Ali and the Gaming Lesson

Ali and the Gaming Lesson

BY:Ubaid

One day, as soon as Ali entered his room, his mother, seeing the mess scattered all around, held her head in disbelief and sighed deeply. She muttered to herself, “What am I going to do with this boy?” and then turned back without saying anything more. She called Ali, who was completely absorbed in a video game on his computer, the volume turned all the way up. He didn’t even hear her at first.

Seeing that he wasn’t responding, she walked over to him, calling his name again. Still, Ali was lost in his virtual world, unaware of anything else around him. It wasn’t until he felt a light slap on his back that he realized someone was there. He turned around to see his mother standing behind him, her face showing that today was going to be a stormy lecture.

Ali nervously asked, “What happened, Mom?”

She said firmly, “First of all, I have been calling you for the past ten minutes, and you acted like you weren’t even in this world! You’ve completely lost touch with reality, including your sixth sense, which should’ve warned you to pay attention.”

Ali replied in a low voice, “Sorry, Mom, I didn’t realize.”

She scolded him further, “And tell me, what was happening in your room? Was it a storm or a hurricane?”

Ali, a little embarrassed, admitted, “It was a storm with a hurricane and even some rain.”

“Ah,” she said. “If this storm, hurricane, and rain hadn’t passed in ten minutes, your computer might have been taken over by some ghost or spirit! Don’t do that again.”

Ali quickly said, “Mom, I’ll go clean my room right now.”

With that, he ran to his room and started tidying everything up. His mother even helped him, and soon the room was neat and organized. Ali then asked, “Mom, can I go back to my game now?”

“No,” she said. “I need to talk to you first.”

Ali protested, “But Mom, the game is on! I might ‘die’ in the game if I leave!”

His mother was startled. “What did you just say?”

Ali laughed and explained, “I didn’t mean myself. I’m talking about the character in the game that I’m controlling.”

His mother sighed, “Alright, just make sure you don’t say things like that again. You may go, and we’ll talk later.”

Ali, relieved, hurried back to his game.

A few days later, when Ali’s father returned from work, Ali excitedly asked, “Papa, can I have your bank account number?”

His father was shocked. “Why, son? What do you need it for?”

Ali replied, “I bought something in the game.”

“How much is it?” his father asked.

“Just two hundred rupees,” Ali answered quickly.

“Okay, here’s my credit card,” his father said, agreeing.

Ali quickly added, “Please don’t tell Mom. She might get upset.”

His father, though hesitant, allowed it. Ali was overjoyed. As he was talking to his father, his mother called him. He ran to her, leaving his game.

The next morning, Ali got up early, had breakfast, and started studying. His mother had told him, “You need to finish three hours of study before you can play games.” He studied diligently, and after completing the three hours, he felt happy and proud. He put his school bag away and turned on his computer, quickly purchasing the item he wanted in the game, feeling thrilled inside.

About half an hour later, there was a knock at the door. Ali paused his game and went to open it. To his surprise, his father was standing there. Ali was both curious and nervous because his father never came home at this time.

“What happened, Papa?” Ali asked.

“Son,” his father said, “Can you show me the item you bought for two hundred rupees?”

“Of course! Come inside,” Ali replied.

As Ali showed the item, his father’s jaw dropped. The price tag, which Ali thought was two hundred rupees, actually showed five hundred dollars! Ali’s mother had also come into the room, and seeing his father’s reaction, she grew worried too.

“Ali, what happened?” she asked.

Ali’s father explained everything. Hearing this, Ali’s mother said firmly, “Son, if you wanted to buy something, you should have told us first!”

Ali immediately apologized and promised never to do it again. “Next time, if I want to buy anything, I’ll do it with you sitting beside me,” he said sincerely.

She added, “Also, don’t let anyone in your class make fun of you by calling you foolish. You’ve learned your lesson, and you should always tell me everything.”

From that day on, Ali changed. He started sharing all his experiences with his mother, and he never tried to hide anything from his parents again. He understood the value of honesty, responsibility, and the importance of balancing his gaming with his studies.

Ali had learned a big lesson: games can be fun, but real-life lessons and family trust are far more important.