That morning I thoroughly enjoyed my breakfast.
‘’Thank you mummy!’’ I shouted. I wanted to let my mum know that I enjoyed the breakfast she had prepared for me. I had to shout louder than usual as she was watching the morning television news in the living room.
‘’You are welcome “wil di.’’ ‘wil di’ means ‘my son’ in Arabic. I then smiled; I remember particularly content at that moment.
Having had a fulfilling breakfast I then started to get ready for nursery. I pulled on my clothes and got my packed lunch ready. In those days it really wasn’t safe for children to walk by themselves in the area which we resided. Therefore, I was walked to and from school everyday by my dad. I enjoyed the walks a lot as I remember passing a shop and pleading to my dad to get me sweets. More times that not he would give in.
Distracted by my brand new red and blue trainers which my mum had brought for me the day before, I didn’t rush to put them on. Treasuring every moment I spent with them, I took my time slowly putting them on. On that day I also wore clothes that matched my trainers, a red and blue jumper and blue jeans. Eventually I finished getting ready and my dad took hold of my hand and we left.
In comparison with many of the other children who had to travel long distances to get to school I counted myself lucky. It usually took me less than two minutes to get to school. When I was feeling particularly energetic it took even less time. As me and my dad approached the school gates it was time for him to let me go. I was now left to run wild in the world of adventure that was the school playground.
“Badruddin behave yourself and be a good boy. I will pick you up when you finish, ok?’’ This was the same thing he had said everyday, and each day I listened carefully even though I knew what was coming.
“Ok,’’ I replied. I then impatiently left my dad and ran through the school gates.
I couldn’t hold back the excitement; all I wanted to do was to just get in there and start playing.
I had many friends at the nursery and considered myself to be quite popular. However, I only considered two to be my best friends. I would always hang around and play countless numbers of different games with them. One day it was football the next hide and seek. One was called Zoweb, he was from Pakistan, and the other was Yasin who was Mauritian. Out of the two I was particularly close to Yasin; he seemed to understand me, liked all the things that I liked and we generally got along the most. Regularly, me, Zoweb and Yasin would pretend to be characters from comic books or cartoons that come on television, we sometimes went as far as to make them up ourselves. Most of the time Zoweb would be batman, Yasin a made up character that had immense strength and I would act out to be superman.
Time flew by and before I knew it lunch time had arrived. I hurriedly ran to the school gates, not stopping to catch my breath. Every lunch break my mother would pick me up in order to take me home so I could eat there. At that particular moment I remember being extremely hungry; all I could think about was getting home and consuming one of my mums delicious home cooked meals. As I approached the gates I was thrilled to see her standing there with the warm smile she still possesses till this day. I suddenly felt a boost of energy so I ran towards her. I was running so fast that I was whizzing past all the school kids like a bullet and I could feel the warm summer breeze blowing against my face.
‘’Mummy!’’ I shouted from the top of my lungs.
‘’Hello wil di’’ said my mum as I jumped on her giving her the tight, warm hug.
‘’Yah lah, lets go home’’ she continued.
‘’O-K!’’ I replied breathlessly.
When I finally got to my front door I could smell the food that my mum had prepared for us. Whilst imagining the luxurious taste of my mum’s food, my mouth started to water. I licked my lips and started to jump impatiently. I struggled a bit while carefully yet quickly took off my new trainers. I then remember running through the big white wooden door, which was characterised by a silver letter box and plate that had our door number engraved onto it.
