The lawn was glittering with fairy lights, pretty buntings adorned the area and colourful balloons were seen everywhere. Topping the festivities was the magnificent cake which occupied the large table gracefully. The candle, shaped as number nine was visible on it. Everyone waited eagerly for the birthday boy to take his place.

Today was Sameer’s ninth birthday bash. Soon enough, he walked up to the table dressed smartly and radiating the joy he felt on his big day. As the chorus broke out with the birthday song, Sameer excitedly cut the cake and blew out the candle. Presents were piled up, Sameer surely had loving relatives and lots of friends. For him, the best thing about this day every year was getting lots of presents.

This year too he received nice presents and the number had grown. Everyone knew he loved toys and so he got lots of toys as gifts. Sameer was overjoyed when he opened the presents. He could not wait to try the latest remote-controlled airplane or ride the new bicycle or play the latest games on his PlayStation. There was a pair of rackets too and a brand new cricket kit, as well as various board games amongst other stuff.

However, Sameer was very possessive and would simply not share anything with his friends, specially his new toys.

Whenever his friends came around and would wish to look at his new toys, he would find excuses for not letting them see it. He would not allow anyone to ride his new bicycle or touch his new cricket kit.

Similarly he flew the airplane alone in his backyard and kept all his toys safely locked in the cupboard. Sameer’s friends were quick to notice his behaviour and soon they started to avoid him.

He was now left alone on his own, nobody invited him to the afternoon cricket matches or to the fun rides on their bicycles to the park. Nobody visited him at his place or talked to him during lunch break at school.

At first, Sameer pretended not to care. He would keep himself busy with his enormous collection of toys or playing video games.

One night, as Sameer tidied up his room and kept away all the toys safely in the cupboard, he felt as if there were noises coming from inside the cupboard. He tried to listen. It seemed as if someone was forcing the cupboard to open. Suddenly with a bang, the doors of the cupboard popped open.

Sameer could not believe his eyes ... his toys had come alive! All of them were giving threatening glares to the terrified boy. The board games demanded that they should be played with.

The badminton had the same demand. The PlayStation wanted both players to use the remote controls. All the toys marched forward with their demands as Sameer shrank back into the covers. He tried to stop them, but the toys were so many! Sameer screamed in fear.

His eyes fluttered open. He was sweating with fear due to the scene he had just witnessed. He quickly turned around to see where the toys were, but he soon realised that he had been dreaming!

But the dream made Sameer realise a very important lesson. That day he took out his badminton set and carried it to school where he asked his friends to play with it during the lunch break. They all took turns and Sameer enjoyed all the fun. Later in the afternoon he joined his friends for a cricket match near his house and it was thrilling because Sameer allowed everyone to use the stuff from his cricket kit. It was an exciting afternoon. As they departed for their homes, he promised his friends to join them in the park on weekends.

From now on Sameer would allow his friends to take turns on his new bicycle. He even asked his friends over to his place to play the new board games together. Sameer had realised that sharing was important, no matter how cool all the toys were, they could never replace his friends and if he was to make the most out of his toys, he must share them and let others play with them too.

Published in Dawn, Young World April 8th, 2017