“Grrrrrrrrr! Grrrrrrrr!” Saad’s stomach was growling! Oh he was famished! And why wouldn’t he be, for he had a fight with his sister and slept without eating his birthday cake in protest. But now his stomach was growling because he was hungry!

Saad would change sides trying to forget about the food and the yummy cake of his birthday party. But it was all in vain! His stomach growled even more! It was like all the animals in the jungle were running wild inside his stomach.

He held his tummy and shut his eyes tighter. Counting backwards, he finally dozed off. He saw a dream. In that dream he was wandering in a forest. A large and beautiful forest it was and there ran a high chocolate fall beside it. The sight was yummy as melted chocolate was falling down and meeting the chocolate river! And trees had all the most mouth-watering and heavenly cakes in the world! Pineapple! Black forest! Chocolate fudge! Oh my, it was heaven!

But then “Grrrrrrrr! Grrrrrrrrr!”

Saad’s stomach growled and he opened his eyes. The forests vanished, the scrumptious chocolate lake disappeared!

‘Uggghhhhh!’ Irritated and annoyed, he finally sat up. He looked on the other bed and found his sister sleeping peacefully. He hated her at that moment! There he was starving and awake, but she was sleeping like there was no tomorrow when instead she should have been the one punished and not him!

It was his birthday that night but everybody gave gifts to Sarah too! ‘But why?’ he had thought, ‘only I should get gifts and not her!’

Imagine how many gifts he would have had if only everybody had given all the gifts to him and not Sarah! But nobody thought about it and it was so unfair! And to serve everyone right, he refused to open the gifts. He didn’t even eat his own birthday cake and slept early.

‘Sarah would be so sorry the next morning!’ he thought and smiled with pride. But alas what to do about it now? He needed to eat something.

‘Mommy must have kept something for me!’ his eyes glittered as it dawned upon him and he quickly got out of bed. As the bed creaked, Sarah moved a bit. Oops! He would wake her up and then she would know that he was hungry. She would laugh at him. Mumbling, she changed side and went back to sleep.

‘Huuffff! What a relief!’ Saad thought.

He slipped into his flip-flops and tiptoed towards the door of the room. Standing in the doorway, he peeked out to make sure everybody was asleep. He could hear grandma snoring in her room.

He crept into the kitchen and turned to the fridge. He pulled open the fridge door. His face lit and his eyes glittered as he saw the luscious and tasty chocolate fudge cake! His stomach growled even more! He took out the cake and placed it on the table. With a spoon in his hand, he sat on the chair and ate a small bite.

‘Hmm ... so divine!’ he thought to himself. It was the best cake ever! He quickly left the spoon and started eating the cake with his hands. He enjoyed it. He loved every bit of it. He couldn’t be happier! He was engrossed eating the cake when suddenly the lights turned on and mummy was standing at the doorway.

Saad, being caught red-handed, smiled shyly at his mother who was looking at him with a raised eyebrow.

“I couldn’t sleep! I was too hungry!” he explained himself immediately.

Mommy came inside and gave him dinner. As he sat gobbling down the food, his mother stroked his hair, “Sweety, you shouldn’t have behaved so badly last night. She is your sister and besides, don’t you also get gifts on her birthday?”

Saad couldn’t protest because it was true; he had always had gifts on Sarah’s birthdays. And now with some food in his stomach finally, he felt less mad at Sarah.

“It is not always about things, my son. You sulked throughout the party and fought with your sister. What fun is it to keep all the gifts but lose a friend whom you play with everyday?”

Saad, realising his mistake, hung his head in shame.

“Always be generous to others, my son. Have a big heart. The more you share, the happier you will be.”

“I am sorry mummy! I will never do that again,” Saad, apologising to his mother, hugged her. “I will be a good boy now!”

As Saad went back to his room, he quickly took out a video game from his pile of gifts. He walked to Sarah’s bed and put it beside his sister. He felt really happy and pleased sharing his gift with Sarah. The next morning, he knew he would also have his friend back!

Published in Dawn, Young World, October 28th, 2017