– Glenn C Kharkongor

Stories with illustrations are a powerful tool that aids visual development, enhances emotional expression and nurtures aesthetic sensibilities from young age. We present Part I excerpted from the richly illustrated children’s story book The Mystery of the Cave by Glenn C Kharkongor with Illustrations by Careen Jolin Langstieh (Martin Luther Christian University Press, 2023)

Part-1

Mewan and Iba were best friends. They were both eight years old.

Every day they would walk to school together.

When school was over, they would run home, abandon their school bags, have their tea and rush out to play before sunset.

They loved walking through the forest, running up and down hilly slopes.

Sometimes they would stop to look at pretty butterflies, or to pick raspberries.

One day while in a thick forest on a hillside, Iba saw a dark opening behind some tall bushes.

She called out, “Mewan, look over there. I wonder what that is?” Iba pointed at the dark space beyond.

“Let’s go closer” suggested Mewan.

They took a few steps forward. It was a big dark hole in the side of the hill. They could feel a cool breeze blowing gently from the hole.

It was a hot summer day and the soft wind brushed their tired faces.

“It must be a cave” said Mewan. Of course, they had heard about the caves in the surrounding hills, but they had never discovered one.

Holding hands, they walked slowly into the mouth of the cave. There were big boulders in front of them but they also saw a passage beyond.

“Mewan, come, let’s go in and explore the cave. We have heard so many stories about caves from our grandparents” said Iba excitedly. She was the adventurous one.

She led the way, and they climbed up and down a few rocks and through some puddles of water.

Suddenly a bat flew out over their heads.

At first, they were startled but later began laughing at their initial surprise.

A few moments later a large black spider was crawling on one of the rocks and they walked around it, carefully avoiding the spider.

The light from outside was quite bright at the mouth of the cave but as they walked deeper into the cave it got darker. Outside the sun was setting, and gathering clouds darkened the sky.

“Let’s go back, it’s getting late” said Mewan, sounding a bit worried. Iba was splashing the water with her feet, jumping up and down in a little pool.

“No, I’m having fun. I want to play some more” Iba insisted.

To be continued…