Standing Alone
Original title: Sabz-e Koochak
German title: Allein
Mohammed wrote the best essay in his school. Today he is to receive an award for it. He sets off to school, dressed in very smart clothes. He just briefly drops in on the carpet dealer, for whom he often runs errands, to tell him about this happy event. But the carpet dealer does not seem interested at all. On the contrary, he deliberately pesters the boy. Today of all days, when Mohammed has no time, he must carry a large and heavy melon across the whole city. And they stop everywhere, because the carpet dealer has to do some other small jobs. After some time, Mohammed’s forces are exhausted. And although he does try hard, he cannot hold the melon any longer. It falls to the ground and breaks. Now all hell is breaking loose. All the people rail at the boy and accuse him of not having been careful enough, of having done it intentionally to make a quick getaway. None of the adults considers only once how Mohammed is feeling. The inability of the adults to understand the child’s soul drives the boy into a nearly hopeless situation. Mohammed runs away as he fears to be punished and to arrive much too late for receiving his award.