the dust and dirt from the land where everyone knew only to frown. The gust of wind crept into the homes of the happy people of smiley land and the dark days started. Kids stopped smiling and started to fight with their peers, brothers and sisters fought with each other, husbands and wives frowned at each other and friends kept smiles away from their peers. The happiness was gone and nowhere to be found.

Then came an old man who had gone to the experience mountain to fetch water. He came back to his land of smiles aghast, to find everyone frowning. He stopped and checked whether he had lost his way and reached some unknown land. He was wrong. It was the same smiley land where smiles lived on every face. The Old man thought to himself.

"I have not much time left. I need to bring the smiles back"

He took a sack from home and walked through the streets of the village. He walked by the windows and strolled by the alley. He saw pieces of broken smiles in the garbage cans. He picked them up from everywhere with a tear in his eye.

"I need to make this all right for all those who shared a smile with me in my life", the old smile picker thought to himself.

Some broken smiles and splinted laughs pierced the old smile pickers hand and scathed him. Scarred and wounded, the smile picker came back to his shack. He took each smile with care and mended them one by one. He burnt the midnight oil, to mend more smiles. He made them sparkling and shining as fresh as new. The smile picker smiled to himself the next morning, seeing a bagful of fresh smiles beside him. 

He went to the streets and shouted
"Fresh smiles, fresh smiles... feel free to buy one"

No one came to him. Everyone walked past him with a frown. 

The smile picker wore a smile from the bag and shouted at the top of his voice
"Pay me not, but share a smile"

Everyone veiled in the cloak of maturity, ignored the old man. The Smile picker went on and on and on ... He was tired, but still wore the smile. The sun was setting and covers of night pulled on...The smile picker walked back to his shack with a heavy heart, but still wearing a bright mended smile. He went to sleep with a smile, thinking to himself

"There will be someone who will buy a new smile tomorrow"

The morning sun peeped from behind the mountains. The old smile picker's sleep was broken by a knock on the door of his shack. The old man thought

"Who could it be?"

He opened the door to find a boy without a smile, with his head held low like a flower about to wither. He looked up to the smile picker

"Can I have a smile for my friend, who is in need of one?" the boy asked the smile picker.

The smile picker rushed to his bag of smiles and gave him a pouch of smiles. The boy walked away and the smile picker did not have to wear a mended smile. A bright new smile reached his lips from the heavens. He was smiling again. He went with his bag of smiles with the boy. The boy walked down the lane to his frowning friend and gave him a smile. His friend took it from the boy and they both started smiling. 

The smile picker knew one thing now
"Smiles are never sold, but shared and as you share, you get more"

The smile picker and the two smiling kids ran with a bagful of smiles and went to every corner of the village and started sharing the smiles and got more smiles in return. The scum from the winds of the angry land was gone and smiles returned to the smiley land. Where everyone started smiling again, everyone started shining again and lived happily ever after.

Share a smile today and get back more... one day.

3 comments:

  1. Brought a smile to my face....and got several thoughts spinning around in my head. Keep em coming Kris!
    - Wil

    ReplyDelete
  2. Smilinspiration :-)
    May each one who reads this wear a smile resistant to any raging angry wind blowing their way!

    ReplyDelete
  3. There's nothing more noble in life than bringing a smile and cheer to people around u..
    But to pen a story on this is even more awesome.
    Thanx and kudos kris... Really brought a smile while reading this..keep goung

    ReplyDelete