Story on Page 6
Anisha loved the gymnastics class in school. She loved to jump on the trampoline, do back bends, rollovers and somersaults. She liked gymnastics so much that she didn’t stop when class was over. Wherever she was, she wanted to walk on her hands or balance on a wall or swing like a monkey from a branch.
One morning, in class, Anisha put her hands on the chair and raised her legs one foot from the ground on either side of her chair. She was about to straighten out her legs in the air behind her when her class teacher walked down the aisle from the back of the room. The teacher was busy looking at someone’s homework and she didn’t notice Anisha’s legs in the air — and she tripped and almost fell. Anisha too almost fell over. She gave a loud “Ooo-oof ” and the teacher went, “Excuse me!” as she held onto a desk to prevent herself from falling.
The other children gasped. They wondered what their teacher would do. Would she send Anisha out of the class? Would she write a note to Anisha’s parents? But the teacher did nothing like that. Instead, she said, “Excuse me”, again and carried on walking to the front of the room. Lucky Anisha! The teacher hadn’t seen her practising gymnastics.
A few days later, when Anisha was at home, her mother told her to keep her sister Shaina entertained for a while. Anisha soon got bored of playing with Shaina with her blocks and stuffed toys. In turn she did a head stand. Shaina gurgled with laughter and clapped her hands. Anisha did a cartwheel, then a roll-over and then she walked on her hands. Shaina loved it all.
So did Anisha — and she decided that she would walk on her hands for the rest of that day!
As soon as Mom came back into the room, Anisha rushed off to the veranda. She walked up and down on her hands and when she got tired she hung on the veranda beam with her legs, looking at everything with an upside-down view.
“This is fun!” she thought. She looked over the hedge at the empty house next door — and she saw that the front door was open. Furniture and boxes were going in — and so were people!
“New neighbours!” she thought. “Maybe there’ll be someone of my age to play with! Won’t it be nice if there is someone next door who is just right for me?”
She had hardly thought that when she saw someone small darting out of the neighbour’s house and running towards her house. The hedge shook as that someone wriggled through — and before she could move again
on the veranda beam, there he was, standing below her and looking up with a big grin — and a wagging tail!
Anisha squealed with delight and almost lost her balance as she jumped down. Her new neighbour scampered backwards and almost fell down the steps as he tried to avoid her.
Now Anisha was on her hands and knees and the two of them were face-to-face but as Anisha leaned forward, the dog jumped again and ran behind her.
Anisha laughed. She moved first but wasn’t used to this!
Maybe she would have to learn to move the same way that the dog did if she wanted to be friends with him — and she quickly turned around on all fours to face him and then race with him, her hand stands, leg loops and everything else forgotten.