Orderly and Pell-mell were neighbours in dwarfland. True to their names, Orderly was the most organized dwarf while Pell-mell was the most unplanned and untidy dwarf ever. All houses in their lane were built the same way, but you could clearly distinguish Orderly’s house from that of Pell-mell’s. Orderly’s house was neat, clean, and well-kept. The lawn was mowed, the windows spick and span, and the driveway clean. The house seemed to smile and say, ‘please come inside’.
Pell-mell’s house looked shabby, the walls had stains and had an air of neglect. Weeds grew undeterred on the lawn, some windows were broken while others dusty, and the driveway was dirty. It was one sorry-looking house! Passers-by often smiled at Orderly’s house and thought, “that’s one lovely house!” while they hurried past Pell-mell’s place, not willing to look too long at it!
Orderly was a diligent dwarf and made sure that everything was arranged neatly in their places. His kitchen had all jars labeled and arranged in the order of their sizes for easy access. The clothes were sorted, pressed, and folded neatly. Everything in his house had a place and he ensured that once an item was used, it was returned to its spot. This habit made sure that nothing was out of its place and everything could be found easily.
Pell-mell didn’t care much about what others thought, though! He was a lazy dwarf and didn’t like spending time keeping the house tidy. He threw things pell-mell into their corners rather than arranging them neatly. The washed clothes went right on top of the dirty ones – pell-mell! His kitchen counter was sloppy too, with syrup, jam, and stale bread scattered all over. The smell was appalling!
One day, a grand news was announced in dwarfland! The king and queen were celebrating the first birthday of their son and had invited every dwarf in dwarfland to the party. The dwarfs talked excitedly amongst themselves about what they’d wear and take as a present. Everyone wanted to please the king and the queen! Everyone was determined to look their grandest selves.
Orderly and Pell-mell spoke to each other excitedly across the garden fence.
“Hi there, Pell-mell! Have you heard about the birthday celebration at the palace next week? Isn’t it exciting?! What do you plan to wear?”
“Hello, Orderly! I know that there’s a pair of golden trousers and shirt that my mother had sent me as a gift last year! I will wear that. I plan to carve the best toy unicorn for the baby as a gift. Won’t that be splendid?”, said Pell-mell.
“Oh that would be amazing indeed! I know that you can carve the most marvelous wooden toys. I think you should arrange the clothes you want to wear right away and not leave it for the last minute”, said Orderly wisely.
“Pfft! I’ll arrange my clothes when I can! Right now I’m going to the shop and make the unicorn. It’s going to be fun!”, said Pell-mell. “What gift are you planning to give”, he asked Orderly.
Orderly smiled widely and said instantly, “I’m going to give a baby stroller organizer that I will make with my own hands! That will be really useful to the King and Queen”.
“Oooh..that’s a great one”, said Pell-mell. Despite his lack of orderliness, Pell-mell was a good dwarf at heart. He and Orderly were good friends!
That night, Orderly picked out his outfit – a lime green pair of pants, a lime green shirt, a lime green hat, and lime green shoes! He loved lime green! The next morning, he started working on the baby stroller organizer. The celebration was in 3 days. By the end of the second day, he had it ready! He felt proud. He was all set for the celebration!
Pell-mell, on the other hand, did nothing about his outfit! Carving the unicorn was quite a task so he worked hard at it. By the end of the third night, the day before the celebration, he finished making the unicorn. He was proud of it! It really looked very nice.
The next morning, the entire dwarfland woke up and got ready to go up to the palace! It was going to be a day-long celebration. Everyone wore their best set of clothes and looked really nice! Orderly put on his lime-green outfit and went over to Pell-mell’s house. He and Orderly were to up to the palace together. However, when he rang the bell to Pell-mell’s house, no one answered the door. He grew worried. He pushed the door and it swung open. Immediately, he saw how dirty and in what chaotic shape the house was in. Wrinkling his nose, he shouted, “Pell-mell! Where are you? We’re getting late for the celebration! Do hurry up!”.
He didn’t hear any response! He went upstairs to Pell-mell’s room and he heard sobs through the door! Alarmed, he pushed the door open.
The room was a mess. Clothes were strewn everywhere. There wasn’t even space to step without treading on a piece of cloth! Amidst all this sat Pell-mell, crying his eyes out! Whatever was the matter!
“Oh what’s the matter, Pell-mell?”, asked Orderly. “Please tell me how I can help!”
“I can’t find my grand outfit”, wailed Pell-mell. “It’s time to go to the celebrations and I just can’t find my golden outfit. This house is such a mess! Oh, why haven’t I ever arrange my clothes properly! I don’t know what I’m going to do!”
Orderly looked at him in dismay. “Why, Pell-mell, I thought you might have arranged your outfit days ago! It will be hard to find it now in this mess!”. He thought a little more. “You know, I do have a nice pair of light blue pants and a shimmery blue shirt. It may not be nearly as grand as your golden one, but I think it will do and will fit you nicely. Why don’t you wear that today?”, he said.
“Oh would you lend it to me? That would be jolly good! That’s really nice of you, Orderly. Thank you”, said Pell-mell, wiping his tears away and smiling up at Orderly.
“Hurry up now!”, said Orderly. “We have no time to lose! “
After 30 minutes, Pell-mell was dressed in the light blue pants and shimmery blue shirt. He wore a white hat and a white pair of shoes that went with the outfit. He looked nice!
They went up to the celebration. Thankfully they weren’t very late! The king and the queen accepted their presents graciously and they felt pleased. They had a grand time at the celebration!
Pell-mell has promised to always be planned and organized. I do think he will keep his promise, don’t you?