Bahadur looked up as Abdullah patted his silky mane,
They walked side by side as he held his reins.
Bahadur’s body looked weak and eyes looked old
As they stood and watched the Valley of Gold..
Where the sun sprinkles beams on shiny white snow
Where the pine trees are arranged neatly in rows
Where the rivers flow silently and brooks sing a song
Where you could sit and dream of good things all day long!
“If you throw a horseshoe in this valley, your wish will be fulfilled,”
So said grandpa once, when Abdullah was a kid.
The sun had set and it was time to turn back
Towards a house that was more like a wreck.
Abdullah tied Bahadur in his broken shed,
Just when Gul Chacha stormed in, looking mad!
“Where have you been all day long?
Show me the money, or else you’ll be gone!”
“We just returned from a ride to the Valley of Gold.
Bahadur’s horseshoe is broken, so we could walk no more!”
“That’s no excuse, Abdullah. Make him walk till all his hoofs crack.
We have stomachs to feed and money to make.”
So saying Gul Chacha went away in a fit of a rage
Both Bahadur and Abdullah cried over their sorry fate.
But the next morning was different, when Abdullah awoke,
He was dressed in his best pheran;at his feet was a pot of gold!
“What happened through the night?
How did my clothes change and the house look so bright?
New horseshoes! Yes, I will first buy new horseshoes,
And then surprise Bahadur in my new clothes and shoes.”
So with a new pair of horseshoes Abdullah ran towards the shed
But instead there stood a big black stallion
One unlike he’d ever seen!
No, this is not my sweet pony Bahadur.
Oh Bahadur! Where can you be?
Until I find you, I will not lie still.
So off went Abdullah to look for his little pony
He looked all around, but Bahadur was nowhere to be seen.
Till Abdullah noticed broken hoof prints on the snow,
And he knew just where he had to go.
The horseshoe marks led him to the Valley of Gold
Where he saw Bahadur shiver with cold
“Bahadur, why did you leave?
Did you throw your horseshoes for me?”
“I had nothing to lose,
They were just a pair of broken horseshoes
For you Abdullah, I’d give my world!”
“Come on now, slip into these new ones
So you can trot and gallop everywhere!”
The sun had set and it was time for them to leave
Towards a new life they both had never seen!
Vaishali Shroff is a freelance writer and editor and runs a reading club for children in Pune. Her work has been published in over 10 titles of the Chicken Soup India Series and her children’s stories can be read at smories.