As Zavi and Niya opened the front door of their house, clutching a ball, a bat and the wickets in their arms, they saw that black clouds had covered the entire sky.
They looked at each other, wondering what to do as the first drops of rain began to fall. Both of them were extremely bored during their holidays and wanted a change of scenery, so they had decided to go out and play cricket.
“Oh no… should we play inside?” Zavi asked.
“I don’t think it’s a good idea. There are so many valuables around. Mama would be really upset if something got broken,” Niya replied, disheartened at the thought of not being able to play outside.
“Come on. We’ll be extra careful,” Zavi insisted.
“Okay fine, let’s play inside.”
And so, they set up the wickets and took their positions after a quick toss. Zavi batted first and scored quite a high total.
“You won’t be able to beat my score,” Zavi gloated as they exchanged places and Niya took the bat. And that was when things began to go wrong, as Niya’s competitive streak kicked in.
Time seemed to slow down as Zavi bowled the ball, hoping to take her wicket, while Niya raised her bat, hoping to hit a six. But the ball bounced once and struck their grandmother’s old ceramic teapot.
The teapot crashed to the floor, and both siblings froze. It was a prized possession that had been in their house for decades and held great sentimental value for their grandmother.
“Oh no! What should we do? Why did you hit the ball so hard?” Zavi asked Niya, frustrated.
“I told you we shouldn’t play inside. It wasn’t a good idea in the first place,” Niya replied defensively.
“Okay. Let’s think of something instead of blaming each other,” Zavi said, raising his hands in surrender.
Terrified of being scolded and possibly grounded, they decided to pick up the broken pieces, put them in a box and hide it under their bed.
The next day, during lunch, their mother asked them, “Do you kids have any idea where Grandma’s teapot is? Could it have been misplaced during the cleaning? Grandma has been looking for it.”
They both shook their heads vigorously as Zavi replied, “I have no idea.”
“Okay, but please help your grandmother find it. She has been really worried.”
After lunch, Zavi and Niya returned to their bedroom, guilt weighing heavily on their shoulders. They sat on the edge of the bed and looked down at the brown cardboard box hidden underneath.
“Did you see Grandma’s face?” Niya asked quietly. “She looked so sad. That teapot has been with her since she was a little girl.”
“I know,” Zavi sighed, resting his head in his hands. “Hiding it was wrong. We should have just told the truth.”
“Maybe it’s not too late,” Niya said. “We made a mistake, but we can try to fix it.”
Zavi pulled the box out from under the bed and looked at the broken pieces of white porcelain, decorated with tiny blue flowers.
“I have an idea,” Zavi said. “I saved some of my pocket money from last week. We can go to the stationery shop down the street and buy ceramic glue. Maybe we can put it back together.”
Niya’s eyes lit up. “And I have some pocket money too! We can buy a nice card and write an apology.”
Without wasting another moment, the siblings pooled their money and hurried to the shop. Twenty minutes later, they returned with a tube of strong, clear adhesive and a colourful card. They spent the rest of the evening gluing the pieces together and writing an apology in the card. By the time they finished, it was night.
Taking a deep breath, they walked to their grandmother’s room and gently knocked on the door.
“Grandma?” Zavi called as they entered.
Their grandmother looked up from her armchair, appearing tired and worried. Zavi and Niya approached her, holding out the repaired teapot along with the handwritten card.
“We are so sorry, Grandma,” Niya said. “We were playing cricket inside the house because of the rain, and the ball hit your teapot. We were scared and hid the pieces at first, but then we bought glue and put it back together.”
Their grandmother looked at the repaired teapot, then at the tearful faces of her two grandchildren. She took the card, read their apology and gently placed the teapot on her bedside table.
Slowly, a warm smile spread across her face.
“I am not upset with you, kids. Your efforts have made this teapot more valuable than it ever was. However, you shouldn’t have lied to your mother,” she said as she enveloped them in a warm hug.
Both siblings let out a sigh of relief as their grandmother kissed them on their foreheads.
Published in Dawn, Young World, November 7th, 2026
