The New Friend
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Ruwan peeped through his window and stared at the big truck unloading things into the house across the street. They carried in a big sofa, a fridge and lots of other items. It looked like the house which had been empty for a long time was finally sold to someone. Ruwan remembered how unhappy he was to move into his new house and to leave his old house, the neighbourhood and friends behind. He was still not used to this house that they lived in. They had moved in sometime back, but still he had no new friends. There were no kids around his age in the new neighbourhood, so he felt lonely and bored most of the time.
Finally when the truck finished unloading, a black car came and stopped behind it. Out of it got down a gentleman and a lady. Then the backdoor opened and Ruwan gasped when a boy around his age got out of the car. He was carrying a cardboard box full of things. Ruwan could see some books and a stuffed toy in it. Ruwan ran into the kitchen as fast as he could. “Amma! Amma! Some people finally moved into the empty house across the street!” he panted trying to catch his breath. “And guess what? There was a boy around my age. I think I am finally going to have a friend to play with me!” His mother smiled as Ruwan ran back to the window and peeped out again. This time there was no one to be seen. The truck was gone and the car was parked in the garage. “I have to make friends with him soon. But how do I do it?” Ruwan thought trembling in excitement.
The next evening Ruwan saw the boy out in the garden. He sat on a bench under a mango tree and opened a book. Ruwan quickly went to the garden. He wanted to say “hello!” to the boy, but was too shy. So he walked up and down the garden pretending to be busy and looked at the boy from the corner of his eye. The boy lifted his head and looked at him. Ruwan wanted to smile and wave but his shyness stopped him. The boy just stared at him for a while and stared back into his book. “He seems proud!” thought Ruwan. “Well, I am not going to smile with him either!” He walked back in, annoyed that the boy didn’t say ‘Hi!’ or smile.
“What’s wrong?” Ruwan’s mother asked him after seeing him frown. “It’s the new boy! He seems very proud,” Ruwan replied. “Maybe he’s just shy…Try talking to him when you meet him somewhere!” his mother said. “But where will I meet him?” Ruwan asked her. “Well, you might meet him at the temple. Almost everyone in the neighbourhood comes to temple on every Poya day,” his mother reminded him. “Yes, that’s it!” grinned Ruwan. “I’ll talk to him when I meet him at the temple!”
Couple of days later Ruwan saw the boy stepping out of the house with his dad.
They were both wearing white long shirts and white headwear. Ruwan peeped from behind the window and watched them walk down the street. “What are they wearing on their heads?” Ruwan asked his mother. His mother looked out the window and smiled. “Looks like you are not going to meet him at the temple! They are going to the mosque. They are Muslims!” “Oh!” said Ruwan in surprise. He’d never had a Muslim friend and he didn’t know much about their culture. “Looks like I’ll never get a chance to meet him and talk to him!” he thought staring out the window.
Ruwan sometimes saw the little boy in his garden
. He was reading or sometimes watering the plants. He always turned and looked at Ruwan but he never smiled or talked. A few days later when Ruwan was playing with his train set in the living room, he heard someone knocking on their gate. Ruwan went near the gate and he was very surprised to see the boy standing near the gate with a shiny silver bowl. Ruwan opened the gate and the boy held the bowl towards him. Ruwan looked at the boy confused. “This is for you!” said the boy. “What is it?” asked Ruwan, who was still very surprised.
“It’s Wattalappam!”said the boy. “Wow!” said Ruwan, “That’s my favourite food! But how did you know that?” The boy finally smiled. It was a very pleasant smile. “We celebrated Ramadhan,” he said. “This is your share!” “Thank you so much,” Ruwan smiled back,
“I am Ruwan!” Ruwan was happy he finally got to introduce himself.
“I am Razak!” the boy said with a wide smile.
Ruwan was surprised at how friendly and nice the boy was. He was wrong to judge him as unfriendly! “I thought you were very proud,” said Ruwan. “I am sorry I thought that way!” Razak giggled. “That’s funny, because that’s what I thought of you. You never smiled with me!” “I was too shy,” said Ruwan. “I am also quite new to this neighbourhood. There aren’t any kids around here and I was bored. Then you came and I was hoping to meet you at the temple. But when I found out that you went to the mosque, I thought I’ll never get a chance to meet you!”
Razak smiled. “I didn’t know that you were also new to this neighbourhood. I just thought that you didn’t want to make friends!” They both laughed at how silly they’ve been. “I am playing with my train set. Want to join me?” Ruwan asked Razak. “I love playing with trains!” Razak said walking in. Ruwan felt very happy. It didn’t matter that the little boy went to the mosque and that Ruwan went to temple. This was the beginning of a beautiful friendship that was going to last forever!
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