Ayan’s father was known throughout the neighborhood as an "expert motorcycle mechanic." He possessed such skill that he could quickly fix even the oldest of bikes. Ayan often had to accompany him to the workshop; he hated the noise, the heat, and the smell of oil. There was only one thing he liked: collecting the shiny spare parts, especially those in which he could see his reflection.
His uncle lived in Lahore and would visit his sister every few months. That day, Uncle Ashraf had arrived, wearing his usual clean clothes, a shiny ring on his finger, and a new watch on his wrist—a watch Ayan had only seen in advertisements. After the greetings, his uncle took off the watch and put it on Ayan’s father. Ayan’s eyes were fixed on the watch; the golden-colored, shining timepiece looked beautiful.
"Uncle! This looks like it’s from abroad, doesn't it?" Ayan asked, his eyes wide.
"Yes, son! A friend of mine brought it from Dubai and gave it to me as a gift," his uncle said. The shine of the watch seemed to settle in Ayan’s eyes, and a thought crossed his mind: "If I could just wear this for one day, my friends' jaws would drop at the sight of it."
The very next day, he got his chance. His uncle was sleeping, his father was at the shop, and his mother was washing clothes in the courtyard. Ayan slowly opened the cupboard, took out the watch, took a deep breath, and strapped it onto his wrist.
"Wow! It’s so beautiful. Wearing this makes me feel like a hero in a movie," he thought to himself and stepped out into the street.
His friends Junaid and Kashif were standing at the corner. Waving his hand in the air, Ayan said happily, "Look! Uncle brought this watch for me from Dubai." As soon as he spoke, Kashif grabbed his wrist and said, "Oh! This is real and perhaps very expensive."
"Of course it is, it really is very valuable," Ayan said with arrogance.
"Give it to me for one day; I want to wear it too. I will keep it as your trust," Junaid said, looking at the watch with greedy eyes. Ayan laughed.
"No brother, you are not a good trustee; I know that well."
Just then, a child on a bicycle suddenly emerged from the street corner. He passed by the three of them at great speed. They got scared. Ayan lunged to one side to save himself. His hand hit the wall, and the watch slipped from his wrist and fell to the ground.
"Oh!!" a stifled scream escaped Junaid’s mouth: "Maybe the glass broke!"
Ayan’s face turned pale. He picked up the watch with trembling hands. Indeed, the glass was broken, the button had come off, and the hands were loose. With shaking hands, Ayan wrapped the watch in a handkerchief, came home quietly, and hid it in his school bag.
The next day, he secretly took the watch to Haji Manzoor, the watchmaker.
"Haji Sahab! Can this be fixed?" Ayan asked, handing him the watch. Haji Manzoor pushed up his glasses and, looking at the watch, shook his head in the negative. "It's difficult, son, but not impossible... it will cost fifteen hundred rupees."
"Fifteen hundred..." Ayan’s color drained away instantly.
"Yes, fifteen hundred. The glass, the button, the internal setting—there is a lot of work in this."
"Please keep it; I will arrange the money," Ayan said. He was wondering where he would get so much money.
"I will keep it, but come back quickly with the money; this watch is very valuable," Haji Manzoor said and set the watch aside. Ayan returned home.
That night, his father gave some money to his mother and said, "Buy groceries for the house with these three thousand rupees." His mother took the money and kept it under the pillow. Ayan kept tossing and turning all night. Then, in the early hours of the morning, he quietly went and took the required money from under the pillow.
The next morning, when he woke up, his mother’s voice was echoing in the house:
"Hey! Where did this money go? I put it under the pillow myself last night."
"Look carefully, it must be somewhere here," his father said, puckering his lips.
"I am not crazy; I have looked carefully. I put the money under the pillow," his mother said angrily.
Ayan lay in the room. He had closed his eyes, but his heart was beating fast. His ears were tuned to every word his mother said. When the situation cooled down, he left under the pretext of going to school and went straight to Haji Manzoor’s shop.
"Did you bring the money?" Haji Manzoor asked.
"Yes, yes, Father said to fix the watch quickly," Ayan told another lie. Haji Sahab took out the watch parts, looked at them in silence for a while, and then said:
"Son! This watch doesn't seem to be yours?" Ayan began to sweat at his words.
"It is mine; my uncle gave it to me on my birthday." Ayan’s lies were showing no sign of stopping. Haji Manzoor looked at him with suspicious eyes and began fixing the watch.
In a short while, the watch was exactly as it was before. Ayan took it and quickly came home, hiding it from everyone’s sight, and placed it in his uncle’s bag.
In the evening, Ayan was doing his school homework. His heart was not in his studies at all. His mother was still busy with the accounts.
"The money went from inside the house; the thief is someone among us, and furthermore, my brother’s watch is also missing." His mother’s voice was loud. Finally, her patience broke. She began looking at everyone with suspicion. His father took a sip of tea in silence and said in a low voice:
"Even if the one who stole the money is dearer to us than life, they will have to tell the truth, and they will be punished in any case."
Hearing his voice, the pen fell from Ayan’s hand, and his forehead broke into a sweat. Just then, Uncle Ashraf came inside with the same watch in his hand:
"Hey... it was in my bag; no one noticed it there. I thought I lost it!"
Ayan breathed a sigh of relief.
"Then what about the watch you got fixed?" his father suddenly asked.
"Which watch? When did I get it fixed?" his uncle asked in confusion.
"The same watch you gave to Haji Manzoor!" his father asked, creating more suspense.
"Oh brother! I didn't get any watch fixed by him; you have received wrong information. Look! My watch is safe and sound in my hand," his uncle said, showing his wrist. Ayan felt like his breath was coming and going.
"Actually, I met Haji Manzoor Sahab after Isha prayers yesterday. He was asking if the watch is running well!" his father said, glaring at Ayan. Ayan got nervous and quickly spoke up:
"Mother’s money... I stole it!" Silence fell over the room at his confession.
"But why? Why did you do this?" all three asked at once.
"Actually, the watch broke while I had it, and I needed money for its repair. I was afraid that if you found out, you would punish me," Ayan said.
"Ayan, son! Whether a lie is small or big, one day it brings a person face to face with the truth. We will not punish you because you admitted it yourself, but remember! Breaking someone’s trust is the greatest loss. Then, one has to tell another lie to hide the first one. Then a building of lies keeps rising, or understand it like this: a bridge of lies keeps building up in the form of a burden," his father said in a stern tone.
At that moment, Ayan was the center of everyone’s stern gaze. His head was bowed, and water was streaming from his eyes. His mother silently came over and placed her hand on his head.
"Son! If you had told the truth in the beginning, perhaps you wouldn't have faced so much shame."
Then suddenly, his uncle took off the watch and placed it in front of his father:
"Take this watch! Actually, I brought it for Ayan. He is very good at his studies; I thought he would be very happy to receive the watch as a gift. Well! Whatever happened, it happened for the best; Ayan must have learned and understood a lot from this, right Ayan? Am I right?"
As soon as his uncle went silent, Ayan ran and clung to him. Everyone saw his eyes were shedding tears.