Ahmed was somewhat selfish, and could not stand someone saying no to him. He had an older brother, Asher, who was just the opposite. Asher was kind and selfless. He cared deeply for Ahmed too, so whenever Ahmed did something wrong, Asher always forgive him.

One day, they visited their grandmother’s house. She was delighted to see them. While talking to the boys and her daughter, she requested that they stay the night and help her with some chores around the house. They all agreed.

The next morning, everyone picked a room or corner and started cleaning. Ahmed chose the attic, because he thought it was smaller than the rest of the rooms and there will be less to do. While dusting and sorting through the old things, he noticed a big brown box. It was locked. He wiped the dust from its top and took it downstairs to his grandmother, asking her about it.

She looked at it longingly and said that it had belonged to her great-grandparents. It contained antique things that she had kept as memories of them. Everyone became excited to open it and look inside.

Grandma opened the box. Inside were ancient things they had never seen before. There was a compass, an old binocular, an album, a leather-covered diary, bamboo pens, some wooden relics and an antique mirror. Since grandmother was old, she told her daughter, the boys’ mother, that she could no longer take care of so many things, so it would be better if she took them home instead. Ahmed’s mother agreed.

Ahmed could not resist the mirror and insisted on taking it. Grandma allowed him to keep it. He felt delighted as he imagined hanging it on the wall of his room.

When they returned home, the first thing Ahmed did was hang the mirror on his bedroom wall. Afterwards, he lay down on the bed and turned on his tablet.

About an hour later, there was a knock on the door.

“Come in,” Ahmed said.

Asher entered and asked softly, “Let’s play Ludo!”

“No, I don’t want to play,” Ahmed replied carelessly.

Asher left the room dejectedly. Right then, Ahmed felt a sharp pain in his eyes. He put the tablet aside and looked unintentionally towards the mirror. There was a storm-like cloud in the mirror. Soon he found himself standing beneath it and hearing the muffled voice of his brother.

This frightened him. He thought he had lost his mind, so without wasting a second, he jumped into bed and tried to fall asleep.

A few days later, Ahmed went to the seaside with his family. There, he saw a cute baby turtle and took it home with him despite his parents’ warnings.

That night, something strange woke him from his deep sleep. Suddenly, he began hearing the cries of a female turtle inside his head. He looked around, but saw nothing. Then he looked into the mirror.

The mirror had turned black and blue, and inside it he saw a huge turtle dragging a plastic bag in her mouth towards the sea. Something inside the bag was struggling desperately to get out.

When Ahmed looked closely, he was horrified — it was him trapped inside the bag!

This terrified him completely. He immediately ran to his parents’ room crying, and begged them to take him to the beach. They tried to calm him down and told him to go back to sleep, but he was too frightened to return to his room, so he slept beside them instead.

The next day, he kept pleading with his father to take him to the beach. His father grew worried by Ahmed’s unusual behaviour and repeatedly asked him the reason, but Ahmed refused to explain. Finally, his father agreed and took him there.

Ahmed ran to the shore and released the baby turtle into the water. His father saw everything and realised that Ahmed had felt guilty for taking the turtle away from its home.

Smiling gently, he said, “You did the right thing, boy.”

Throughout the journey back home, Ahmed remained silent. When they arrived back home, he did not go to his room. Instead, he sat quietly in the lounge. Everyone noticed his strange behaviour.

After a while, his father sat beside him and asked what was wrong. Ahmed could no longer keep the secret of the mirror to himself and finally told his parents everything.

The mirror cracked the moment he finished speaking, as though the secret had finally been released. Ahmed finally understood why the mirror had shown him those terrifying visions. It wanted him to stop being thoughtless and careless. It made him be more mindful of his words and actions.

That night changed him forever, and he learnt that every action has consequences and that no living being should ever be treated badly.

Published in Dawn, Young World, May 30th, 2026