The Pink Sky He Missed

That afternoon Baby Mo was watching videos on the tablet. A cartoon about fire engines. One ended, and the next started right away. And the next. And the next.

From the porch, Baby Ais called. "Mo! Come here! The sky's turning orange!"

"In a minute," Baby Mo answered. His eyes didn't move from the screen.

The red truck sprayed water. The video changed.

"Mo! Now the sky is pink! Like candy floss!"

"In a minuuute."

The video changed again. Yellow truck. Blue truck.

"MO! Lots of birds are flying home! Hurry!"

"Yes, in a minute…"

When the next video ended, Baby Mo finally put down the tablet and ran to the porch.

The sky was already dark. Deep purple, then black. No orange. No pink. The birds had all gone home.

Baby Ais sat hugging her knees. "It was really pretty," she said quietly. "There was a cloud shaped like an elephant."

Baby Mo stood for a long time looking at the empty sky. His chest felt strange. Not angry. Not the usual sad. More like losing something that can't be played again.

"Abi," he said when Abi came out, "can we replay the sky? Like a video?"

Abi sat down beside them. "Videos can be replayed, Mo. This afternoon's sky can't. Today will never come twice."

Baby Mo said nothing.

"The Prophet ﷺ once said there are two blessings that many people are fooled about: good health and free time. We have time, but we often don't notice we're spending it."

"The tablet stole my time," Baby Mo mumbled.

"The tablet is just a little box," said Abi gently. "Who decides when to stop?"

Baby Mo thought for a long time. Then his eyes lit up. He ran inside and came back with the little sand timer from the kitchen — the one Umi uses for boiling eggs.

"Tomorrow," he said, "I'll watch until the sand runs out. Then I'll turn it off myself. So I don't miss the sky again."

Abi gave a thumbs up. "Whose idea was that?"

"My idea!"

The next afternoon, the last grain of sand fell just as the fire engine was spraying. Baby Mo's hand hovered over the button for a moment. Just a moment.

Click. The screen went dark.

He ran to the porch. Baby Ais pointed up. The sky was turning from orange to pink, and there was one long cloud shaped exactly like a fire engine.

"Subhanallah," they both whispered.

"There are two blessings which many people are deceived about: good health and free time." (Bukhari 6412)

Talk it over with your little one: what might we miss if we look at a screen for too long? Shall we make our own sand timer? ⏳