Laxmi Proves To Be A Pixie

Swapnagudi was a serene valley nestled in the mountains of Bhagawanmala. There lived a pious man named Kumaran. Kumaran served as the forest officer of Swapnagudi for about a decade. Kumaran was a family man. He lived with his only daughter Laxmi and his mother in a lovely home that was built on the banks of the river Giridhaara. Swapnagudi was now buzzing with the wintry air. Giridhaara had a heavy flush this winter. The entire valley survived on the water of Giridhaara. It was believed that Giridhaara originated high above the Bhagawanmala, which was flocked by herbs and trees of medicinal value.

Kumaran woke up to the cock's cry at four every morning. Everyday as soon as he woke up he would see Laxmi sleeping besides her grandmother. Seeing this he would feel that he should never give place to the absence of mother's love in Laxmi's mind.

Laxmi was a peppy lass and was so garrulous that her grandmother often lost to her in all funny tiffs. Laxmi loved animals and she had a pet lamb named Shweth. But Laxmi was not allowed to bring Shweth home along with her. This was because her grandmother would fume with fury at the sight of a lamb. Laxmi therefore found a cozy place for Shweth inside a deserted cave that lied doggo in the woods.

Every morning Laxmi would wake up with her grandmother at five. She would then stealthily leave for the cave with her glass of milk to the cave to meet Shweth. Shweth was used to this feast and would patiently wait for Laxmi to arrive. As soon as Shweth heard some footsteps it would jump out of the hay bed and run out of the cave. Laxmi would then play with Shweth in the tea estate, pluck some flowers from the Estate office's garden escaping the sight of the watchman and merrily leave for home. By then her grandmother who was used to these activities of Laxmi would be ready with hot water for Laxmi's bath. Then Laxmi would leave for the village school uphill.

One fine day Laxmi left for her school as usual. But today she found to her surprise that her favorite teacher Mira who taught her English at school was glum. It was Laxmi's habit to meet Mira in the staff room to show her notebook and get it corrected. But when she entered the staff room she found Mira weeping all alone. She stood clueless at the staff room door. Then she found Mira walking out of the room without paying attention to Laxmi's presence. All night the thought of her teacher's sadness haunted Laxmi.

The next morning when Laxmi went to meet Shweth she found Mira watering the plants in the garden of a wooden house nearby the cave. But soon she found Mira being dragged ruthlessly into the house by an old woman. Haunted by these scenes she moved back to her home. At school when she told her principal that she had found Mira being handled rudely by an old woman, her principal seemed to be hesitant to take it seriously considering that she was talking childishly. She came to know from the principal that Mira was ill and would not be visiting the school for almost a month.

All these made Laxmi worry about her teacher. So she left for the wooden house near the cave and there she found the old woman getting trucks loaded with sacks and being paid some money in return. Laxmi being a child could not make up what was happening. Shweth now ran into the plants behind that house. There Laxmi picked up few leaves and returned home. At home when her father introspected those leaves brought home by Laxmi, he was astonished. He discovered that it was the leaf of the plant Cannabis sativa which was used for producing psychoactive drugs. He asked Laxmi where she got those leaves from. Laxmi who was on the verge of crying owing to her teacher's absence told all she had seen at the wooden house. At this Kumaran smelled something fishy and promised to Laxmi that he would get her teacher back.

The next morning Laxmi guided her father to the wooden house. On their way Laxmi found the cruel old lady of the wooden house walking opposite to them on the road. She was relieved that now she can safely enter the wooden house. Laxmi told her father that the old woman would not be at the house now. When they reached the wooden home, Kumaran stepped down along a flight of stairs that lead to an underground storage. It was filled with huge sacks. Kumaran tore open one of the sacks with his pocket knife and found to his surprise that the sacks were filled with the leaves used for preparing the drug Cannibis. Soon he called up the local police and informed them about the illegal activity.

The police rushed to the site and broke open the wooden house for investigation. They found Mira tied up rudely on a chair. Soon Laxmi ran up to Mira and hugged her. The police freed Mira from the knots. Laxmi was now overwhelmed with excitement to have her teacher back. Mira explained to the police that her step mom was engaged in smuggling of drugs and that when her step mother learned that Mira was about to complain to the police about her illegal activities, she locked up Mira inside the house. The police soon arrested Mira's step mom on ground of pedaling drugs. Laxmis's grandmother suggested Kumaran to marry Mira as she believed that Mira herself being brought up by a step mother will be kind and loving mother to Laxmi. Finally Kumaran married Mira and they all lived happily ever after.