Navarro's Mangoes

• Mohamed Ihsan Mundackamattathil Mohamed Iqbal, Grade 8
• Short Story
• 2021

I was stuck between two choices. Save my best friend or save my reputation. Oh, what I would have done to choose both options! Alas, the world was not fair that way.
It was a chilly morning in Sergipe, Brazil. My friend Rodrigo and I were heading to school. The breeze was whistling like a cheery songbird. The school was about a mile away from the village, and we had to walk barefoot. We had just exited the village and were going to take our usual route, with all the trees and greenery, but a tree had collapsed on the pathway. A huge crash had been heard a few nights ago during a thunderstorm. This tree must have caused that. The foliage was so dense that we couldn’t go through any other way. Luckily, there was a little detour for adults, in case of situations like this. We, being too lazy to go back and tell our parents, decided to take that route instead. So, we slung our knapsacks over our shoulders and walked. After a while, we stumbled upon an area of the forest that was different from the rest. It was serene. There were beautiful orchids that came in all sorts of colours, lots of tall trees, and best of all, a large pond right in the middle of the patch. The water was crystal-clear, and there were giant water lilies on the surface. Just as we leaned in towards the pond, I spotted it. It was a magnificently tall mango tree with many ripe mangoes on it. We agreed that after school, we would take this route, and get some mangoes. So, we continued.
On the way back home from school, we came back to the same spot. Rodrigo was a pretty good climber, so he went up while I supervised. As he went up, I noticed a manky old wooden sign stuck into the ground behind some bushes: ‘Property of Alberto Navarro’. I ignored it because nobody was going to notice a few missing mangoes. So, we got a few mangoes, and everything was going okay…but then Rodrigo realized he didn’t know how to come down. Unfortunately, Rodrigo was stuck for the time being. I could have gone back to the village and asked for help, but I was known as the brightest, most well-behaved kid in the village, so if I was caught stealing mangoes, my reputation would have gone downhill. I told my friend to hang on while I tried to find something to help him down. I couldn’t find anything. Suddenly, Rodrigo’s hand let go of the tree, and then everything went in slow motion. His other hand let go as well, and he fell…on top of me.
Suddenly, I woke up and my eyes fluttered open. I was in a hut, somewhere I didn’t know. Where was Rodrigo? I had no idea what happened. With a jolt, I realized. “Oh no”, I thought. “I’m lost”. Then I passed out.