It was a pleasant morning. I was lost in a beautiful dream where my father had fulfilled his promise to take me to the PSL Final between Lahore Qalandars and Multan Sultans. I was cheering loudly in the crowd when, suddenly, I heard my mum’s voice calling me.

I looked around, confused … and then, before I could make sense of it, someone jolted me awake. I blinked in astonishment, realising I was still on my bed.

Half-asleep, I struggled to focus as my mum spoke. But the moment I heard her say that Dad had called to inform her he wouldn’t be able to come early to take me to the match, my drowsiness vanished instantly.

I sat up straight, completely stunned. I was in shock. Anger bubbled inside me. I didn’t say a word to anyone. Furious at my father, I even refused to eat and locked myself in my room.

My mum called Dad and told him that I was extremely upset. He tried his best to come home as early as possible, but he still couldn’t make it and only arrived at dinnertime.

I was in a terrible mood. I ignored him completely, refused to answer any of his questions, and kept playing Minecraft on my phone. He could tell that I was really hurt.

Anxious and worried, he sat beside me and explained the whole situation. I was shocked to learn that his company had suffered a major loss, which was why he couldn’t leave work early.

My mother gently reassured me, explaining that it wasn’t my father’s fault. The company was going through a difficult time, and he had to stay for important meetings to plan how to handle the situation.

I knew it wasn’t wrong. Adults have responsibilities that we, as kids, often don’t understand. My mother convinced me, and I eventually understood the situation.

To make it up to me, my Dad suggested that he wants to watch a movie together with me, the newly released Jurassic World. Feeling ashamed of my earlier reaction, I couldn’t resist the idea of watching it on the 4K television with some popcorn.

So I went to sat beside my Dad silently. He hugged me from the side and once again explained his situation. I told him I didn’t need any further explanations, I had realised that my reaction was wrong and that I should have responded more maturely. Saying this, I hugged him back.

Then, my siblings and I sat together with our parents, enjoying a fun family night, watching the movie, eating popcorn and chatting about all sorts of things.

Published in Dawn, Young World, March 29th, 2025