One evening, young Ali set out to meet his aunt who lived on the other side of the town. He packed some chocolates and chips in his bag and set off on his new bicycle. On his way he passed by the ruins of an old fort. Many people had witnessed visitations of ghosts and this had become part of the town’s folklore. But our young Ali was intrepid. He rode his bicycle with great confidence. Suddenly, he noticed a boy who was around the same age as his walking towards his bicycle. He had never seen the boy before and was curious to know who he was. He thought that he could make this stranger his new friend. He stopped his bicycle and introduced himself to the stranger and asked him his name. The stranger replied that his name was Alex and that he was very hungry. Young Ali immediately removed a chocolate from his bag and offered it to Alex. Alex snatched the chocolate and gobbled it up in one bite!!! With greed in his eyes and with a fierce voice Alex demanded more, but Ali firmly refused. This angered Alex, who using his magical powers transformed himself into a monster and announced with a roaring voice that he was “Kabeera the Fiend”.  Young Ali turned pale with fright and began to scream, but there was no one around who could hear his squeals. Kabeera wrenched the bag from Ali’s arms and started to beat him up. It was a deliberate attack and Ali was left debilitated.

To Ali’s great fortune some people were returning back to the town from work. They saw young Ali screaming and immediately rushed to help him. Seeing the flurry of people, Kabeera fled never to be seen again.

That day young Ali learnt a very valuable lesson that “a Fiend can never be a Friend”.