It was a usual school day. I woke up at 6:30 am upon my mother shouting from the kitchen that I would be late. I did not want to go to school, but knew my mother would not allow me to take leave, so I quickly got ready.

When I reached the school, I quickly headed to our classroom. I saw Amjad sharpening his pencil. He was my classmate and my best friend until a few days ago. It all started with a school project when our teacher told us to make a model to explain a volcanic eruption. Amjad and I worked on the model for three days during break time, and finally, on the fourth day, it was almost complete.

Just as we were putting the finishing touches on the project, the model fell because Amjad accidentally knocked it with his hand. The whole project was ruined.

I lost my temper and shouted, “You are always careless and always ruin things!”

Amjad said nothing. He simply picked up the project and cleaned the desk. He looked deeply distressed, but did not say a word. I felt bad for him and wanted to end the argument, but I did not want to say sorry. My other friends also told me that it was not my fault and that Amjad was the one who had ruined the project. I agreed with them and stopped talking to Amjad.

During our English literature class, the teacher read a story from our English textbook. It was about two best friends who had a small conflict because of a misunderstanding. Both of them hesitated to say sorry, and because of that, they never became friends again. I felt as though the teacher was looking directly at Amjad and me when reading the story.

Finally, the bell rang and it was time for the lunch break. Usually, Amjad and I shared our lunch and ate together, but now we were not even talking to each other. I saw Amjad laughing and sharing his lunch with another classmate.

This upset me and I started to regret saying those harsh words to him that had caused our years of friendship to break apart like this. I wanted to talk to him and apologise, but I was hesitant and afraid. What would people think of me? Would they think I was weak or scared? And how would Amjad react? Would he become proud?

Then I remembered the story my teacher had read in class: never let a small misunderstanding ruin a friendship and make things right before it is too late. So I decided to go to Amjad and apologise before it was too late for us. I hesitated for a moment, but I had made up my mind.

Just as I was about to approach Amjad, I saw a group of students fighting with him and hitting him. I quickly ran towards them, stopped the fight and took Amjad away. He looked at me and said, “Thanks for coming to my help.”

That broke the ice, and I gathered enough courage and apologised, “I should not have said those words to you the other day. I am sorry. Let’s be friends again.”

Amjad smiled and forgave me. We started sharing our lunch, sitting together, talking, laughing and playing once more. Our friendship became even stronger than before.

I understood that misunderstandings happen between friends, but that does not mean their friendship should come to an end. Instead, such moments can strengthen the bond between two people. We should never end a friendship because of one small mistake. If it happens, we should always try to solve the matter by apologising and becoming friends again.

That day, I learnt that saying sorry does not make you small. It actually makes your heart bigger. We should never be ashamed of admitting our mistakes. Now, whenever I feel angry or hurt, I remember that day. I remember how difficult it was to say one small word and how powerful it turned out to be.

Published in Dawn, Young World, July 18th, 2026