Once upon a time, there was a little girl named Nikki. She was travelling by train. On one of the stations, she saw a Goods train carrying some black stones. Her father informed her that those are Coal.
Nikki was inquisitive about Coal, its origin and usage.
Her father told her a small story to explain about Coal, which is as follows:
” Once upon a time, there was a big forest full of trees and plants. They were very happy and enjoyed the sunlight and the rain. They grew tall and strong, and made friends with the animals that lived in the forest.
One day, a big storm came and knocked down many trees and plants. They were very sad and scared. They could not stand up again or get any sunlight or rain. They lay on the ground and slowly turned brown and dry.
Some of the trees and plants were buried under the soil by the wind and the water. They felt very cold and dark. They missed their friends and the sun. They wished they could go back to the forest.
But they could not go back. They stayed under the ground for a very long time. Millions of years passed by. The earth changed a lot. It became hotter and heavier. The trees and plants under the ground were squeezed and cooked by the heat and the pressure.
They changed too. They became hard and black. They were no longer trees or plants. They became something else. Something that could burn and make heat and light. They became coal.
One day, some people came and dug up the coal from the ground. They took it to their homes and factories. They used it to make fire and electricity. They used it to cook food and warm their houses.
The coal was happy to be useful again. It remembered its old life in the forest, but it also liked its new life with the people. It felt proud to give them energy and comfort. “
Nikki was amazed to know about Coal and its origin.
Short stories for kids 