Winter is coming - A story written for the Erudite Roulette - Mysore Toastmasters

“Winter is coming!” Papa Hamster shouted at his children. “Be quick with that food, Anka! Quick, with those feathers, Cobb!” Little Anka hurried to him and handed her over her load, and Papa Hamster put it in their food storage hollow. Mama Hamster was getting feather beds ready for the family. As soon as the ravens announced winter, the family would snuggle into their little den. But till then, Anka had to endure her father! “Anka, don't just stand there,” he said, right on cue. “Winter is coming!”

They worked till nightfall, and were back the next morning. But to their surprise, some of the food in the hollow had disappeared! Mama and Papa Hamster paced the floor, wrung their hands and scurried all over the den! But there was nothing to do, except fill it again!

Little Anka wanted to find out what had happened to the food. That night, she slowly slipped away from their summer home to the winter den, and kept watch. Suddenly the Earth began to shake! As Anka watched, the food in the hole started to disappear! She ran out to investigate. She could see lights far away, and there was a huge thing moving ponderously. As it moved away, the shaking stopped.

Anka went back into the den and pulled out the food from the hollow. There was a little hole in the bottom! Anka had solved the case!

When Anka told her parents, they were cross, but they were also impressed.

“Father, what was that thing?” Anka asked. “You were born in the summer, you've never known anything else.” her father said, stroking Anka's head. “In the winter, the humans drive huge trucks. And sometimes, the humans from them come into the forest!” The childrens' eyes grew wide in horror.

“You know,” Mama Hamster added, “before they built the wall? The humans used to come here all the time. And animals used to get hit by their big trucks!”

The children were scared, and when the ravens finally came to announce Winter, were more than glad to go into a torpor. Anka awoke one day to eat, and heard a strange noise. She carefully crept out of the den, carrying a stick in her mouth. If anyone harmed her, she could “stick them with the pointy end,” as her cousin Lon had told her.

To her horror, she found a group of humans sitting around a fire very close to the den. One of them had something glowing on its lap. Anka crept close to it, and saw that the box on the human's lap had more tiny humans inside!

And as she watched, one of the little humans in the box said something! Anka ran back to the den in shock. Later that winter, when she and her sister Tansa were both awake, Anka told her the whole story. “What did the little human say?” Tansa asked, her voice a low whisper. Anka whispered back, “Winter is Coming!”

Topic given by: TM Arjun