I was shy when I was young and when it came to talking to people who were unfamiliar to me, I was a disaster. I only liked two places — my home and the sweet shop on my street.

One day, my father woke me up early in the morning and asked me to dress up. My mother gave me very different clothes to wear. I became confused, so I asked my father about it. He said that we were going to a shop, a place I would love to go.

I smiled, but I did not understand why I was wearing those clothes. I thought it was not the right time to ask such a question as my father was in a hurry. I quickly sat in the car and my father drove away.

During the drive, I wondered, ‘My favourite shop is not that far, so what kind of shop is papa taking me to and that also so early in the morning?’

After half an hour, the car came to a halt. As I peered from the window, I saw an unfamiliar place. Before I could think more, I heard my father’s voice, “Let’s go son.”

I held my father’s hand and walked along him. It seemed like a house, and not like a shop. I saw many other kids wearing the same dress as I was wearing, I looked at my father in astonishment and he knew what I was thinking, so he said, “You will see and learn wonderful things from now on!”

Well I didn’t understand that. So when I walked a few more steps, my father said, “Go son! It’s your day, enjoy!”

Tears started welling in my eyes as I had never had a moment in life when I was away from both my parents. I saw my father smiling and standing still as he urged me to move towards a gate.

Before I could run back to him, I heard a sweet voice, “Come on, dear. There’s no need to cry, there are lots and lots of your friends waiting for you inside!”

It was my teacher but I didn’t know it at that time of course. She held my hand and took me to a room where there were many other kids wearing the same clothes as I was, and they all looked bewildered too. But this wasn’t what I was worried about, I was worrying about my father. Where was he and where was I?

The next few hours went by and I did nothing but cry and yes, many other kids also cried. Then, the same teacher who had taken me to the classroom came and assembled us all and took us out. I again started to cry but once I saw my father, my tears dried, I ran towards him and hugged him tight.

“So, how was your day, son?” my father asked while smiling. I was silent as I didn’t know what to answer. But somewhere deep inside my heart, there was a thrill, a thrill to know a new place, meet new kids, all the things I experienced there, thus I promised myself that I would come back to this shop every day!

Published in Dawn, Young World March 18th, 2017