JABALI AND THE BIG FIVE

The Big Five

The next morning , Jabali woke up late and tired. He looked around the room and was shocked to see the bright sun rays spread over his room.He reached out to his alarm clock and realised that he had forgotten to set it at his usual time. Jabali got up from his bed and walked to his window to draw the curtains. It was probably mid-morning as the sun was bright. He slowly walked downstairs to his parents room. He knocked the door but got no response , as expected , his parents had left for the restaurant.

At the Kitchen, he found a note from his mother , it read :

"Good Morning Jabali ,

we are off to work. we did not want to wake you up as you seemed tired , Your food is in the fridge , and don't forget to feed Rex.

See you in the evening "

He went to Rex's Kennel and opened for him. Rex happily jumped out and rushed to the kitchen with Jabali. Fully understanding that Rex was hungry , Jabali got dog food from the store and placed some on Rex's food bowl.

Jabali got some cornflakes and milk , and prepared breakfast for himself as he was hungry. After breakfast , Jabali went back to his room and took a shower. He put on the clothes he had bought for a nature trip back in fifth grade. It was jungle green pair of trousers with a light brown shirt. The patron for the environmental club had taught them about camouflage and Jabali loved the idea of blending in with nature. Attempts to clean up Rex failed as he simply did not want to shower that day.

Jabali heard voices at the nearby park , he peeped through the window and saw Roby playing with his friends. He had planned to go for a nature walk with Rex but decided to play with Roby and the other teammates.

Jabali walked out of the house and after ensuring that he had locked the door , ran all the way to the park as Rex followed him. Roby was organising the other boys for a football match just like he always did. He saw Jabali approaching and stopped , ready to listen to him.

" Roby , I want to join the team and play football ," Said Jabali.

" What ? You have never played with us , Do you even know how to dribble a ball ? " asked Roby.

" Yes , just give me a chance , " insisted Jabali.

" So Mr.Environmentalist wants to play with us today , I say no , not today ," Roby replied.

Roby looked away from Jabali and continued dividing the other boys into teams. Jabali felt hurt , the other boys wanted him to play with them but did not want to upset Roby.

Jabali felt hot tears fill his eyes , without thinking twice , he run back home. Once at the door , he struggled to open the door as he could not see properly. Rex was next to him and when the door finally opened they got in. Tears were trickling down his cheeks as he went to his room. He jumped onto his bed and cried for a while. When he was done , he took grandmother's book and read it again. This time when he got onto the last page , he felt an urge to press the "ENTER" button. If Roby and his other friends did not want him , at least he was sure that animals loved him. He picked his backpack and placed his phone in it , he found a map that grandmother had given him neatly folded.Rex got on to the bed with him and kept admiring the book. Without thinking twice , Jabali pressed the "ENTER" button. Suddenly the atmosphere in the room changed, Jabali felt as if he was sucked into the book. Together with Rex , they entered into a forest-like surrounding , this was the beginning of an adventure that Jabali would never forget.