“Zoya, I can’t find Zain anywhere!” Bilal yelled as he entered the room.

“Relax, he might be in the backyard,” I responded calmly.

“How can you be so calm about it?” his voice quivered as he spoke, “Our four-year-old brother is missing! He is not in the backyard, he is not in the patio, he is not upstairs — he is nowhere!”

“Bilal, there was a single responsibility you were given: to look after a child for 30 minutes so that I could complete my assignment,” I replied in my usual calm manner. “In just nine minutes, you enter my room and tell me that the child disappeared all by himself. Shame on you, you 12-year-old, so-called big brother!”

“Okay yes, he disappeared, and shame on me, but can we now please find him before our parents are home?”

“Of course…” I mumbled and got out of my chair, closing my books. Little did I know that I was closing my books for a long time now.

I rechecked the patio and the backyard, searched under the beds, under the tables, behind the curtains, inside Robin’s kennel and even in the refrigerator, but Bilal was right, Zain was nowhere to be seen.

“Okay, so how exactly did he disappear?” I asked Bilal, taking the matter seriously for the first time, now that I knew he had actually disappeared.

“The doorbell rang,” Bilal started narrating. “It was the milkman, he asked for the bill, Mama had given me the cash and had told me he would come,”

“Alright, so?”

“So I left the door open, and went to get the cash,” he now hesitated as he spoke. “Zain was playing with Robin. I returned with the money, handed it over to the milkman and shut the door, just then I realised Zain was not there. I went to look in the backyard, but he was not there as well, and…”

“And?”

“I opened the door to check if he was outside, but the milkman was there standing at the neighbour’s door, but Zain was not there, so…”

“So you’re trying to tell me that Zain must have left the house while the milkman was there on the door, but the milkman did not for sure kidnap him because you instantly returned and saw the milkman there on the neighbour’s door.”

“Zoya … actually …” he stumbled over his words and my first guess was that he would cry.

“Okay relax!” I interrupted him. “If only you would have told me the truth, I would have not wasted my time looking around the house. Mama and Papa will be back anytime now.”

“What do we do?” Bilal asked.

“Let’s go check outside… or ask the neighbours maybe?” I said.

“Yeah, I’ll go do that,” Bilal said.

“I will go call Papa,” I muttered.

And we both went to do our part of the jobs. Papa said they were on their way. After around 10 minutes, Bilal returned, saying that he did not find Zain anywhere. I felt like I would cry, but I kept my composure.

Soon, we heard Papa’s car. Hurriedly, I walked to the door, opened it, and could not move. It was Mama, holding Zain by his wrist, followed by Papa with our little puppy, Robin. They had found them on the roadside. They must have left the house while playing.

It was past midnight. Everyone was now quiet except Papa.

“Listen everyone. I know today has been scary, but there are some important lessons to learn. Bilal, being a big brother means taking responsibility. You needed to look out for Zain, you should’ve told Zoya the whole story at once.”

“But I was just scared,” Bilal said, wiping his tears.

“I understand,” Papa explained gently, “but fear doesn’t excuse dishonesty. Always be truthful, even when it’s hard. Being truthful is crucial in a family.”

Bilal nodded; his eyes downcast.

“And Zoya,” Papa continued, “when things go wrong, we must work together instead of pointing fingers. It’s not just about solving the problem, but supporting each other.’”

I pulled Zain and Bilal into a hug, realising how important it was to remember Papa’s words.

“From now on,” Papa said with a smile, “let’s promise to look after each other. We might make mistakes, but if we’re responsible and honest, we’ll always find our way back home.”

Published in Dawn, Young World, October 12th, 2024