<p>Arin was a complete bookworm. His nose was always buried inside the pages of a book. His favourite place on Earth was the library at his school.</p>.<p>One day, he sat inside the library reading a mystery by his favourite author. He was so engrossed in his book that he didn’t hear the school bell ring, and neither did he see his classmates leave the library. When the old librarian Mrs Demento walked down the aisle, her last inspection of the day before she closed the library, the short-sighted woman somehow missed seeing the 11-year-old boy and the boy missed seeing her. Walking back to the entrance, Mrs Demento shut the door and locked it. Poor Arin was still unaware of his situation. As he read the last chapter, the mystery cleared. He had enjoyed the twists and turns of the story, surprised at the kidnapper’s identity. He had read three books this week.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Suddenly, he became aware that he was alone. His eyes widened as he looked around the large library. It was completely empty. He groaned, staring at the clock. It was <br />6 pm. He was now aware that he had been locked inside.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Racing to the door, he started banging it. Sadly no one heard his cries for help as the library was in a remote part of the school. As he lived in the hostel, his friends would assume he had gone to his aunt’s house and his aunt would think he had stayed back at the hostel. He realised that he would have to spend the night at the library.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Returning to the back of the library, he walked towards the forbidden shelf, no one was allowed to touch these books. Picking up a few books he returned to his chair. As he carefully placed the handful of books on the desk, he felt a shiver run down his spine.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Feeling a pang of hunger, he opened his school bag. As far as dinner was concerned, he was sorted. He hadn’t eaten his lunch as he had some cash left from his Deepavali money, so he had gorged on puffs, sandwiches and samosas in the canteen and had even packed a couple for dinner.</p>.<p class="bodytext">As he settled in his chair, he opened the books at random pages. His eyes widened when he saw the eerie illustrations. Goose bumps dotted his arms as he felt a strange presence around him. Three creatures stood before him. <br />“Now that you have summoned us from the books you weren’t supposed to touch, you better give us some tasks, else we will have no option but to eat you up,” one of the creatures said in a gruff voice.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Arin sat stiffly in his chair, his mouth turned dry and sweat beads erupted over his forehead. What had he done? How was he supposed to get rid of these strange creatures? And what tasks could he give them?</p>.<p class="bodytext">“Arrange the books in the library in an alphabetical order,” he commanded.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The strange creatures immediately moved to the entrance of the library and started arranging the books in alphabetical order. Within an hour they were back before him.</p>.<p class="bodytext">“Give us another task,” the second creature said.</p>.<p class="bodytext">“Do all my homework,” Arin ordered.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Sitting down at his table, the three creatures pulled out his notebooks and each one started doing his homework. While one did his boring Chemistry equations, the other completed the sketches of all the amphibians and the third wrote his Hindi essay. Within an hour all his homework was done.</p>.<p class="bodytext">When Arin inspected his notebooks, he was pleased. Their handwriting and sketches were neat.</p>.<p class="bodytext">“Good job,” he said.</p>.<p class="bodytext">“Another task please,” the third creature said.</p>.<p class="bodytext">“Take me to my hostel room,” he said.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Within a few minutes he was in his room, on his bed. His school bag beside him. The three monsters stood before him, looking at him expectantly. He stared at the clock in his room. It showed 11.50 pm.</p>.<p class="bodytext">“Get me a burger, pizza, and cheesecake from my favourite restaurant,” he said, feeling a thrill as his favourite restaurant shut at 11 pm.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Within a few minutes, the three monsters were back, carrying the food in their hands. Though delighted to see his food before him, he was dismayed at the monsters’ efficiency. Was there anything they couldn’t do?</p>.<p class="bodytext">Suddenly, an idea popped in his head. It would get rid of these monsters once and for all. He would give them a task that could never be completed. Not in this lifetime. Not in several lifetimes.</p>.<p class="bodytext">“Make a hundred people go off social networking sites,” he said.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The monsters went away, a spring in their steps. This was easy peasy.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Arin ate his pizza, burger and the cheesecake. He checked the clock, more than an hour had passed. This was the longest the monsters had taken to complete a task. His eyes started drooping and he settled into his bed.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The next morning, he woke up at 7 am. There was still no sign of the monsters. He went to school. The monsters were still missing in action. Arin relaxed. Finally, he had given the monsters a task they would never be able to complete.</p>
<p>Arin was a complete bookworm. His nose was always buried inside the pages of a book. His favourite place on Earth was the library at his school.</p>.<p>One day, he sat inside the library reading a mystery by his favourite author. He was so engrossed in his book that he didn’t hear the school bell ring, and neither did he see his classmates leave the library. When the old librarian Mrs Demento walked down the aisle, her last inspection of the day before she closed the library, the short-sighted woman somehow missed seeing the 11-year-old boy and the boy missed seeing her. Walking back to the entrance, Mrs Demento shut the door and locked it. Poor Arin was still unaware of his situation. As he read the last chapter, the mystery cleared. He had enjoyed the twists and turns of the story, surprised at the kidnapper’s identity. He had read three books this week.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Suddenly, he became aware that he was alone. His eyes widened as he looked around the large library. It was completely empty. He groaned, staring at the clock. It was <br />6 pm. He was now aware that he had been locked inside.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Racing to the door, he started banging it. Sadly no one heard his cries for help as the library was in a remote part of the school. As he lived in the hostel, his friends would assume he had gone to his aunt’s house and his aunt would think he had stayed back at the hostel. He realised that he would have to spend the night at the library.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Returning to the back of the library, he walked towards the forbidden shelf, no one was allowed to touch these books. Picking up a few books he returned to his chair. As he carefully placed the handful of books on the desk, he felt a shiver run down his spine.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Feeling a pang of hunger, he opened his school bag. As far as dinner was concerned, he was sorted. He hadn’t eaten his lunch as he had some cash left from his Deepavali money, so he had gorged on puffs, sandwiches and samosas in the canteen and had even packed a couple for dinner.</p>.<p class="bodytext">As he settled in his chair, he opened the books at random pages. His eyes widened when he saw the eerie illustrations. Goose bumps dotted his arms as he felt a strange presence around him. Three creatures stood before him. <br />“Now that you have summoned us from the books you weren’t supposed to touch, you better give us some tasks, else we will have no option but to eat you up,” one of the creatures said in a gruff voice.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Arin sat stiffly in his chair, his mouth turned dry and sweat beads erupted over his forehead. What had he done? How was he supposed to get rid of these strange creatures? And what tasks could he give them?</p>.<p class="bodytext">“Arrange the books in the library in an alphabetical order,” he commanded.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The strange creatures immediately moved to the entrance of the library and started arranging the books in alphabetical order. Within an hour they were back before him.</p>.<p class="bodytext">“Give us another task,” the second creature said.</p>.<p class="bodytext">“Do all my homework,” Arin ordered.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Sitting down at his table, the three creatures pulled out his notebooks and each one started doing his homework. While one did his boring Chemistry equations, the other completed the sketches of all the amphibians and the third wrote his Hindi essay. Within an hour all his homework was done.</p>.<p class="bodytext">When Arin inspected his notebooks, he was pleased. Their handwriting and sketches were neat.</p>.<p class="bodytext">“Good job,” he said.</p>.<p class="bodytext">“Another task please,” the third creature said.</p>.<p class="bodytext">“Take me to my hostel room,” he said.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Within a few minutes he was in his room, on his bed. His school bag beside him. The three monsters stood before him, looking at him expectantly. He stared at the clock in his room. It showed 11.50 pm.</p>.<p class="bodytext">“Get me a burger, pizza, and cheesecake from my favourite restaurant,” he said, feeling a thrill as his favourite restaurant shut at 11 pm.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Within a few minutes, the three monsters were back, carrying the food in their hands. Though delighted to see his food before him, he was dismayed at the monsters’ efficiency. Was there anything they couldn’t do?</p>.<p class="bodytext">Suddenly, an idea popped in his head. It would get rid of these monsters once and for all. He would give them a task that could never be completed. Not in this lifetime. Not in several lifetimes.</p>.<p class="bodytext">“Make a hundred people go off social networking sites,” he said.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The monsters went away, a spring in their steps. This was easy peasy.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Arin ate his pizza, burger and the cheesecake. He checked the clock, more than an hour had passed. This was the longest the monsters had taken to complete a task. His eyes started drooping and he settled into his bed.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The next morning, he woke up at 7 am. There was still no sign of the monsters. He went to school. The monsters were still missing in action. Arin relaxed. Finally, he had given the monsters a task they would never be able to complete.</p>