Raheem was breathless from running all the way from his home to school. He was panting hard near the school gate when his friend Ali joined him and asked, “Why don’t you just take the bus? Instead of running to school like a headless chicken every time you get late.”

“I am saving the bus fare to buy my mother a decent gift for her birthday, and besides the run keeps me fit and energetic,” replied Raheem.

Raheem belonged to a poor family. His father was a mechanic who tried hard to make ends meet. While Raheem and Ali were having this conversation, they heard a strange but pleasant sound that was new to their ears. It was the sound of a bicycle bell. When both the boys looked at the direction of this approaching sound, they saw their rich and proud classmate Zain riding a beautiful, shining red bicycle.

Raheem was mesmerised by this red beauty. He always longed for a bicycle, but he knew that his father couldn’t afford to give him this luxury so he quickly jerked the thought out of his mind and walked inside the school with Ali, hiding his yearning for the bicycle with a bright smile.

A few days later, Raheem was playing in the park with his friends when he saw Zain showing off his red bicycle to the other boys standing there.

Suddenly, one of the boys said, “Oh yeah! If your bicycle is that great, then race with us. Whoever wins will be considered to have the best bike.”

Zain quickly accepted the challenge. The race began and the red bicycle sped along the road like a lightning bolt shining brightly. Zain, not being an expert rider, lost control over the bike and half-way along the race crashed into a tree and fell.

Seeing this Raheem and some other kids ran towards Zain and helped him up. Zain was not injured except for a few bruises on his knees and legs, but his bicycle had crashed badly and had scratches everywhere. The handle was badly twisted, the seat had fallen off and one of the tyres was punctured.

The other boys who were racing also came and started laughing and mocking Zain. Zain, being an overconfident and proud boy, couldn’t stand the humiliation and quickly picked the bike and threw it in a nearby dumpster.

With an angry expression, he exclaimed, “Stupid bicycle! Doesn’t matter, I’ll get the best one today, and will see you guys tomorrow!”

Raheem’s heart sank to see the red bicycle in such a state. He tried hard to persuade Zain not to act foolish and take the bike back, but Zain, being arrogant, didn’t listen. He instead said to Raheem, “I don’t want this bike. My father will buy me a better one. If you feel so bad then you can take it, I don’t care.”

Raheem stood there surprised. He then decided to take the damaged bicycle. He carefully pulled it out of the dumpster and walked it slowly towards his home. On reaching home, he told the whole story to his mother and went to sleep.

The next morning he woke up and saw the damaged bike leaned against the wall at the corner of their house. He thought it would take his father many days to repair the bicycle for him, but the thought of having a bicycle made him smile.

At school, Raheem saw Zain standing beside his new, beautiful and quite advanced bicycle, again showing it off. The day passed normally at school and when he reached home, he saw his father smiling.

“I have a surprise for you, come let me show you,” Raheem followed his father and the sight he saw was nothing less than a dream.

It was the red bicycle all fixed and freshly painted. It was good as new. Raheem stood there in disbelief when his father said, “Your mother told me everything about the bicycle incident and how much you loved it so I tried to fix it as soon as I could and here you are! Happy?”

Raheem was speechless but the tears that trickled down his cheeks and the joy in his eyes told his parents clearly that he was the happiest boy in this world with his red bicycle.

Published in Dawn, Young World September 23rd, 2017