Once upon a time, there lived a woman called Maya. She had two daughters and loved them so much.

One day, when she had gone to the garden to look for food, she returned home andfound the children missing. Maya thought they had gone to play.

She prepared food for her children so that when they returned from playing they could find it ready. But the children never came back and it was getting.

Maya was so worried about her daughters, and she went out to look for them but could not them.

Maya called here neighbours to help her search for her children.

They went into the nearby forest to see if the children were there. there was no sight of them. When  they were about to give up searching, they heard one of the girls screaming for help.

They all ran towards the direction of the scream.
 When they reached they found the older daughter crying because her sister was lost.

They searched the forest again but they still did not find the girl.

Maya went home with only one daughter but  promised to look again for her youngest child the next day.

Early next morning, Maya and the neighbours went into the forest to search for the other child.

Somewhere in the middle of the forest they saw a cloud of smoke.

They decided to walk towards the direction of  the smoke.
When they reached  they saw a hut in the middle of the forest.

In the hut maya and the neighbours saw the  youngest daughter crying while an old woman prepared porridge for her.

The old woman told them that she found the lost on way to fetch water.  She took her to her home because it was late in the evening.

The old woman then told Maya that she had to learn to keep her children safely within  her reach because they might get lost forever.

Maya thought the old woman was a guardian angel who had kept her youngest daughter alive. She thanked the old woman so much and asked the old woman to come to her home.

She declined and said she preferred staying alone in the forest where she could help other lost children.   

Ends