Once upon a time, there lived two friends, Mustafa and Ali. They were close friends.

One day, on a nice sunny day, Mustafa whispered to Ali, “How about if we go to the woods nearby?”

“Yes, I think it’s a good idea as we are free from studies,” Ali replied. Therefore, the friends decided to schedule this trip the next day.

Excited, Mustafa and Ali did all their preparations. However, when they told their parents about it, they did not give the permission to the boys to enter the deadly woods. Finally they agreed on the condition that Ali and Mustafa would not go too far. The children assured them that they wouldn’t disobey them.

The next day, with their bags filled with snacks, water bottles and other important stuff, both friends set out from their town. After a short walk of 15 minutes, they came close to the woods. As they came nearer, their heartbeat grew faster. They could easily hear the growling of the bear, the hissing of snakes and some other queer sounds of frightening animals as well.

Terrified, the friends tiptoed further to enter the fearful woods. As they entered, their curiosity increased and they moved further. They explored the new place they found themselves in. Then, at one point, Mustafa reminded his friend about the advice of their parents about not going far away into the woods as they had already crossed the limit set for them.

However, Ali remarked, “It’s too exciting, let’s go even further!”

On the other hand, Mustafa, being obedient to his parents, hesitated to move further and told Ali to come back. Ali tried to persuade Mustafa. He applied all methods, even blackmailing about never talking to him again but Mustafa disagreed.

Ali was ready to go ahead alone. Mustafa, being sad to leave his friend in the woods, returned.

Ali continued his adventure. “What was it?” he said loudly, but then realised the absence of his friend. It was a large, scary bear who was hungry for and seemed happy to have found a meal at last! Petrified and regretful to not have returned with his friend, Ali was lost in thoughts when a huge force struck him. The bear had attacked him!

“Help! Help!” he shouted in pain. Suddenly, there was a loud noise of a fire from a rifle. The bear had been shot dead! The entire frightening situation was over in a matter of seconds and Ali’s life was saved! But how did all this happen? Luckly for Ali, it was a hunter!

It was not the time to investigate further and immediately Ali ran back towards his house. He had got his lesson of not obeying to his parents. He begged forgiveness from his parents and promised not to repeat it in his entire life!

So readers, we should always obey our elders, especially our parents, even in their absence. We should not get fascinated by appealing sights or opportunities that we see, which may lead us to forget our parents’ instructions and orders. Because in reality, success is in obedience!

Published in Dawn, Young World, September 19th, 2020