JABALI AND THE BIG FIVE

The atmosphere at St.Benedict Town was calm with trees swaying from side to side under the mercy of the window. It was midmorning and the residents were busy at work. St.Benedict was a small town and people knew each other well enough. It was a small knit society that was the epitome of tranquility. Jabali Muta was seated at the staircase infront of his house.He looked at the other boys who were playing at the park near his home. He wanted to join them but felt shy and intimidated. He had just successfully completed his holiday assignment and was allowed to go out to play with his friends at the park. Being an introvert , he found it hard to make new friends. He missed his only friend Taji as they used to spend a lot of playtime together. Taji had travelled to the upcountry to spend time with his grandparents during the holidays. He wished that schools would resume sooner , he loved going to school. Jabali attend Marshal Sheffield Academy and was in the sixth grade. At school , Jabali was admired by both teachers and fellow students for his hardwork and love for the environment . They looked up to him in awe . He was the chairman for the Environmental Club in Marshal Sheffield Academy and this was a position he had always wanted ever since their nature trip in Fourth Grade. Together with Taji , they went for various nature trips and adventures all in the aim to ensure that the environment was safe. Jabali watched the other boys play football and secretly laughed at the game. Roby , his next door neighbor was on one of the teams. Jabali watched as he kept Kicking the ball outside the pitch in a bid to keep his team safe. Every time the other team scored , one could notice Roby tearing up. Rex , Jabali's pet dog came to his side. Jabali had rescued Rex when he was only a few weeks old at the nearby park. He succeeded to hide him for almost a month without his parents found out. When Jabali's mother got to know about Rex , she was ready to call animal control to come and take Rex to the animal center. Jabali begged her and promised to take great care of his pet , but his mother was still adamant. " No Jabali , we can't have pets in the house , we are all very busy , who will take care of it ? " she asked. " please Mum , I will .... Allow me to prove myself...Rex has nowhere to go ," Jabali pleaded. After tons of promises and tears , Jabali was allowed to keep Rex. The condition was that Jabali gets to take care of Rex entirely by himself. He had to also ensure that Rex , doesn't dirtify the house and gets cleaned on a weekly basis. Jabali was more than pleased by this proposal and decided to keep Rex. Jabali kept watching the two teams playing at the park. Roby's team was almost losing the game. The two teams had three members each , all the players were children from around the neighborhood and Jabali knew all of them. He wanted to join them but was afraid of getting laughed at for his poor playing skills. He watched as Roby kept kicking the ball to the furthest point so as to get more time for his team to get the goals they needed. After a while , he got bored and decided to go back to the house. He signalled to Rex and they walked up the stairs into the house. Jabali had decided to grab a snack at the house for him and Rex.