It was a regular Sunday evening, Ahmed and his group of friends, Fizza, Hassan and Haroon, were strolling through their neighbourhood after an intense match of cricket. It was summer vacation and all of them were feeling very bored of their monotonous routine and were looking for some adventure.

“Oh, why is our neighbourhood so boring? Why can’t there be a magical door here, that leads us to an adventure land?” said Fizza cheekily.

“That’s so unrealistic Fizza, reading fictional books have made you crazy,” Haroon said, grinning.

“But it’s true, I am also feeling bored, particularly during this summer vacation,” Hassan said as they all kept strolling through the neighbourhood.

“I have an idea! Let’s go to that abandoned yard at the back of that weird abandoned house in our neighbourhood, and try to renovate it,” Ahmed came up with an idea.

“Yeah! And we can grow different fruits and vegetables there,” Fizza added.

“And distribute them to the needy, rather than eat it ourselves, Fizza,” Haroon said.

“That is if we can renovate it and grow something on it guys. Let’s not get carried away before time,” Ahmed put in.

Soon they found themselves in front of the house under discussion. After surveying the condition of the yard, they decided to come back the next day with all the necessary equipment they needed for the renovation.

It was after two days of hard work by the kids and a lot of improvement of the yard that something strange occurred. Haroon had cleaned up a place under a large tree and was then digging it up to plant some seeds. Suddenly, his shovel made a weird sound as it hit the ground. He tried to dig again, but something was preventing the shovel from digging deeper.

“Guys!” he called out. “Come here and bring your shovels too!” And soon they all gathered around under the tree and started digging carefully so that whatever was under the ground would be visible.

It took them a few minutes to finally reach something that their shovels were hitting — a small wooden box. Then it was decided that Hassan would open the box carefully.

Slowly, Hassan and the rest of his squad crouched down near the box and opened it. As the box opened, they found themselves looking at a small key and a letter inside the box.

As Hassan picked up the paper and read it, a smile came on his face. He looked up at his friends and then read aloud,

“Whoever finds this key and letter, I am passing my beloved home and yard to them. Just take care of it as your own.”

Hassan passed the letter to the rest of the group and they all smiled, looking at each other with excitement and disbelief, and then started celebrating by hugging each other.

Published in Dawn, Young World, February 17th, 2024