Navtej Kohli Story Blog

Navtej Kohli Story Blog is not just a repository of stories, rather it’s a treasure trove of wisdom and instructive insight. Read another eye-opener on Navtej Kohli story Blog.

An elderly carpenter was ready to retire. He told his employer of his plans to leave the house-building business to live a more leisurely life with his wife and enjoy his extended family.

The contractor was not happy to see his good worker go & asked if he could build just one last house as a personal favor. The carpenter agreed, but over time it was easy to see that his heart was not in his work. He was careless towards work and used inferior materials. It was an unfortunate way to end a dedicated career.

When the carpenter finished his work, his employer came to inspect the house. Then he handed the front-door key to the carpenter and said, “This is your house… my gift to you.”

The carpenter was shocked!

What a shame! If he had only known he was building his own house, he would have done it all so differently.

So it is with us. We build our lives, a day at a time, often putting less than our best into the building. Then, with a shock, we realize we have to live in the house we have built. If we could do it over, we would do it much differently.

But, you cannot go back. You are the carpenter, and every day you hammer a nail, place a board, or erect a wall. Someone once said, “Life is a do-it-yourself project.” Your attitude, and the choices you make today, help build the “house” you will live in tomorrow. Therefore, Build wisely!

A Full Glass Of Milk - A heart touching story on Navtej Kohli Story Blog

One day, a poor boy who was selling goods from door to door to pay, for his hungry stomach, decided he would ask for a meal at the next house.

On the way through school, he found he had only one thin dime left and he was very hungry.

However, he lost his nerve when a lovely young woman opened the door.Instead of a meal he asked for a drink of water.

The woman thought he looked hungry, so brought him a large glass of milk.

He drank it slowly, and then asked, ‘How much do I owe you?’ ‘You don’t owe me anything,’ she replied. ‘Mother has taught us,never to accept pay for a kindness.’

He said…’Then I thank you from my heart.’

Year’s later that young woman became critically ill. The local doctors were baffled.They finally sent her to the big city,where they called in specialists to study her rare disease.

Dr. Howard Kelly was called in for the consultation. When he heard the name of the town she came from, a strange light filled his eyes.

Immediately he rose and went down the hall of the hospital to her room.Dressed in his doctor’s gown he went in to see her.He recognized her at once.

He went back to the consultation room determined to do his best to save her life,from that day he gave special attention to the case.

After a long struggle, the battle was won. Dr. Kelly requested the business office to pass the final bill to him for approval.

He looked at it, then wrote something on the edge and the bill was sent to her room.

The woman feared opening it, for she was sure it would take the rest of her life to pay for it all.

Finally she looked, and something caught her attention on the side of the bill. She read these words…

‘Paid in full with one glass of milk.’ Signed, Dr.Howard Kelly.

Tears of joy flooded her eyes as her happy heart prayed: Thank You, God, that Your love has spread abroad through human hearts and hands.’

For more on Inspiration and Morality visit Navtej Kohli on Livejournal

Here is a wonderful story on Navtej Kohli Story Blog illustrating how our point of view to look at different situation makes the difference.

Imagine you are at an Airport. While you’re waiting for your flight, you notice a kiosk selling cookies. You buy a box, put them in your traveling bag and then you patiently search for an available seat so you can sit down and enjoy your cookies. Finally, you find a seat next to a gentleman.

You reach down into your traveling bag and pull out your box of cookies. As you do so, you notice that the gentleman starts watching you intensely. He stares as you open the box and his eyes follow your hand as you pick up the cookie and bring it to your mouth. Just then he reaches over and takes one of your cookies from the box, and eats it! You’re more than a little surprised at this. Actually, you’re at a loss for words. Not only does he take one cookie, but also he alternates with you. For every one cookie you take, he takes one.

Now, what’s your immediate impression of this guy? Crazy? Greedy? He’s got some nerve? Can you imagine the words you might use to describe this man to your associates back at the office? Meanwhile, you both continue eating the cookies until there’s just one left. To your surprise, the man reaches over and takes it. But then he does something unexpected. He breaks it in half, and gives half to you. After he’s finished with his half he gets up, and without a word, he leaves.

You think to yourself, “Did this really happen?” You’re left sitting there dumbfounded and still hungry. So you go back to the kiosk and buy another box of cookies. You then return to your seat and begin opening your new box of cookies when you glance down into your traveling bag. Sitting there in
your bag is your original box of cookies - still unopened.

Only then you do realize that when you reached down earlier, you had reached into the other man’s bag, and grabbed his box of cookies by mistake. Now what do you think of the man? Generous? Tolerant? You’ve just experienced a profound paradigm shift. You’re seeing things from a new point of view. Isn’t it the time to change our point of view in a positive way?

We will have to repent in this generation not merely for the
hateful words and actions of the bad people but for the appalling silence
of the good people.

- Martin Luther King Jr.
(1929-1968, American Civil Rights leader, Nobel Prize winner, 1964)

This is a touching story, written brilliantly, I think most of you can relate to it. Navtej Kohli story blog brings another inspiring story from real life…

A young man was getting ready to graduate college. For many months he had admired a beautiful sports car in a dealer’s showroom, and knowing his father could well afford it, he told him that was all he wanted.

As Graduation Day approached, the young man awaited signs that his father had purchased the car. Finally, on the morning of his graduation his father called him into his private study. His father told him how proud he was to have such a fine son, and told him how much he loved him. He handed his son a beautiful wrapped gift box.
Curious, but somewhat disappointed the young man opened the box and found a lovely, leather-bound Bible. Angrily, he raised his voice at his father and said, “With all your money you give me a Bible?” and stormed out of the house, leaving the holy book.

Many years passed and the young man was very successful in business.
He had a beautiful home and wonderful family, but realized his father was very old, and thought perhaps he should go to him. He had not seen him since that graduation day. Before he could make arrangements, he received a telegram telling him his father had passed away, and willed all of his possessions to his son. He needed to come home immediately and take care things. When he arrived at his father’s house, sudden sadness and regret filled his heart.
He began to search his father’s important papers and saw the still new Bible, just as he had left it years ago. With tears, he opened the Bible and began to turn the pages. As he read those words, a car key dropped from an envelope taped behind the Bible.
It had a tag with the dealer’s name, the same dealer who had the sports car he had desired. On the tag was the date of his graduation, and the words…PAID IN FULL.

How many times do we miss God’s blessings because they are not packaged as we expected?

The story of love and regret on Navtej Kohli story blog.

There was this guy who believed very much in true love and decided to take his time to wait for his right girl to appear. He believed that there would definitely be someone special out there for him, but none came.

Every year at Christmas, his ex-girlfriend would return from Vancouver to look him up. He was aware that she still held some hope of re-kindling the past romance with him. He did not wish to mislead her in any way. So he would always get one of his girl friends to pose as his steady whenever she came back. That went on for several years and each year, the guy would get a different girl to pose as his romantic interest. So whenever the ex-girlfriend came to visit him, she would be led into believing that it was all over between her and the guy. The girl took all those rather well, often trying to casually tease him about his different girlfriends, or so, as it seemed! In fact, the girl often wept in secret whenever she saw him with another girl, but she was too proud to admit it. Still, every Christmas, she returned, hoping to re-kindle some form of romance. But each time, she returned to Vancouver feeling disappointed.

Finally she decided that she could not play that game any longer. Therefore, she confronted him and professed that after all those years, he was still the only man that she had ever loved. Although the guy knew of her feelings for him, he was still taken back and have never expected her to react that way. He always thought that she would slowly forget about him over time and come to terms that it was all over between them. Although he was touched by her undying love for him and wanted so much to accept her again, he remembered why he rejected her in the first place-she was not the one he wanted. So he hardened his heart and turned her down cruelly. Since then, three years have passed and the girl never return anymore. They never even wrote to each other. The guy went on with his life….. still searching for the one but somehow deep inside him, he missed the girl.

On the Christmas of 1995, he went to his friend’s party alone. “Hey, how come all alone this year? Where are all your girlfriends? What happened to that Vancouver babe who joins you every Christmas?”, asked one of his friend. He felt warm and comforted by his friend’s queries about her, still he just surged on.
Then, he came upon one of his many girlfriends whom he once requested to pose as his steady. He wanted so much to ignore her ….. not that he was impolite, but because at that moment, he just didn’t feel comfortable with those girlfriends anymore. It was almost like he was being judged by them. The girl saw him and shouted across the floor for him. Unable to avoid her, he went up to acknowledge her.

“Hi……how are you? Enjoying the party?” the girl asked.

“Sure…..yeah!”, he replied.
She was slightly tipsy….. must be from the whiskey on her hand. She continued,
“Why…? Don’t you need someone to pose as your girlfriend this year?” Then he answered, “No, there is no need for that anymore……”
Before he can continue, he was interrupted, “Oh yes! Must have found a girlfriend! You haven’t been searching for one for the past years, right?” The man looked up, as if he has struck gold, his face beamed and looked directly at the drunken girl. He replied, “Yes……you are right! I haven’t been looking for anyone for the past years.”
With that, the man darted across the floor and out the door, leaving the lady in much bewilderment. He finally realized that he has already found his dream girl, and she was…..the Vancouver girl all along! The drunken lady has said something that awoken him.

All along he has found his girl. That was why he did not bother to look further when he realized she was not coming back. It was not any specific girl he was seeking! It was perfection that he wanted, and yes…..perfection!!
Relationship is something both parties should work on. Realizing that he had let away someone so important in his life, he decided to call her immediately. His whole mind was flooded with fear. He was afraid that she might have found someone new or no longer had the same feelings anymore….. For once, he felt the fear of losing someone.

As it was Christmas eve, the line was quite hard to get through, especially an overseas call. He tried again and again, never giving up. Finally, he got through……precisely at 1200 midnight. He confessed his love for her and the girl was moved to tears. It seemed that she never got over him! Even after so long, she was still waiting for him, never giving up.

He was so excited to meet her and to begin his new chapter of their lives. He decided to fly to Vancouver to join her. It was the happiest time of their lives! But their happy time was short-lived. Two days before he was supposed to fly to Vancouver, he received a call from her father. She had a head-on car collision with a drunken driver. She passed away after 6 hours in a coma.
The guy was devastated, as it was a complete loss. Why did fate played such cruel games with him? He cursed the heaven for taking her away from him, denying even one last look at her! How cruel he cursed! How he damned the Gods…!! How he hated himself….for taking so long to realize his mistake!! That was in 1996.

The moral of this story is :
Treasure what you have…
Time is too slow for those who wait;
Too swift for those who fear;
Too long for those who grief;
Too short for those who rejoice;
But for those who love…
Time is Eternity.

For all you out there with someone special in your heart, cherish that person, cherish every moment that you spend together that special someone, for in life, anything can happen anytime. You may painfully regret, only to realise that it is too late.

Read more inspiring stories on Navtej Kohli Blog.

Navtej Kohli found a touching story about the much famous DURER’S Praying Hands.

The story revolves around DURER doing his creation in appreciation of a brother who went to work in the mines to support Albrecht’s education.

Here is the story:

Back in the fifteenth century, in a tiny village near Nuremberg, lived a family with eighteen children. Eighteen! In order merely to keep food on the table for this mob, the father and head of the household, a goldsmith by profession, worked almost eighteen hours a day at his trade and any other paying chore he could find in the neighborhood. Despite their seemingly hopeless condition, two of Albrecht Durer the Elder’s children had a dream. They both wanted to pursue their talent for art, but they knew full well that their father would never be financially able to send either of them to Nuremberg to study at the Academy.

After many long discussions at night in their crowded bed, the two boys finally worked out a pact. They would toss a coin. The loser would go down into the nearby mines and, with his earnings, support his brother while he attended the academy. Then, when that brother who won the toss completed his studies, in four years, he would support the other brother at the academy, either with sales of his artwork or, if necessary, also by laboring in the mines.

They tossed a coin on a Sunday morning after church. Albrecht Durer won the toss and went off to Nuremberg. Albert went down into the dangerous mines and, for the next four years, financed his brother, whose work at the academy was almost an immediate sensation. Albrecht’s etchings, his woodcuts, and his oils were far better than those of most of his professors, and by the time he graduated, he was beginning to earn considerable fees for his commissioned works.

When the young artist returned to his village, the Durer family held a festive dinner on their lawn to celebrate Albrecht’s triumphant homecoming. After a long and memorable meal, punctuated with music and laughter, Albrecht rose from his honored position at the head of the table to drink a toast to his beloved brother for the years of sacrifice that had enabled Albrecht to fulfill his ambition. His closing words were, “And now, Albert, blessed brother of mine, now it is your turn. Now you can go to Nuremberg to pursue your dream, and I will take care of you.”

All heads turned in eager expectation to the far end of the table where Albert sat, tears streaming down his pale face, shaking his lowered head from side to side while he sobbed and repeated, over and over, “No …no …no …no.”

Finally, Albert rose and wiped the tears from his cheeks. He glanced down the long table at the faces he loved, and then, holding his hands close to his right cheek, he said softly, “No, brother. I cannot go to Nuremberg. It is too late for me. Look … look what four years in the mines have done to my hands! The bones in every finger have been smashed at least once, and lately I have been suffering from arthritis so badly in my right hand that I cannot even hold a glass to return your toast, much less make delicate lines on parchment or canvas with a pen or a brush. No, brother …
for me it is too late.”

More than 450 years have passed. By now, Albrecht Durer’s hundreds of masterful portraits, pen and silver-point sketches, watercolors, charcoals, woodcuts, and copper engravings hang in every great museum in the world, but the odds are great that you, like most people, are familiar with only one of Albrecht Durer’s works. More than merely being familiar with it, you very well may have a reproduction hanging in your home or office.
One day, to pay homage to Albert for all that he had sacrificed, Albrecht Durer painstakingly drew his brother’s abused hands with palms together and thin fingers stretched skyward. He called his powerful drawing simply “Hands,” but the entire world almost immediately opened their hearts to his great masterpiece and renamed his tribute of love “The Praying Hands.”

The next time you see a copy of that touching creation, take a second look. Let it be your reminder, if you still need one, that no one - no one - - ever makes it alone!

- Navtej Kohli

Ghost Blood is a mystery told in a strange way. This story will certainly let the chill the chill run up your spine. Enjoy the story on Navtej Kohli Story Blog.

On an early evening in the small urban town, a small boy was out walking home after a night out with his mom. A strange man walked up to him. The man wore a black shirt, with a white tie. He had white hair although only seeming to be in his 30s. He wore expensive designer pants and sunglasses. This man walked by the child with an eerie presence which scared the child. The child looked up at the man but he didn’t notice. The man continued walking past the mother, but strangely enough she noticed nothing.

That night a fierce storm was cast over the city. While the young boy was asleep in his small room on the end of the hall the wind blew outside. Then when the clock struck 12 his windows slammed open. That man that the boy saw that evening slowly crawled in through that small window. He was wearing the same clothes. The boy woke up with a startle after he heard the window open. He looked around the room, the man was there looking right at him. The boy scared for his life quickly rushed out of the room. The man did not follow. The boy looked back just as he burst into his parent’s bedroom.

His parents were sound asleep not having heard a thing. They were awoken when the boy barged in. The boy told his parents of what he had experienced. Thinking he’d had nothing but a bad dream his mom walked over to his room with him to show him everything’s all right.

When they entered the room everything was quiet again. The man was nowhere to be found and the windows were closed like they were supposed to be. Even the carpet was dry. The mom reassured the boy that it was nothing but a bad dream, and that he should get back to sleep. The boy after calming himself down went to bed again.

The boy finally got to sleep again after 15 minutes of thinking things over. Then he struck again. The boy woke up to the sound of a devilish chuckle. He woke up and looked around the room. There he was again this time he was much closer, as if he had still been walking towards the bed while his parents were there. The window was open too. The boy screamed at the top of his lungs.

His mom sighed after being awoken for the second time that night. The mom walked over to the son’s room to see that nothing had changed. The son was hiding under the covers murmuring to himself about some sort of monster. His mom stayed with him to calm him down. After 20 minutes the boy had stopped crying and had calmed down enough to go back to sleep. His mom was relieved too. Now she could get to sleep as well.

The boy tried to go back to sleep but as hard as he tried he could not. He laid there in bed changing sides thinking about what had just happened that night. Then finally at 1 o’clock that night he finally was able to drift back to sleep. But that didn’t last long. Moments after he fell asleep he woke up to the sound of metal clanging. He looked up to the see the man now with a knife in his hand looking right over him.

The man had an eerie look on his face. A blank face that showed absolutely no expression. His eyes were cold and emotionless. He leaned down and a thin evil grin spread across his face. The boy tried to scream but it was two late, the man had already slit his throat. The man then carried the boy out with him through the window. He left but a lock of hair and a pool of blood to mark his work.

The next morning when the mom woke up she went over to the boy’s room to check up on him. She was shocked to find the lock of hair and the blood. She immediately called the police. The police arrived in about half an hour. When nobody answered after they rang the bell several times they barged in. They looked around but found nothing. When they went out searching the backyard they found the mom dead next to the boy with a knife in her hand stabbed right through her heart.

The police questioned the father but he said that his wife always hated the child and would always nag him and get mad at him. He also said that he was away on a business trip and just got back this morning. The neighbors confirmed the father’s story. They did notice how the mother hated the son and how she always did nag and yell at him.

The police sighed at the news of a murder suicide. Their work was done here. They slowly pulled out of the area leaving the man there.

After they left the father went back into his house. He smirked as he put on black shirt with a white tie, designer pants as well designer sunglasses. He put on a white wig as well as a latex mask. He then walked out of the house, stepped into his car and never came back.

Navtej Kohli is a brilliant storyteller. Read this inspiring story that may change the way you look at life!

A group of frogs were traveling through the woods, and two of them
fell into a deep pit. When the other frogs saw how deep the pit
was, they told the two frogs that they were as good as dead. The
two frogs ignored the comments and tried to jump up out of the pit
with all their might. The other frogs kept telling them to stop,
that they were as good as dead. Finally, one of the frogs took
heed to what the other frogs were saying and gave up. He fell down
and died.

The other frog continued to jump as hard as he could. Once again,
the crowd of frogs yelled at him to stop the pain and just die. He
jumped even harder and finally made it out. When he got out, the
other frogs said, “Did you not hear us?” The frog explained to
them that he was deaf. He thought they were encouraging him the
entire time.

This story teaches two lessons:

1. There is power of life and death in the tongue. An encouraging
word to someone who is down can lift them up and help them make it
through the day.

2. A destructive word to someone who is down can be what it takes
to kill them.

Be careful of what you say. Speak life to those who cross your
path. The power of words… it is sometimes hard to understand
that an encouraging word can go such a long way. Anyone can speak
words that tend to rob another of the spirit to continue in
difficult times. Special is the individual who will take the time
to encourage another.

Navtej Kohli is a discerning horror freak. Read an interesting story by Ruth Houghton.
I stared out the window of the coach as it slowly rolled along the bumpy roads. Year 4 from Saintfield High school were going to Loch Ness for a school trip. The rain trickled down the side of the window. I turned to my friend Sarah who was dozing on my shoulder. We were sitting at the back of the coach. I turned to my other friend Michelle and indicated that Sarah was fast asleep. She grinned and pointed to Janice and Michael. Janice had tried to copy Sarah by putting her head on Michael’s shoulder. Michael moved away slightly causing Janice’s head to whack off the padded coach seat.

“She can’t get any more brain damage!” I heard someone say and I smiled as I realized who it was. Sarah Dowds talking to a friend from my class called Krissi. Michelle was in my class as well but the others were in different classes.

I looked to the seats in front of me and realized that Rude Rhonda and Cheeky Charlene were sitting there. Then our English teacher Mrs Stranney stood up.

“We’re here. Pick up your belongings and follow your form teachers. 11S lead off first.”

Our form teacher Mrs Jackson stood up. “Gillian Andrews, Zöe Burns….”We all lined up Cameras in hand ready for a sighting of the Loch Ness Monster. The Loch Ness Volunteering service was there ready to show us to our rooms. I was well pleased. My roommates were Sarah, Michelle, Janice, and Sarah. D, Krissi, Rhonda and Charlene. We dumped our bags down and walked to our block to hear the safety speeches. I sat down beside Lisa another one of my good friends. Michelle was on my other side. As the safety notice droned on I looked out of the window to pass the time and saw a massive black cloud roll in and I heard the rumble of thunder in the distance. The Volunteer didn’t look worried. “We get them all the time,” she said. “Just make sure that none of you goes outside unless we get a break in the rain. I’ll ask John to tell you all a ghost story.”

`John` got up and made his way to the front. As he did so a flash of lightening lit up the room and then darkness fell. There were screams from all the girls and confusion in the room but torches were found and order restored. Then he started……

“A while ago before you were born but your parents were alive, a few people lived here and the ones that did were poor. A girl lived here with her mother on the exact same spot you are sitting on. One day she went out to Loch Ness to look for firewood. A thunderstorm started, just like the one you hear now, but the girl had never seen or heard a thunderstorm before. She was scared and ran out on to the rickety pier in her fright. When a large crash sounded she tripped and fell through the rotten wood into the water. She didn’t live to tell the tale. A Shepherd saw all that had happened and do you know how I know?” We all leaned forward “How?”

“Because I was that shepherd. I saw it all but unlike her I lived to tell the tale. It is said that she still haunts this place today.”

We all sat back deflated by the tale and when there was finally a break in the storm, it was very late. We ran over to our separate rooms and lay in beds listening as the storm started up again. I didn’t know if any of my friends were asleep or not but I knew that most of the time I certainly wasn’t. I was just about to fall asleep again when I saw one of my friends get up. It was Krissi. She looked odd. I woke Michelle and the two Sarah’s and then we followed her. She looked as if she was sleepwalking. She walked past the blocks and past the courtyard. Then as we rounded the bend we realised that she was heading for the Loch. We had heard from certain sources that if you wake a sleepwalking person it could frighten them a lot. Krissi walked down the pier- which I noticed was no longer rotten- and turned to face us. We gasped and stood back. Her eyes seemed to glow a kind of red and as we watched she fell backwards into the Loch. I ran forward. “KRISSI!” I yelled but it was no use. All I could see was her pale body sinking into the murky deeps. We stumbled back to the building and raised the alarm. Shocked, they listened to our tale. They wrapped us in warm blankets and gave us cocoa but I just sat there numbly. They would dredge the water the following day I supposed.

They finally persuaded us to go to our beds even if we couldn’t get to sleep. Of course we wouldn’t be able to get to sleep. How could you if you had just seen one of your best friends commit suicide? We stayed in the room with Rhonda and Charlene who hadn’t seen what we had seen. Then someone appeared in front of me. She was translucent! She was dressed in rags and had no wear on her feet. She stretched out an arm toward me. I screamed. “NOOOOO!”

“Ruth? What’s wrong?” the others asked. They couldn’t see her! She smiled. It was not a nice smile. She was still smiling as I fell to the floor in a dead faint.

Navtej Kohli story blog presents, once again, a tender story about a woman and some promises, she made…

Maria lost her spirit to live and love, eversince her soul mate Mike was killed in a car crash. Curled in her chair Maria was thinking nobody would ever love her again. Big fat tears rolled down her face and dripped off her chin as she swallowed the pills washed down with whisky. She’d taken four and was already feeling drowsy. She felt herself sink into a comforting darkness. Oh good the end is near, she thought, at last my troubles are over. Suddenly she was in a passage with a white welcoming light at the end and started slowly moving towards it. At each side there were closed doors. There was knocking coming from somewhere and someone shouting.

“Maria.”

She listened carefully. The voice was coming from behind her. She turned around but there was nothing, only an empty black void. As she looked in front all she could see was the tiny white light which seemed to grow larger as she moved nearer. Her movements were effortless and she had no control over them. It was as though she was floating.

Maria had no idea where she was going. Her body stopped in front of a red door. With sweaty palms she pressed the handle. The door swung open revealing a warm room, illuminated by a crackling coal fire, its flames hungrily licking lumps of coal. It triggered a memory. She knew this room as a child and could remember Gran sat in the chair by the hearth. As she wandered round the room touching the shiny polished table and the thick velvet curtains she heard a creak. With her heart jumping as if it was doing an Irish jig she looked around. There was a rocking chair, creaking backwards and forwards. Maria hadn’t noticed it before. Her body zoomed over to it. Gran was sat in it, staring into the flames. Her grey hair was pulled back into a plait, just as Maria remembered. She looked up and spoke.

“Only you can do it,” she said, smiling.

No this was wrong, Gran was dead. Maria finally found her voice and managed to speak shakily, “do what?”

“The only thing I can tell you is to follow the passage and open some doors.”

“Which ones?”

“Only those that are meant to.”

Maria drifted out of the room backwards.

“Bye Gran,” she managed to say before she continued moving along the passage.

Her body came to an abrupt halt outside a black door. Maria touched it and went cold all over as the chill from it seeped into her very being. Slowly it creaked open. Maria held onto the door frame. No, she didn’t want to go in. There was something terrible inside. She tried to dig her feet into the ground but still she moved into the room. As she went in the door slammed shut. There flicking a long red tail and holding up a tall red fork was the devil. Maria screamed. She tried to turn her head but her gaze was fixed forward. The devil grinned at her, rubbed his horns and flashed his blood red teeth.

“Stay on the same path,” he said, “then you can stay with me forever and ever. Ha, Ha.”

“Maria,” shouted a voice, “I need you.”

Her body was catapulted out of the room and she was in the passage again drifting slowly towards the bright light.

She stopped in front of an unusual white door with clouds scudding across it. It had a big brass knocker on the front shaped like a harp. Maria lifted it up and knocked three times. The door opened and she floated forwards. The room contained no furniture. It was just like an expanse of summer blue sky, yet Maria felt as if she was stood on solid ground. Clouds wafted by with angels sat on them. She gasped as a tall angel wrapped his arms and feathers around her.

“No, this is not the way,” he said. “Let me show you.”

The room cleared and Maria felt someone take hold of her hand. She looked down and a young boy with blonde hair and blue eyes was gazing up at her.

“Mummy, can we go to the park today? I want to go on that big slide. Promise you won’t go away - I’m waiting to come.”

“I promise,” said Maria.

“Are you ready dear,” said another voice. She spun round. It was her neighbor, Josh. He lifted her hand up to his mouth and kissed it. She stared in amazement at the gold ring on her finger.

Everything faded back to the room with no furniture. The Angel still had his arms and feathers wrapped around her.

“Was that a vision of the future,” she asked.

“Yes, but only if you stay on the path meant for you.”

Maria floated gently out of the room, returning to the passage. She had almost reached the light. She gasped as she realized someone was waiting for her and began to move faster towards them. It was Mike.

“No, Maria. This isn’t the way. You aren’t ready. Go back and remember what the Angel showed you.”

A sudden force jolted Maria. She whizzed backwards along the passage until she felt as if she had landed with a heavy bump on the floor. Her eyes were closed. There was a warmth on her lips. Her eyes fluttered open and as the bleariness cleared she saw Josh leaning over her.

“Maria! Thank God. I thought I’d lost you. The ambulance is on its way”

“You won’t lose me,” said Maria, thinking about what the Angel had shown her. “I promise.”

Navtej Kohli on Rollyo