Mr. Grumpy and George

     Hello, everyone,

    I have always been a fan of Enid Blyton. When I was in grade 4 my teacher introduced us to Noddy, one of her famous story books. Although it was for little children, we used to fight for those books. Later, I started reading her other books as well. I used to love all her books and I still do. If I was given a choice between an adult novel and one of Enid Blyton books I would certainly choose her book over a novel any day. She has always been my inspiration and hence, this story and many more. 

    I am looking forward to giving you more and more such stories every week.  
    
    I hope you enjoy reading them as much as I enjoy writing them.

   MR. GRUMPY AND GEORGE

    Mr. Grumpy was as his name said, very grumpy. His name was something else but everybody called him Mr. Grumpy because he was always grumbling about everything. He was always scowling and there was always a big frown on his face. He had a dear little shop of sweets and chocolates and some stationary. He kept his little shop clean and tidy, that is most of the times but became messy when there was no-one to clean it. He had kept a mat at the door so that if anyone entered his shop he or she would have to wipe his or her shoes. Although, he kept all the children’s things, the children were very much afraid to go his shop, because he could be very rude to anyone who made the slightest mistake.

    He had his shop in the village. The shop was in front and he lived at the back of it, where he had a dear little house. Sometimes, he had a housekeeper and sometimes he didn’t because of his attitude. All the ladies who came to work for him would hardly be able to stay for a week at the longest and then leave.

   As I was saying, the children were very much afraid to go to his shop. They loved his shop with all the delicious, beautiful sweets and all, but because of his rude attitude, they were very reluctant to go to his shop. And as there was no other sweet shop in this small village, the children had no choice but to go there. Like one day, little Susan, who was only five years old came to buy some sweets from Mr. Grumpy. While giving him the money some of it fell down and Mr. Grumpy shouted at the poor little girl.

    “Careless little brat!” he shouted. “Why can’t you be a little more careful? See now, what you have done? Pick up the money at once and give it to me!”

    The little girl was in tears, but she picked up the money and gave it to him. Mr. Grumpy gave her some sweets and Susan took the sweets and ran home crying.

    Now today, Mr. Grumpy was going down the village road to buy some milk and eggs. He had to go and buy himself when he did not have a housekeeper, which was very often.

    As he was going, he saw some boys bullying a little boy of about ten years old. When he saw this he became very angry. Although he was grumpy and rude but he had a kind heart and he ran at the bullies with his walking stick.

    “Hey, you there! Stop! I say stop it!” he shouted at the top of his voice. “Why are you beating him?”

    As soon as the bullies saw Mr. Grumpy coming with his stick, they left the boy and ran away.

    Mr. Grumpy was out of his breath when he reached the little boy.

    “Are you alright?” he asked in a kind voice. “Are you hurt?”

    “No Sir. But they took my money away,” replied the little boy in a small voice. “My mother had wanted me to buy some flour for her. Now, I don’t have any money and my Mum works so hard to get it.” And with that he began to cry.

    For the first time in a long while he felt a certain kindness surge up in him.

    “What’s your name, boy?” he asked.

    “My name is George Holiday, Sir,” George answered.

    “How come only your mother is earning money, George?” Mr. Grumpy asked.

    “I don’t have a father, Sir,” answered George.

    “Oh! I’m sorry to hear that,” said Mr. Grumpy, feeling very bad for this fatherless little boy. “Here take some money and go and buy the flour.”

    “Thank you, Sir. But I’m sorry I won’t be able to pay you back, but I would be more than happy to work for you in return,” said George, hopefully.

    “Look, why don’t you come to my shop after school and help me there? I need someone to help me. I’m all alone, you know,” said Mr. Grumpy and gave George some money.

    “Oh, thank you, Sir! Thank you very much,” said George gratefully. “I’ll come as soon as I get out of school.”

    And with that he took the money and ran away to buy some flour for his mother. Mr. Grumpy stood there looking after the figure of the little boy, who was so unhappy a few moments ago but was now running away happily. He suddenly felt a lump come in his throat and tears welled up in eyes. He didn’t know it but his hard face had softened immensely and he no longer looked harsh.

    Mr. Grumpy turned around and began to walk back home. As he walked his thoughts turned to the time when he was a little boy. He had always been kind and generous. He remembered when one of his friends had lost his lunch money and he had shared his lunch with him. Then, there was the time when he had lost his father and then his mother was ill and he had to sell newspapers to earn money. He was only ten years old, then.

    So, what had made him so grumpy and unkind?

    A few years back, his wife had passed away. She had been very ill. All the money that he had saved had been used up in treating his wife. Even, then, she had not survived. Mr. Grumpy had no children of his own and no relatives either. He was all alone in the world. He had no friends either! All his friends seem to have deserted him when he lost his money.

    Struck with the grief of his wife’s death and the cold attitude of his so-called friends, he had moved from the city to this little village to get some peace and also to be away from all the people he ever knew.

    Actually, it wasn’t his fault that he had become so unkind and grumpy. The world had made him so! All he needed was a bit of kindness to make him what he was before his wife’s death. But the trouble was his attitude did not allow anyone to become kind to him.

   Suddenly, Mr. Grumpy realized he had reached home. He stopped suddenly and looked at his empty hands! Oh dear! He had forgotten to buy the milk and eggs!

    He smiled and entered his back door. Oh, well! He had an assistant now. He will ask him to buy for him.

    So the first thing that George was told to do as soon as he came that afternoon was to buy some milk and eggs.

    It happened that when George arrived the shop was closed. He hesitated at first not knowing what to do. He was scared because he knew of Mr. Grumpy’s temper. But, he gathered up all his courage and went to the back door. After all, he had to pay his debt. So, he took a deep breath and then knocked at the door and waited anxiously, suppressing the urge to run away. The door opened after what seemed like a long time and Mr. Grumpy stood in the doorway looking grumpier than ever.

 “Ah! It’s you,” he said. “I was having a nap, you know. I always

have a nap at this time. So you’d better come a little late tomorrow, see!” he said, grumpily.

    “Yes, Sir,” answered George, timidly.

   “Well, what are you waiting for? Come inside!” ordered Mr. Grumpy.

    “Yes, Sir,” said George and entered the house and into the kitchen.

    When George entered he just stood there looking! The kitchen was in an awful state! There were dirty dishes in the sink that needed to be washed. The floor was dirty and there was dust everywhere.

    Then, the old man shut the door and went to the front portion where there was the shop. George followed him. Even, here there was dust everywhere and some of the things were just lying higgledy piggledy. George observed all this. Then, he mustered up all the courage he had and asked, “Sir, may I clean up the shop?”

    “Yes, you can,” replied Mr. Grumpy and asked,  “Would you like to have some tea?”

    “No, Sir. I’ve just had my tea. Thank you,” answered George.

    “Well, I’m going to make some tea. You’d better look after the shop for a while, see,” he said and was about to go when he suddenly remembered he did not have milk. So, he turned around and said, “By the way, I can’t make tea because I’ve run out of milk. So, you’d better run along and buy me some milk and eggs before you start work.”

    And so, George went to buy some milk and eggs for the old man. In the meantime, Mr. Grumpy opened the shop so that by the time George came back it was ready for him to start cleaning. Soon George came back and the old man went to make some tea after telling George to call him should a customer happen to come in the shop. George agreed and Mr. Grumpy went to the kitchen.

   George was confused at first as to where to begin. Then, he had an idea and he went to the kitchen to the old man.

    “Please, Sir, may I have a duster and a piece of cloth?” he asked.

   “Wait here,” said Mr. Grumpy and he climbed the stairs on the right side of the kitchen and went upstairs. He came back after what seemed a long time with a duster and a piece of cloth in his hand and handed it over to George.

    George took it and immediately went to work.

    George was a very kind and a hard-working boy. When he saw the state of Mr. Grumpy’s shop and kitchen, he decided to do something about it. Being an only child to his parents and his father’s passing away when he was only a toddler, he had had to help his mother in many ways as he grew up. And one of them was helping to clean the house and keeping it tidy. So no wonder, when he saw Mr. Grumpy’s house in such a mess, he felt he must do something for him as he had helped him in his difficulty.

    He dusted the doors first and then dusted and wiped the glass cupboard in which all sorts of odds and ends were kept like the stationary and other things and the bottles of sweets on top of the cupboard. Next, he sat to work on the things inside the cupboard. He took out all the things from the top shelf. He cleaned and wiped nicely inside and then sat to clean the things one by one and to stake the exercise books neatly in a pile on one side and put pencils on the other and pens on the other and so on. He was doing the last of the three shelves when Mr. Grumpy arrived.

    What Mr. Grumpy saw pleased him a great deal. And he actually smiled the second time that day, which he had not done for many years.

    “Well, well, well!” He exclaimed, looking pleased. “You certainly have done a good job, my boy.”

    “Thank you, Sir,” said George glowing with pride.

    Mr. Grumpy was just going to sit in his chair when George stopped him.

   “Please, Sir,” he said. “Let me clean the chair for you before you sit down.”

    Mr. Grumpy waited while George cleaned the chair of all the dust and dirt. Then, he told Mr. Grumpy to sit down. After that he carried on with his work on the last shelf. When he had finished that, he asked the old man for a broom and swept the whole shop clean. By the time that George had finished his work in the shop the face of the whole shop had changed completely. Mr. Grumpy looked extremely pleased with George’s work.

    When George saw Mr. Grumpy looking pleased, he said, “Sir, may I go and clean the kitchen?”

    “Aren’t you tired?” asked Mr. Grumpy. “You could come and do it tomorrow.”

    “Alright Sir,” he said, who was feeling tired now. “But Sir let me just finish doing the dishes and then tomorrow I can come and clean the whole kitchen.”

        “Alright, if you feel that way,” said the old man amused at the little boy’s enthusiasm.

    And so George went into the kitchen and he washed the dishes. Then, he wiped them with a clean cloth and staked them away neatly in the cupboard. By now it was time to go home.

    The next day he arrived a little later than the previous day. The first thing he did was to wash all the dishes of breakfast and lunch. Then he cleaned the whole kitchen and then, last of all he swept and cleaned the floor.

    By the time, that he had finished all his work, George was dead beat! All he wanted to do was to go home. So, he went to Mr. Grumpy.

    “I’ve finished cleaning the kitchen, Sir,” he said.

   Mr. Grumpy stood up and went to have a look at the kitchen. Again, what he saw pleased him and it showed on his face.

    “You have done a very good job today, George,” said Mr. Grumpy addressing George by his name for the first time. “Tell me, how about coming and helping me everyday after school in my shop? I will pay you for your pains, of course. That is if your mum will allow you.”

    George could not believe his ears. Here he was being offered a job! He just stood there speechless and then he found his tongue.

    “Thank you, Sir,” he said, gratefully. “I shall go and tell my Mum right away.” And with that he turned to go.

    “Hold it, young man!” said Mr. Grumpy suddenly, with a laugh. “Where do you think you are going? I still have to reward you for your work!”

    

    “But, Sir, I was only paying you for the money I took from you. You don’t have to pay me anything!”

    “Who said anything about paying you?  I said I wanted to reward you,” replied Mr. Grumpy with a twinkle in his eye. “Here, you take the sweets of your choice.”

    “But….but….” began George.

    “Now now, George. You don’t want me to get angry again, do you?” he said with a fake angry look.

    George grinned and chose some sweets which he had always wanted to have but could not afford to buy. Mr. Grumpy put all the sweets in a paper bag and gave them to him. Then, George thanked Mr. Grumpy and waved him goodbye and was gone.

    George was eager to go and tell his mother the good news. But when he got home he did not see his mother come and greet him as usual with a smile, instead he found her sitting on the sofa deep in thought. His mother only sat like this when she was worried. And George could see she was worried right now.

    “Hello, Mother! Why are you sitting like this? What’s the matter?” asked George, anxiously.

   “Oh hello George!” greeted back his mother. “It’s nothing really. It’s just that the Cunninghams are moving to the city, so I’ll have to look for a job elsewhere.”

   

    “Oh, that!” said George. “Well, Mother, I have job at Mr. Grumpy’s. He was very pleased with my work. He wants me to work for him everyday. And look! He gave me so many sweets. He was very kind to me. Maybe, my job will help us.”

    His mother smiled. “That’s very sweet. But you see, we need a lot more to survive. So I’ll have to start looking for a job right away.” She said, patting his head fondly.

    “Oh!” said George, very disappointed.

    “Don’t worry everything will be fine, ok?” his mother told him on seeing how disappointed he was.

    George couldn’t sleep that night. He kept worrying about his mother.

    The next day, when he went to school, he could hardly concentrate on his studies. He kept worrying about his mother.

    After school, he went home for lunch and then, he went to Mr. Grumpy’s shop. But, his face lacked the brightness of the previous day and Mr. Grumpy soon noticed it.

    “What’s the matter, George?” he asked. “Aren’t you feeling well?”

    “No, I’m alright,” he answered. “It’s just that, well, my Mum has lost her job. The family that she had been working for are moving to the city and she has to look for another job.”

    “Hmm…..” Said Mr. Grumpy, thoughtfully, stroking his chin. “I have an idea. Tell your mother to come and see me in the morning, ok?”

    “Yes, Sir,” George said.

    George was very much puzzled, but he felt that he had done the right thing to tell Mr. Grumpy his problem as he felt much better. He also felt that Mr. Grumpy would somehow put things right for them.

    So, as soon as he went home, he told his mother that Mr. Grumpy wanted to see her in the morning. And she was just as puzzled as George was.

    So, the next day, George went to school and his mother went to see Mr. Grumpy.

    “Good morning, Mr. Grumpy!” she said, entering the shop and seeing the old man sitting in his chair. “I’m Mrs. Holiday, George’s mother. You wanted to see me, Sir.”

    “Good morning!” Mr. Grumpy replied, cheerfully. “Yes, I did wante to see you. George told me you were looking for a job. Well, I’ll come right to the point. How about if I asked you to work for me?”

    “Work for you, Sir? I don’t understand.” She said, puzzled.

    “Well, you see, it’s like this. I don’t have anybody to cook for me and keep my house clean for me. So, I thought you could work in the house and George could help me in the shop. What do you say?” he asked. “I’m ready to pay you well.”

    George’s mother was speechless! She had never expected anything of the sort. She stared at Mr. Grumpy, and then she found her voice.

    “But, of course, I’m ready to work for you, Sir.” She said, “Thank you, thank you so much.”

    “Don’t thank me. Thank your son, who told about you wanting a

job.” He said with a smile.

    And so, when George came back from school that day, he was told the good news. George jumped for joy, to think that his mother would be with him all the time.

    And so, Mr. Grumpy got someone to look after his house and his shop and Mrs. Holiday got the much needed job with a good pay. Also, George got to be with his mother all the time!

    That was nice, wasn’t it?