Short story: The smart boys
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He was a ‘busy body’ who loved exploring his environment and, therefore, heard and saw a lot around him. Unfortunately, however, anytime he reported the things he saw or heard, he was chastised and branded a liar.
While on vacation, Kenda, who was often alone at home felt bored, so he would go on the rooftop of their storey building apartment and enjoy the scenery of the community.
While on the rooftop one day, he noticed a strange gentleman that he was sure was not from the neighbourhood collecting clothing that had been hung on the drying line of a nearby house.
The first time he saw the man doing that, he thought he was a guest of one of the tenants in that house so he did not suspect anything fishy. However, when he saw him in another neighbour’s house, he became suspicious.
He told his parents and other tenants in their house about his suspicion, but as usual, they all ignored him with the excuse that he was always making things up.
His parents did not even make the effort to check from those homes whether their laundry had been stolen from the drying line.
Kenda could not take it any longer, therefore, one day he took a bold decision and confided in his friend, Kwame, and asked for his assistance in order to stop the thief.
Together, they hatched a plan. On that fateful day, when they saw the man stealing from one of the houses, they set a trap for him. While Kenda innocently walked up to the suspect and engaged him in conversation in order to buy time, Kwame went round to look for adults so they would catch the thief in the act.
Luckily for them, the plan worked perfectly and the man was caught with his booty just when he was about to leave the compound. They interrogated him to find out what he was doing on the compound with the bag but he could not give any reasonable answer. The people opened the bag and to their dismay, saw clothes in them. By then a sizeable crowd had gathered and some of the tenants in the house were able to identify the clothes as theirs.
Sensing danger from the angry-looking crowd, the thief confessed. He was saved from the crowd by the police who happened to be patrolling the area and upon seeing the crowd had decided to check on the situation.
The Police then took the suspect to the police station. Kenda and Kwame, who witnessed the whole incident, followed to the police station to aid the police in their investigation. After telling the police all he knew, Kenda’s parents confessed to the police that Kenda had earlier told them about the thief’s activities but they had ignored him. They explained that because Kenda was a child, they thought he was making things up.
The Police Commander then advised that children should not be ignored just because of their age. He said any incident reported by children should be investigated to find out about the truth before adults jump to conclusions.
Henry Arthur,
The Nest School Complex,
Takoradi.