Tony and Sidney were two goats. Although they were best friends, their qualities were very different. Tony was selfish, proud and foolish, but thought that he was the strongest and most intelligent goat in the world. Sidney was strong and wise, but not proud and selfish.

One day they went for a walk. Tony was chatting all the time but Sidney was quiet. Suddenly Tony said, "I'm very hungry Sidney, shall we find something to eat?" "Look, there are two garbage bins, we could find food there," Sidney said.

So they went there. One garbage bin was open and the other was closed. Sidney began to eat from the open garbage bin. "Come Tony," he said, "We can share the food here." "The food kept open is not good to eat," thought Tony.

"I will open the closed garbage bin and eat from the food in it. Sidney might get sick after he eats from the open garbage bin. Then the others will think that Sidney is foolish and that I am wise." So he cunningly said, “No Sidney, you eat from that, I'll open this garbage bin."

And he struggled and struggled and opened the garbage bin. Alas! What was inside? Only polythene and some papers!

My favourite place in Sri Lanka

9 –11 years

By Sajida Najmudeen (11 years), St. Bridget's Convent

Nuwara Eliya is known as the 'Garden City,' of Sri Lanka. The climate is very cool and it is my favourite place in Sri Lanka.

My parents decided to take the family to Nuwara Eliya during the Christmas pvacation. My brother and I were overjoyed when we heard that. On the way to Nuwara Eliya, we saw some breath-taking waterfalls and tea plantations that looked like beautiful velvet green carpets.

Our first stop was at the Blue Field Estate. The estate had a restaurant and a children's playground and we had some delicious snacks and drinks. We played in the playground and when it was time to resume our journey we found it difficult to pull my little brother out of the swing.

We reached Nuwara Eliya at 4p.m. and the mist was just settling down and for a moment I thought I was in Switzerland. We went to a hotel that was opposite the race course. The next day we went to the Ambewala Farm and on the way we ate some delicious strawberries with cream. At the farm we saw cows grazing and rabbits and goats. The cows were eating the luscious green grass.

The following day we went boat riding and horse riding. I was very sad to return to Colombo. I'm waiting for my next school vacation to say, "Nuwara Eliya, here I come!"

My school outing

8 years and below

By Zeenath Rameez (7+ years), Ilma International Girls' School

It was Friday and this was my first school outing. We were going to Guruge Nature Park. We were very excited. There were different kinds of dogs in cages. There were so many kinds of birds. Some of us went on a pony ride.

It was fun to climb the creaky wooden steps, but very scary to go into the dark cave which had many beautiful pictures of our old kings and queens.

My teacher told us stories about many kings. It was fun to go in the train and to feed the ducks. I liked my school outing very much.