“Why don’t you ever learn, Maa?” Rayyan asked his mother who wanted to know how she could save the new number of Rayyan’s married sister on her android phone. His mother sadly looked at him as he passed by her to attend his friend’s call.

Rayyan was a 16-year-old student in grade ten. By nature, he was proud and boastful and considered himself a know-it-all. He always kept himself updated with the latest gadgetry, endorsing his belief that he knew everything, but his parents’ faces always reflected distress pertaining to Rayyan’s behaviour.

“Maa! Maa! Where are you?” Rayyan screamed at the top of his voice as he returned home from his friend’s place.

His mother came out of the kitchen in a hurry. “What happened Rayyan beta? Is everything all right?” she asked him anxiously.

“I want to ride a motorcycle! My friend Hannan came to school today on his new motorbike that his father gave him on his birthday. I want a bike too!” Rayyan put forward his demand brashly.

“Rayyan beta, you are too young to ride a motorbike. You are fully aware that accidents take place because of reckless driving,” his mother replied.

Her reply remained incom­plete as Rayyan interrupted with utter disrespect, “I want a motorbike this week. I am old enough to ride a motorbike safely! You never listen to my wishes.”

Rayyan appeared quite adamant to get a motorcycle at any condition. Rayyan’s demand troubled his mother the whole night and she decided to have a calm discussion with him about the matter the next day.

After preparing his favourite dish of chicken jalfrezi, Rayyan’s mother sat on the couch waiting for her son to come back from school. The doorbell rang and his mother rushed to welcome him. As she pulled the door open, she was shocked to see that Rayyan’s elbow and foot were bleeding. Rayyan limped inside and lay down on the couch.

“Are you okay? How did it happen, my dear?” his mother asked as she sat down beside him and held his hand. Rayyan gazed at the floor out of guilt and embarrassment, unable to answer her.

After a few seconds, he put his arms around his mother and started to cry. “Maa… I am sorry! I am really sorry, Maa…,” he wept and told his mother about the accident that took place when he daringly rode his friend’s motorbike after school. He had been determined to show his mother that he was old enough to ride a bike.

“I have realised that I was wrong to consider myself a daredevil,” he said. “I should have listened to you. Nature has punished me for my impudence. I always thought that you are too old to understand the exciting life of youngsters and impose unnecessary restrictions on me. But this incident has proved me wrong. It has taught me a lesson for life,” Rayyan spoke to his mother without making eye contact.

“It is never too late to mend your ways, my dear son,” she said with a smile on her face, wiping Rayyan’s tears.

Rayyan hugged his mother tightly, his weepy eyes reflecting the promise to begin a new, obedient and disciplined chapter of his life.

Published in Dawn, Young World, December 7th, 2019