55. Short Story : Chatter Box

Malini always talked too much in the class. She could not resist talking. List of her friends had been decreasing day by day. Now a time had come when she _____________.

Ans. CHATTERBOX

Malini was a talkative girl. Talking was her pastime. She talked too much. Whenever there was a small break in the class, she immediately started chattering. She initially had a big circle of friends. But just as she became popular as a “chatterbox”, the number of friends dwindled. Finally, there was just a one-way communication with Malini. Now the time had come when she had to stop talking too much.
It so happened that Malini did not come to school continuously for two weeks. All knew that she had gone to Delhi with her mother and sister. Her father got transferred to Delhi recently and the family had stayed back in Patna.
Then Malini came to the class after a month. But she looked quite changed. Her cheerful face wore a dull look and she did not seem to have any inclination to talk to anyone. We all felt very bad at this unusual behaviour. So we decided to find out the reason and asked her what had happened.
Malini was in tears as she said that when she had gone to Delhi, her family had met with an accident. Her father had been driving the car when he got distracted by Malini’s talks and hit the road divider. Malini’s mother suffered a terrible head injury and lay unconscious in the hospital for a week. However, she recovered after she was operated. Now Malini had come back to her place to stay with her uncle so that she could attend the school. We all really felt sorry for Malini.