I heard this story 15 years ago, in my childhood. After so many years, my English lecturer gave a homework in the English class, to write a short story. The first story that came into my mind is this one. The lecturer appraised my work and chose this one as the best story written in the class. Still I believe the story can be written much better by some one else… But lets have a look at my work….

Once upon a time, in a small village of India, an old farmer lived with his 5 sons in a small hut. Although he was a widower, he was looking after his naughty children well. Everyday he worked hard in his farm to earn a living. However, his children were not obedient and were fighting with each other all the time.
After a few months, the old man became so ill that he could not get up from the bed alone. There was no one to help the young kids. While the old man was on bed, suffering from intense pain, he could hear his children fighting over fruits they pick up from a neighbouring house. Additionally, they were shouting and running around the hut all along the day. Though old man asked his children not to fight, they ignored their father’s advice.
Oneday, the man felt too ill and was thinking deeply about his children’s behaviour. Suddenly, an idea came into his mind. Immediately he asked his children to come near to his bed. As soon as they appeared, the old man asked his eldest son to bring 6 stick from the warehouse which was next to his hut. When the sticks were brought, the old man asked the eldest son to take one of those sticks and try to break it from middle of it. With lightning speed, the eldest son broke the stick. The old man looked at the other 4 children to find that they were staring at him. They were waiting to listen what their father would tell. The man again asked his eldest son to take the 5 remaining sticks and break them all at once. The eldest son tried to do so, but he failed all the times.
“My children, I tried to convince you about the importance of unity” , said the old man. There was silence for a minute among his sons. “When your brother tried to break one single stick, he could do that easily. But he failed to break the bundle of 5 sticks. As long as you all be together, your enemies cannot split you apart easily.
The children felt guilty for what they did. They promised their father, not to fight with each other. The old man was happy for his children. There after, the children helped each other with brotherhood love.
After 3 days, the old man passed away. But before his death he left a note under his pillow, saying “I’m happy for your unity. Never leave each other.”