“Asad! Asad! Wake up! You will miss your school today. It’s already 7:35 and your school starts at 8:00, I don’t think you will make it today!” Asad’s mum said while pulling Asad out of the bed.

“Mum, don’t worry! I will make it,” Asad said as he quickly got up with a jerk, put on his uniform, took his bag and ran to the bus stop.

Asad was a 13-year-old boy who was very honest and hardworking. Recently, he had gotten enrolled in a new school so he knew no one there and had made no friends yet. The night before, their family attended his cousin’s wedding and reached home late, which was why he couldn’t get up on time in the morning.

At school, Asad could not pay attention to anything and longed for the bell to ring for the recess so that he could eat something. After a few hours, when the recess bell rang, Asad quickly opened his bag to take out his money to buy some food from the canteen, but just then he remembered that he had left for school in a hurry in the morning and had forgotten to take money from his mum. He looked under his books, hoping to find some money but there was none.

Not knowing what to do, he walked out of the classroom and sat on a bench in front of the canteen. He saw a few of his classmates there, among them was Fahad. He was one of the richest kids his class but he was a very arrogant boy who thought everyone else was a loser. But as Asad was new and didn’t know much about anyone, he didn’t know Fahad’s nature.

Asad thought he would borrow some money from Fahad and return it to him the next day. Asad first hesitated, but as he was starving, he could not bear the pain in his empty stomach so he got up and slowly went towards Fahad and asked if he could borrow some money as he forgot to bring some.

Fahad smirked and then said, “I knew you were a loser, may be a beggar?” Fahad laughed out so loud that the other kids also heard and made fun of the situation.

It was too humiliating for Asad who had never thought that the situation could turn out this way.

The pain in his empty stomach worsened and with the feeling of humiliation in front of everyone combined to form such a horrible mixture that he felt like crying. He could not answer Fahad, and slowly walked back towards an empty bench.

He could still hear them laughing on him at a distance. When he reached the bench, he noticed something lying near it. It was a wallet. He picked it up and recognised it as Fahad’s, as he remembered Fahad showing it to his friends and telling that his uncle bought it for him from the UK. There was quite a lot of money inside for a kid.

First, he thought to keep it a secret and take his revenge on Fahad. But then he remembered what his elder sister once said to him: “Honesty won’t let you down.” Thus he got up and walked towards Fahad and his group.

Asad called out to Fahad, who turned around and said, “Hey loser! You okay? Still want money?”

“No, I’ve just come to return your wallet which you dropped over there,” Asad said.

Fahad was numb for a second. All his friends were silent too.

“Why are you giving it back while you can keep it yourself and also take revenge on me?” asked Fahad.

“Because I was told by my family that ‘Honesty won’t let you down’,” explained Asad.

Fahad was ashamed and, interestingly, he apologised to Asad immediately in front of everyone. By being honest and saying the truth, not only did Asad get some money to buy lunch when Fahad lend him some, but he was also able to make new friends.

On the other hand, Fahad’s life changed, all his pride and selfishness went away and he learned an important lesson, that “Honesty won’t let you down.”

Published in Dawn, Young World March 11th, 2017