My Son My son six years of age is always troubling me to tell him stories. I was telling him stories such as crow and piece of cheese, race between the rabbit and tortoise and other stories my mother told me when I was a small child. But very soon all these stories were over and I had no story to tell him. He was such a child that he does not like to hear the same story over and over again. While I was trying to tell the same story again to avoid him from troubling me, he says, “Father, you have told me this story once, tell me something else.” So while I was going to office in Colombo by bus, I sat in a corner of the bus and close my eyes and thinking of a story that I can tell him in the evening. As I cannot remember any story I learned while I was a child, I wanted to create some story in the morning and tell him in the evening.

This is the story that I created and told him in the evening. Once there were two dogs for a master. One was a wild dog and the other was a pet do g. Once thieves came to loot this house and wild dog started barking. As a result of barking of the dog, inmates of the house woke up. As thieves realized that there was no escape from the wild dog, they left the house abandoning the idea of looting the house. So the master was very happy with the wild dog and he ordered his servants to give better food for the wild dog and to be looked after it well. But wild dog was not happy as it knew master treated pet dog very well even it is not protecting his property. Wild dog thought why should I protect his property while I am given step motherly treatment. Next time thieves came to loot this house. Wild dog pretended that it was sleeping. Thieves had the good opportunity and they took all the money and valuables and left. Next day master got up in the morning and found that his property has been looted last night without leaving anything at home. So he was really worried and went in search of his wild dog which he trusted so much   to protect his property. He found it was sleeping in the corner of his garden after a good days meal. Master was very angry and ordered his servants to chase his wild dog away saying that there is no use of feeding it any more.

 “Why father it had protected his property in an earlier occasion?.” “That is the way this World my son. If you do not carry out  your duties now what you have done earlier would not be taken into consideration.” “Why the master treated pet dog well. Wild dog not?” “Son, you must know, in this world some are borne fortune, and some find fortune with hard work. Some are called and given fortune without even requesting. To what category to this pet dog belongs? It is borne fortune. You must not be jealous of the fortune of others, and then you will be in trouble. That is what happened to the wild dog.” “Sin, isn’t it father wild dog has no food now.”

“No, it can find somewhere else. When one door is closed thousand doors will be opened. This world is a huge place, there are so many opportunities.” I told my son, as I did not want to make him worry. ” I want to sleep now I will tell you an another story tomorrow.” “Why father you are sleepy when I ask you to tell me a story” my son was coaxing me to tell another story. Next day my son was crying when he has to go to school in the morning. I told him “son see the people who are working in the road, how tiresome their work is? They also had cried and did not want to go to school and did not do studies in their childhood. Now they are suffering. Do not cry, get up early in the morning and go to school and learn well. Then you can become an important person in the society. You don’t have work like them.”

“Then father, if all study well who will make roads? How we can go our journeys when there is no one to make roads?” my son questioned me. “When I was a child like you, I was also reluctant to go to school. It was boring to listen to what my teacher taught me. It was not interesting at all. Other thing was he was carrying a cane and he beat with it when we did wrong things. I wanted to play with my friends. As I was not going to school my father threatened me several times saying I will be put into a dark room and will be locked. I could not understand what was a dark room because I did not know the meaning of what was dark as I did not know what was light too at that time. So I took his words slightly and did not want to go to school. Always I found something like stomachache, tooth ache and I wanted to avoid going to school and play with my friends.” “One day when I refused to go to school my father took me by my hand and taken to somewhere and put me into a dark room and closed the door. I can’t see any thing and I understood how difficult to be in a dark room alone. I cried and cried aloud as much as possible. Within few minutes I was taken out by my father and I promised him to go to school everyday after that.” “But in the morning I prayed  to God to rain and rain and rain then I will not be sent to school. Like my father, God also did not come to my help so it did not rain and I had to go to school and listen to boring subjects my teacher taught me.” “Likewise son, you are not going to school you will also put into a dark room.” “What is the dark room and where is it?” “Dark room is a place where you can’t see anything. So it is like night. Of course it is like night with no lights in that dark room.” “In the other hand it is an offense not to send children to school. Police will punish me for not sending my son to school.” “Then father I will go to School otherwise, you will be punished by police. Even though what my teacher teaches me is also not interesting like your teacher, I did not want you to be taken by the police” my son said. Next day he was waiting for me to tell a story but I had nothing to tell. So I told him this story. “When I was a very small child, one day my father giving me money and asked   me to go to the nearby boutique and bring a razor for him to have a shave. He has to go out for an urgent matter. So with the money, I went to the boutique. On my way I found my friends were playing cricket. They asked me to come and join them. So I forgot about the razor and I played with my friends. My father came in search of me and found me playing cricket instead of bringing him a razor.” My son was very happy about this story. “You were not bringing the razor for your father and was playing cricket.” “Yes, I forgot” I said.

“Where is your father now?” questioned my son. I said, “He is no more among living. He is dead.” “Are you worried still as your father is dead?” I said, “Yes of course I am still worried he was such a nice father to me. He loved me so much. Because he put me into that dark room I was able to learn something and I am earning my living because of him.”

 “How do you live without him? My son questioned. “But what to do son, I have to live. I have nothin g to do.” “But if you die father I cannot live. Tears filled in his eyes and at last a tear came from the corner of his eye.