It's a few days to Ramadan which is the Muslim month for fasting. I know other religions have their different ways of fasting but the common similarity is that we all forgo food for a certain period of time.
I was walking down my street to get some provisions when i spotted a man giving a group of children lecture on the dos and donts of the fasting month. One of the children mentioned that you're not allowed to drink water and then proceeded to mention her sister sometimes hide to drink water.
This was funny to me because I knew that child and I knew she was the one always doing this because I'd see her on more than one occasion during fasting.
I think children are one of the most funny beings on Earth and I decided to write something based on my own experience growing up as well as other people experience I've witnessed during Ramadan.
You're a ten year old boy or girl and your parents want to introduce you to fasting, so at dinner one night they announce that the next fasting month coming up you'll be joining the family to participate in it.
Your parents know you might not cope the way they do since you're just starting so instead of fasting from morning till evening which was the norm, they instead decided that you'll fast from morning till 1pm which was actually just one hour from the time you usually go on lunch break in school.
Ordinarily you wouldn't have minded since you weren't really fasting the whole day like the adults. The only problem was that you're a foodie who loves food a lot and sometimes sneak out to eat your lunch even before lunch break. This whole fasting thing was going to be an issue.
On the first day, you immediately notice that unlike other days where you didn't think much about your lunch because you knew you could always count on sneaking out to eat whenever you were hungry. Today though, the very lunch that should be out of your mind was not looking like a prison sentence.
Whenever the teacher draws a cube shape or rectangular shape on the board, it immediately starts looking like a loaf of bread. Every letter O and number 0 looked like an egg. It almost seems like food is the only thing you can think about.
You struggle till it's lunch break and immediately forget about the extra hour that you were supposed to fast.
You suddenly remember someone quoting something somewhere which sounded like It's only someone who has food in his/her tummy that'll remember how to solve mathematics.
Even though you can't remember where you've seen the quote before or even if it exist, it seemed enough justification at the moment and that's all you care about. Besides you think mum and dad won't want you to fail in school right as you take another spoon of rice.
You're still enjoying your lunch when suddenly you see your seven year old little brother who's not fasting standing in front of you. He knows you're not supposed to be eating because mum already told him to spy on you during lunch break.
Knowing he was going to sing like a bird immediately he gets home, you invite him to join you on the condition that he doesn't reveal your secret. Little bro agrees and all is safe again.
On getting home, mum asks how fasting went and you proceed to inform her that you even waited two hours past lunch break, your brother confirms the story and mum is satisfied.
Around evening when it was finally time for the adults to break their fast, mum proceeds to dish out everyone's food and you notice the food on your plate is significantly more than your brothers own. Normally this was usually the case but today the difference was quite obvious, so you smile thinking mum is giving me more food because she thinks i fasted today.
Just as you're about to take the first spoon, your little brother calls your name and insists you both exchange your plates. This was unheard of because everyone knew you were the number one foodie in the family, but you understood the look your brother was giving you.
Either exchange plates or have your secret revealed. As much as it broke your heart, there was no option but to give in. But no one is as surprised as mum and dad who kept asking why you gave your plate to your brother and why he wanted yours.
But you're all smiles claiming there was no issue and that you weren't really hungry before. Eventually they let the matter die down as everyone proceeded to eat.
The next day, you make sure that you eat at the time you were supposed to and even made sure your brother is present so there'll be no blackmail again. But to your anger and dismay, your brother still ask for your own plate of food at dinner. At this point you know only the threat of nuclear war can make you leave that plate of food.
Crying, you proceed to tell mum and dad how you lied about fasting the previous day and how you were sorry and wouldn't do it again.
Mum, dad and your little brother all burst into laughter as a confused you asks what was funny.
Mum tells you that she knew you didn't eat at the time she asked you to because your class teacher was also aware of the change in your lunch time and that the teacher had called to inform her when you ate lunch. You immediately understood that your brother had been a misdirection because they knew how much you loved food and had planned for your brother to ask for your bigger plate of food.
Mum and dad also tell you they were proud of you for coming out and saying the truth. Apparently one of the things to avoid when fasting was telling lies. They'd been wondering how long you would take before telling the truth and were happy it didn't take long.
My first experience with fasting, my sister caught me eating biscuits but unlike the story she immediately went to inform my mum about it. I noticed my food was smaller that night compared to those who actually fasted. The thought of eating more food kept me in check after that.
Little siblings can get on your nerves sometimes. This story is a clear reality in some places😅
This thought would keep anyone in check 😅. Happy Ramadan in advance. I hope you stick to your fasting schedule this time😅
Lol, I hope so too. Thanks for reading
You're welcome.
I don't have siblings, but I know that when your sibling knows a secret of yours it generates a position of power that can be taken advantage of, but I must admit that I wasn't expecting that last twist in the story.... he knew how to play his cards!
Thanks for stopping by
Thank you for sharing!