story writing about an old woman .. a hut ... dark stormy night... magical tree... ghost... mango shake potion... a queue
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The Ghost of Pichu
The little village of Pichu was several miles away from the nearest human habitation, surrounded by mountains on all sides. About thirty families lived in the village and they were mainly goat-herders and farmers. One day a terrible storm broke out and as the villagers were running helter-skelter, they saw a strange old woman staggering into the village, drenched wet. Taking pity on her, they showed her to a hut where she could spend the night.
It was a dark stormy night and all trees outside swayed and shook, except for the old mango tree which stood still in the rain-storm, with an eerie glow around it. The villagers found this strange and soon word spread that a ghost had taken refuge in the tree. Some said it was a magical tree. As they racked their brains over it, the old lady suddenly came out and said she could rid the tree of the ghost if someone could bring her ten ripe mangoes from the tree. Someone finally gathered up courage and got the old lady ten ripe mangoes from the tree. She asked for pots, pans and milk and when she got these she went inside the hut, lit a fire in the kitchen and closed the door. After ten minutes she asked all villagers to form a queue to drink the magical mango shake potion, which they did dutifully. As soon as the last person had finished drinking, the rain and storm had stopped mysteriously and the mango tree stood normally as if nothing had happened! The villagers thanked the old lady as she got ready to leave.