Reva’s Little Orange Bucket- A Short Story for Children
In this short children’s story, a little boy loses his special bucket, and a king learns an important lesson about happiness.
Onyinye Obiorah
7/13/20263 min read
Reva’s Little Orange Bucket - A Short Story for Children
Reva swung his bucket from side to side. It was a little orange bucket. The bucket had a tiny plastic shovel. Reva let Fluffy the teddy bear sit in the bucket. He also let Mr. Elephant sit there, too. They both took turns for Reva’s special bucket rides. All the toys had their turn. Tomorrow, Reva would go to the beach. He’d build a sand castle with his bucket. Then he’d take a bucket full of seashells home.
It was time to go to bed. Reva lifted up his bucket like a trophy. He smiled at it and placed it gently on the dining table. Then, off to bed, he went; his head full of dreams of his little orange bucket.
The next day, Reva couldn’t wait to play with his bucket. He ran to the dining table to pick it up, but his little bucket was gone. He looked under the table, under the chairs, and on the chairs, but the bucket wasn’t there.Where could his bucket be? Reva searched everywhere, but his bucket was nowhere to be seen.
“Why do you look so sad?” David asked Reva.
“I can’t find my bucket,” Reva said.
“Did you check in the kitchen?” David asked.
“Yes,” Reva replied.
“Did you check in the living room?” asked Ellie.
“Yes,” Reva replied. “I checked on the table, and I checked under the table. I checked in the house, and I checked outside the house. I have looked everywhere, and I still can’t find my bucket,” Reva said, on the verge of tears.
“This can only mean one thing,” said David.
“What?” asked Ellie and Reva.
“We must go to the land of buckets,” answered David.
So, off they went to the land of buckets. There, the children saw all sorts of buckets. They saw tall buckets and short buckets. There were buckets that could sing and some that could rhyme. Reva was amazed; he didn’t know buckets could be so wonderful. If there was anywhere he could find his bucket, it was here.
“Hello sir,” David said to a man walking down the street.
“Hello,” said the man.“Could you please help us? We’re looking for a little orange bucket,” said David.
“Well, what does it do?”
“It’s a bucket, sir,” answered David, a little puzzled.
“This is a land of no ordinary buckets,” said the man. “It has to do something extra to be worth mentioning.”
“It’s a simple bucket,” David replied.
“Then you must go to the city shed,” said the man.
“That’s where we stack all ordinary buckets,” and he walked away, a little impatiently.
So, the children went to the city shed. There were stacks of buckets in every direction. The buckets stacked here were all really nice, but they were too ordinary for the land of buckets.
They went through every stack and looked at every bucket, but they still didn’t find Reva’s little orange bucket.Reva felt sad. He started to cry.
“There, there,” said the shed keeper, patting Reva’s golden afro.
“You can have any of these you choose.”
At that, Reva sobbed even louder.
But the shed keeper’s assistant said,“I know where it is.”
“You do?” asked everyone, looking eagerly at him.
“Just as I was about to put your bucket in a stack early this morning, the king passed by. He liked the bucket very much. So, I gave it to him.” “You could go to the king. Maybe he’ll let you have it back. After all, it’s just an ordinary bucket,” said the shed keeper’s assistant.
So, the three children went to the king’s palace, and just as the shed keeper had said, Reva’s little orange bucket was there.
“What do you want?” asked the king.
“Your Majesty,” Reva said, “Please, could I have my bucket back?”
“Is this your bucket?” asked the king.
“Yes,” answered Reva. “And I love it very much,” he said.
“I’ll tell you what, I’ll give you a new golden bucket and a sack full of gold in exchange for this little orange bucket,” the king offered kindly.
Ellie and David jumped for joy. What a wonderful offer for a silly little bucket.
But they were surprised when Reva said, “No, thank you. I just want my little orange bucket.”
“REVA!” screamed Ellie and David.
But the king raised his hands and said, “Silence!” He turned to Reva and asked, “Are you sure, little boy? This bucket isn’t worth much.”
But Reva took his bucket and smiled, “It is the best in the world!” And he turned around to go home, happy to have his little bucket back.
“Not a very bright lad,” the king’s adviser whispered to the king.
“Quite the opposite,” said the king. “I would give my whole kingdom for a bucket that would make me as happy as he.”
Ellie and David heard what the king said. Maybe Reva wasn’t so silly after all, they thought.
They left the land of buckets just in time to go to the beach with Mummy and Daddy. Reva had fun with his bucket at the beach. What a wonderful adventure.
The End