“Shush! Shush! Appi, are you asleep?” Adnan’s voice echoed through the dark room.

Sarah sighed. “What is it now?”

“Did you hear that voice?” Adnan whispered.

“What voice?” Sarah whispered back.

“Shh! Be quiet for a while and you’ll hear it again,” Adnan said.

Both children held their breath. Something crashed on the balcony.

“See?” Adnan whispered.

“Is there someone there?” Sarah asked nervously.

“How would I know?” Adnan replied.

“I heard a similar sound before too.”

“We should tell Mum and Dad,” Sarah said.

“They’re sleeping,” Adnan replied, lowering his voice again. “And be quiet. Do you want the ghosts to eat us both?”

“What ghosts?” Sarah asked.

Adnan touched his forehead dramatically. “Oh, Appi, the ghosts on the balcony. Who else?”

“There are no ghosts on the balcony, Adnan,” Sarah whispered. “What if it’s a thief?”

“Well, it could be a beanstalk too,” said Adnan.

“What? A beanstalk?” Sarah asked, confused.

“Yes! Like the one in Jack and the Beanstalk. Remember the story I told you? The magic beans grew overnight, and Jack climbed the giant beanstalk to the giant’s house and became rich and…”

“Stop it!” Sarah said, annoyed, pulling him out of his fantasy world.

“But it could be possible,” Adnan continued.

“I watered the plant on our balcony yesterday, and it might have grown all the way to the sky.”

Sarah rolled her eyes. “Don’t be silly. It’s probably the wind.”

Another sound came from the balcony, tiny footsteps this time.

“So the wind has started walking too,” Adnan whispered.

A shiver ran through Sarah. “I don’t know,” she admitted softly.

“You know, it could be those elves too,” said Adnan.

“What elves?” Sarah asked.

“The elves from The Elves and the Shoemaker, who made shoes for the shoemaker at night and made him rich,” Adnan replied excitedly.

“Don’t start again, Adnan,” Sarah said, more annoyed than ever. “No fairy-tale character is going to come and make you rich. You’ll have to work hard yourself.”

“Okay, okay,” Adnan said. “But right now, we need to find out who’s on the balcony.” Before Sarah could stop him, Adnan climbed out of bed and put on his slippers.

“Where are you going?” she whispered as he slowly walked towards the balcony door.

“Well, to see who’s on the balcony.”

“What? No! Are you crazy?” Sarah whispered furiously. Then she quickly followed him.

“And where do you think you’re going?” Adnan grinned as he asked.

“Well,” Sarah said, “I can’t let you become rich alone.”

She switched on the room light. The children took small, nervous steps towards the balcony door.

“Ready?” Adnan whispered.

Sarah nodded.

“Three… two… one!”

They pulled open the door!

“Meoww!”

“Whaaat… woahh!” the children screamed as a cat shot past them. For a moment, both children stood frozen. Then they noticed the broken plant pot scattered across the balcony floor.

They looked at the mess, then at each other and burst into laughter.

Published in Dawn, Young World, August 8th, 2026