Ellie’s Adventure in the Land Where Only Rice Grew - A Short Story for Kids
In this short children’s story a little girl learns an important lesson when she comes second place in a competition.
Onyinye Obiorah
6/12/20264 min read
Ellie’s Adventure in the Land Where Only Rice Grew - A Short Children’s Story
Ellie and her friend Dorothy went for a spelling bee contest. At the end of the contest, they both did very well. Dorothy won first place, and Ellie won second place. They were happy for each other. Then, the quiz mistress came to congratulate Dorothy. She lifted Dorothy up in the air.
“Great job, Dorothy,” she said, ignoring all the other contestants. “All these contestants are nothing to you. It’s a wonder they bother coming. At least that gives you a chance to shine so bright!!”
She went on with her praises. Dorothy felt embarrassed but was polite. Soon, Ellie felt left out.
“I study really hard. Dorothy hardly ever studies, yet she wins all the prizes,” thought Ellie. And very soon, her sweet smile turned into a sour frown. Suddenly, she wanted to go home.
“Wait up, Ellie!” Dorothy called. She ran to meet her friend. Happily, she hung her arms around Ellie's shoulders and said, “We are the champions!” But Ellie moved away. Dorothy was surprised to find her friend so cold.
“Um, here is some special chocolate the quiz master gave me,” said Dorothy as she handed a few wraps to Ellie.
“No, thank you,” Ellie said without looking. “We have a lot of chocolate at home.”
“Ellie!” cried David, her brother. “That’s not very polite.”
Dorothy was shocked, but she continued cheerfully.
“I didn’t even study, but spelling is so easy,” she said.
“You don’t need to because the quiz master helps you cheat,” said Ellie sourly.
“That’s so mean,” said Dorothy. She burst into tears and ran to her parents.
“Cry baby,” said Ellie.
"Ellie! Why are you being so mean?” said David. “You’re just unhappy because Dorothy got all the attention.”
“But I did my best,” Ellie said and burst into tears.
“Then you should be proud of yourself,” said David, putting his hand around her shoulders. “Winning is also about the type of person you’re becoming on the inside. You could win and be pretty mean, or even do pretty mean things to win. That’s not a real win. But if you're still pretty on the inside even when you lose, you are really a winner.”
Ellie felt sad. She had been mean to Dorothy.
“Come, I’ll show you something,” David said. Ellie knew this was the beginning of an adventure. They turned the corner and were in an old city.
“Hello Sir,” David called out to a farmer across the road.
“Where is the way to the city where only rice grows?” asked David.
“That’s the way,” said the farmer, as he pointed the way out to the children.
On their way to the city, they met some villagers. They were from the city where only rice grows.
The children said hello, and they all continued their journey together. Then David asked the question he had been longing to ask.
He asked why they only grew rice.
“We used to grow every kind of food,” the villager said. “But there was a rice farmer who wanted all the villagers to buy only what he planted. He told tales about the other types of food. Everyone was scared because of the tales he told. So, they stopped buying food from other farmers and bought only rice. So, we all farm only rice now.”
“What kinds of tales did he tell?” asked Ellie.
“He said beans would make your toes wiggle,” said one of the villagers. “No one wants wiggling toes. So, everyone stopped eating beans.”
“Then he said vegetables would make your eyes melt,” said another villager. “No one wants melted eyes. So, we all stopped eating vegetables.”
“That’s just silly,” said Ellie. “They’re different types of food. Whatever you may prefer, they are all needed. Anyone who doesn’t agree doesn’t know very much.”
"Well, everyone believes him,” said another villager. “Sadly, we all grow weaker and sicker every day."
As they drew close to the city, they saw a large fire burning. Someone came running and shouting.
“Fire! Fire! The farms are on fire! Someone has set the farms on fire!”
So all the villagers hurried to the village to help put out the flames. But it was too late. All the food had been burnt up, and there was no more food to eat.
The king was upset.
“Who started the fire?” he asked.
“We don’t know, Your Majesty,” answered his servants.
“You must find out who did this,” said the king. “Do not return until you do!”
The King’s servants searched carefully. In the end, they found out the rice farmer had set the farms on fire. He wanted to burn all the other farms. It would make all the villagers buy their food only from him. But things didn't go as planned. His farm also got burnt in the fire.
He was brought to the king, who was very upset.
“Why would you do such a thing?” asked the king.
“I wanted everyone to buy their food from me,” said the rice farmer sadly. “I’m sorry.”
“But they once bought all their rice from you,” said the king. “But you told silly tales about all the other food. Wasn’t that enough?”
“I’m sorry, Your Majesty. I should have been happy then, but I wanted everyone to buy only from me.”
The king forgave him, and the farmer stopped telling tales about other farmers. Every type of food was planted in that city, and everyone was healthy and happy.
At the end of their adventure, Ellie and David were at home. They rang the bell, and Mummy opened the door.
“Ellie, you did well at the spelling bee,” she said, and gave Ellie a big hug. “I’m happy you worked so hard at it.”
Ellie felt better. She called Dorothy and said she was sorry. The next day, she and Dorothy played with dolls together.
The End