The Bleat of A Lamb
The feeling of anguish began to creep into his mind. He began to monologue with his
consciousness about what went wrong?
Hakim was born with a silver spoon. Being the only son of a wealthy family, he was spoiled
with a lavish lifestyle. This did not make him a better person. Instead, he ventured into
the act of misdemeanor. He stole a precious gem from his mother because he wanted to
brag with his friends. This act landed him in the middle of nowhere.
"Oh, Hakim you're already here. Come, make yourself at home." Her grandmother
greeted him.
"Okay grandma I will." he washed his feet and immediately headed inside to cool himself
down. His head turned in all directions searching for the air conditioner but it's nowhere
to be found. All that was left was an old and rusty stand fan. While his mind was full of
thoughts on how surreal the situation was, he quietly sat down in front of the fan as he
didn't have any energy left.
Hakim unpacked his luggage and got ready to take shower. He asked his grandfather
where was the shower and followed him but when he came to his senses, he found
himself standing in front of the toilet that was located outside the house. To make things
worse, the lamp was dim and flickering causing Hakim to guard up since he was quite
scared of ghosts and reptiles. Every single night he also needed to fight with the hunger
of mosquitoes that made his skin become reddish and itchy even though he slept using
the mosquito net.
Staying in the house was boring. He wanted to play games but his mother already forbade
him to bring his game console. His cousins occasionally invited him to swim and play at
drainage near the back of the house but he refused since he felt it was filthy and
contaminated and, in the end, he just walked around the village.
On the last day staying, Hakim strolled around the village for the last time. As he walked,
a bleating sound could be heard from his back and when he turned his head, dejection
clearly showed on his face. He kept walking faster and faster but the lamb kept on
following him. While walking backwards, he threw stones towards the lamb. Every time
his shot hit the lamb, he felt surprisingly satisfied with it. He kept on doing it but what he
didn't grasp was that he was at the end of a cliff and accidently he fell from it. Fortunately,
the cliff was not high but for a mere 10-year-old boy, it was high enough.
He tried to climb up but since it rained early in the morning, the soil became muddy
and all his effort was all in vain as it's really slippery. To make it worse, he sprained his
ankle when he fell. The lamb that was following him showed its face and bleat to him.
Hakim was furious seeing the lamb and he felt as if the lamb was mocking him for being
like that. It started to drizzle. He sat down while hugging both of his legs under the cliff. A
willow tree was convenient enough to cover him when it drizzled but as time went by
drizzle turned to heavy rain. Hakim didn't know what else he did. All that was left was his
mind clouded with the thought he would die because of the cold.
When hope seems to be at loss, he barely hears someone calling out for his name.
He thought it was in his mind but the calling was getting louder and louder. He immediately
answered back and he could see his parents with raincoats and umbrellas. His father
pulled him out and he hugged both of his parents while crying. His parents brought him
back to his grandparent’s house and wrapped him up with a warm and cozy blanket. With
trembling lips, he asked how they found him. "We didn't find you by chance but you should
be grateful that lucky lamb led us to you. At first, we thought that the lamb was behaving
weirdly but my instinct said to follow the lamb and we did." Smiled at his mother. Hakim
cried and felt sorry for whatever things he had done in the past.
The next day before the departure to their home in the city, Hakim stood in front of
his grandparent’s house as he chuckled a bit remembering what happened to him for the
past week. His father came from behind and wrapped his hands around Hakim's shoulder
and said, "The hardest battle in life is to battle ourselves, to admit our wrongdoings and
to be humble. Though, the greatest achievement that a man can do is to change for the
better." Hakim learned his lesson and was determined to be a better person that his
parents dreamt of.