Ravina Sewani

Callipso Island was a beautiful island where leopards and cheetahs lived on opposite sides of the tall and long wall. Leila was a leopard cub. Leila was a leopard, but she wished she was a cheetah. The problem was, leopards did not like cheetahs and cheetahs did not like leopards. Cheetahs were rich and leopards were poor. Cheetahs had enough food to eat and lived in tree houses with rooftop swimming pools. Cheetah children had playgrounds with slides made of glass and swings that whirled you through waterfalls so it felt like you were flying with the birds. Leopards did not even have enough food to eat. Leopards were not allowed on the cheetahs’ side of the wall. Tigers and grown-up cheetahs guarded it. One morning Leila was very sad because it was her birthday and her mother was too poor to buy ingredients to bake a cake. She went to her olive tree and curled up at the top. Amidst the silence of the dawn, her tears sounded very loud. On the cheetahs’ side of the wall, a group of cheetah children played football by it. One of the cheetah heard Leila cry and looked up. “Why are you crying?” the cheetah asked. “It’s my birthday and I didn’t get any cake or presents because my parents don’t have any money.” “Happy birthday!” said the cheetah, kindly. “I will make you a present today at school.” “Thank you.” Leila said. “You are a nice cheetah. What’s your name?” “My name is Charlie. What’s your name?” “My name is Leila.” “Meet me here this evening after school,” said Charlie, and he galloped off with his football. That evening, Leila climbed her tree and wondered if Charlie would remember to bring her a present. Charlie came as promised. “Catch!” he said. A paper aeroplane came gliding through the air and Leila caught it in her paws. “Open it!” Charlie called. Leila opened the aeroplane and inside was a bunch of flowers that Charlie had threaded into a bracelet. The message said: ‘Happy birthday Leila. Love from Charlie’. Leila grinned from ear to ear. “Thank you!” she called back. Charlie then ran off because the police tigers had started to growl at him. Leila wore her new bracelet and returned home. Her father arrived home very late. He had missed her party. He said, “I travelled all day to pick you some strawberries from the strawberry bush but I could not find any as the weather was bad." Leila understood and hugged her dad. At twilight, a shimmering, silver glaze settled over the ocean. Leila liked to rest here. Her grandfather lay next to her. “Grandad, tell me about the olden days, when leopards and cheetahs were all friends on Callipso Island.” Leila said. Leila’s grandfather lit his pipe and began, “In the early days when I myself was a child, the cat kingdom existed in harmony. Leopards and cheetahs lived happily side by side on Callipso Island. “So what went wrong?” Leila asked. “The greedy tigers came from the other side of the ocean and paid the cheetahs in gold and silver to get all the antelopes for themselves. “The tigers and the cheetahs built the wall overnight and the cheetahs got to stay on good side of the island with all the antelope parks and the fruitful land. The leopards were given the bad, smaller and barren side of the island.” The next day, Leila's father climbed to the cheetah's side of the wall to get strawberries for her daughter. But as soon as he jumped to the other side, the tigers and the cheetahs guarding the wall pounced on him and injured him badly. Leila’s father limped back to his den and Leila and her mother spent the night licking his wounds better. Leila woke up early next morning and rushed to her safe space – the olive tree. She cried and cried and thought that last night was all her fault. “Why are you crying?” Charlie asked her. She told him all about the tigers and the cheetahs hurting the leopards. “Leila, I want to give you a cuddle but I can’t reach you.” Charlie said. He stood on the ground wondering how he could help. That night, Leila joined hundreds of leopards at the big wall and all the leopards prayed for the quick recovery of Leila’s father. Suddenly, they heard singing from across the wall, a beautiful melody carried in the calm wind. Leila climbed over the olive tree and saw rows of cheetahs. They were holding paws and their singing became louder. Leila spotted Charlie and Charlie saw Leila. He shouted up to the tree, “My friends and I were so angry about how the tigers hurt you all. This wall is silly. Leopards and cheetahs should be friends again. We told all our families and friends at school. And here we all are. BREAK DOWN THE WALL!” “Break down the wall!” all the cheetahs chanted. “We are all cats! We are all equal!” Leila called her leopard friends, “Come up here!” she cried. The leopards stood on top of the wall and held their paws together too, joining in the chanting. The leopards jumped over the wall and the cheetahs clapped and cheered in welcome. The tigers crawled away, back to the land they came from. Charlie took Leila on the swing and they swung through the waterfalls. He gave Leila the cuddle he had wanted to give her. It was the best party that Leila had ever had. And so this day became known as the day when the little cats broke down the wall. It was the bravery of cheetahs and leopards and their good hearts which finally brought peace to Callipso Island. Moral:Bravery in the face of injustice is bound to bring great changes.

This is a story of leopard and cheetah.Moral(s) of the story: friendship, bravery

cheetah stories

Stories help in improving a child's imagination. Here are a few interesting ones for you to narrate to your child.

The Leopard and The Cheetah

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