When I was about seven years old, our family visited a small church in Pohang, South Korea. At this time, we lived in Bangladesh, where my father worked as a doctor. We were visiting Korea, while on one of our rare vacations. I knew I had little time to play with the kids I had made friends with in the neighborhood we were staying, so I tried to maximize my time, meeting and playing with them before our holiday was over and we had to return.
One Sunday, after the church sermon, we were all eating together as a congregation. I was anxiously waiting for my parents to stop talking with their old friends so that we could go home and I could play with my friends. However, they wouldn’t stop talking, and I was bored to death. Suddenly, one of the kids in the church came to me and asked me if I wanted to play with them. I asked my parents if I could go outside and play, and they said yes, and reminded me to be careful. I said “sure”, as I expected them to worry and caution me.
Pohang is a really small city in South Korea, with not very many people, so the group of kids in the church were excited and wanted to show something special to me, the visitor, rather than playing soccer as usual. They also invited my sister to come along with us, as she didn't have any friends to play with.
First, the children took us to a space between two buildings. It was narrow, but they had put stones down so that they could walk through it. When I walked into the space between the buildings, it was very dark. It smelled like rotten cheese and I could hear something moving. Then, they shone their flashlight into the alley and showed me something. They were raising mice. One of the guys took it out and said was okay to play with. My sister was very scared and ran back to the church screaming. There, she told my parents about what we were doing. My parents immediately told us to come back, and not to touch the rats, because mice could carry diseases and you could get infected from them. At that time, a disease was spreading around; some people thought it was spreading through mice. We came back immediately and I promised my parents that I would never go to that place again.
I tried to read books instead of playing with them, but my parents wouldn’t stopped talking with their friends. The children suddenly appeared again, and convinced me to go to the alley with the mice again. They said that they had more things to show me and also promised that they would buy me a delicious ice cream cone. SInce I was so bored, I checked on my sister who was reading a book. My parents were still talking, so I escaped the church.
I went inside the dark space again, and they took out a big mouse with alot of mud on it. The mouse had big, sharp teeth . I said I didn’t want to hold it, but they teased me about how weak and scared I was. I was angry and wanted to show how brave and strong I was. So, I touched the big mouse. As soon as I touched it, the mouse bit me on the arm, and I started bleeding.
I went to a hospital and had to get several injections to protect me from getting the deadly disease that was spreading through mice. I regretted touching the mouse and realized how parents are always right and how my rebellion and lie had led me to this horrible result. Thanks to God, I was not infected from the disease but I did learn a good lesson in a hard way.