Sarah was a bright student and she loved her studies. She went to tuition daily where her tuition teacher, Miss Bushra, admired her very much because Sarah was a hard worker. Miss Bushra would reward her students each time they topped a test or made excellent effort.

One day, Miss Bushra bought a diary as a reward and told everyone that whoever did well in the upcoming test would get the diary as a reward. When Miss Bushra gave the test, Sarah felt nervous and worried because the questions seemed difficult to her but she still thought she would get the reward as she was one of the good students in the tuition class.

However, the result was different.

The next day, when Sarah came to tuition, Miss Bushra looked unhappy and said, “I am shocked and disappointed with your result Sarah! I was expecting better from you, as the questions were almost those that we had discussed in the earlier classes!” Miss Bushra said and left the room saying she would be right back.

Instead of getting sad on her result, all Sarah could think of was the diary … that she would never have it now.

‘Well, this is just a tuition test, why should I get worried; after all I am a good student. But how can I get that diary? Miss Bushra will now give it to someone else!’ she thought and just then an evil idea struck her mind.

‘Why don’t I secretly take that diary out? Miss Bushra won’t find out about this!’ she thought.

Sarah knew that Miss Bushra would often put the new stuff to reward her students in a cabinet in the same room where she taught them. At that time, she was the only student in the room, so she quickly got up and took out the beautifully wrapped diary and put it in her bag and sat where she was sitting. After a few moments, Miss Bushra returned and other children also arrived. The rest of the tuition class passed as usual.

When Sarah came home, she tried to be calm. She was happy that she had the diary now but felt guilty somewhere inside her heart….

So after dinner, when she went to bed, she saw a fairy in her dream, who took her to a beautiful garden with flowers and fruits on trees, and a river that was shining like silver. There was a tree with big, red apples. Sarah plucked one and eat it. It was the sweetest apple she had ever tasted … she plucked some more apples and hid them in her shoulder bag.

After a few steps, the fairy stopped Sarah and said, “I know you have stolen the apples and this is the worst habit a child can have. It makes you a bad person! You should have thought once before doing that! You will be punished now!”

Sarah became worried and felt guilty because of her deed. She started crying and apologising to the fairy. Just then, she heard her mum calling her name and she woke up.

Her mum was sitting on her bed, looking into Sarah’s face; Sarah instantly hugged her mum. Then she told everything about the dream and, of course, about the diary and added that she was feeling ashamed.

Her mother kissed her forehead and said, “Dear, the dream was just a reminder. It was to show you that stealing is a very bad habit. Stealing really makes you a bad person and nobody will ever trust a person who steals. You should have worked hard in your test to get the diary. Tomorrow you should go to Miss Bushra and give the diary back to her and apologise.”

“Yes mum, I will. Now I will never steal anything and always work hard to achieve the reward!” said Sarah wiping her tears.

The next day, Sarah went to Miss Bushra and confessed what she had done and apologised. She also returned the diary.

Miss Bushra said, “I am very happy that you realised your mistake. And I hope you will be doing even better in your studies now. And yes, keep this diary with you as a present for admitting your mistake and telling the truth!”

Sarah felt relieved and vowed to never behave dishonestly.

Published in Dawn, Young World, February 13th, 2015