Enough for Two

It was the day of the Year 2 trip to Roundhay Park, and Khalid's Nani was up early, making samosas.

Khalid watched her fold the pastry into neat little triangles, filled with soft potato, peas and a pinch of spice. Sizzle, sizzle went the pan. Out they came, golden and crispy, and Nani tucked two into Khalid's lunchbox, next to some apple slices.

"Two samosas, all for me," said Khalid, sniffing the lid. "I'm going to eat every single crumb."

Nani laughed. "We'll see," she said, and kissed the top of his head.

At the park, the trees were orange and red. The class crunched through the leaves, hunted for conkers and watched the ducks on the lake. But all morning, Khalid kept thinking about his lunchbox. Grumble, grumble went his tummy.

At last it was lunchtime. Everyone sat on picnic blankets under a big oak tree.

Next to Khalid sat Theo, who had only joined the class two weeks ago. Theo dug in his rucksack. He looked in the front pocket. He looked in the side pocket. Then his ears went pink.

"Mrs Hall," he said in a small voice, "I think I left my lunchbox on the coach."

The coach had already driven away. It wouldn't be back until home time.

"Oh dear," said Mrs Hall. She rummaged in her bag and found a little box of raisins. "Here's something to start with."

"It's okay," said Theo, taking the box. "I'm not really hungry." But just then his tummy gave the loudest growl, and he went even pinker.

Khalid looked down at his two golden samosas. He had waited all morning for them. If he gave one away, what if he was still hungry?

Then he remembered teatime at home. When a surprise visitor rang the doorbell, Nani never got in a fluster. She just fetched another plate and smiled. "The Prophet ﷺ said food for one is enough for two," she would say, "and food for two is enough for four." And somehow, there was always enough.

Khalid took a deep breath. "Theo, would you like one of my samosas? My Nani made them."

"That's very kind, Khalid," said Mrs Hall. "Let me just check first." She looked at the list on her clipboard. "No allergies for Theo. What's inside them?"

"Potato and peas," said Khalid. "And Nani never puts nuts in anything."

"Perfect," said Mrs Hall, smiling.

Khalid passed a samosa across. Then he whispered "Bismillah" and took a bite of his own. Theo took a big bite too. His eyes went wide.

"It's a bit spicy!" he said. Then he grinned. "I love it!"

Khalid shared his apple slices, and Theo shared his raisins. As they munched, the boys found out they both loved conkers, so they lined them up on the blanket. Theo's was the biggest, and Khalid's was the shiniest.

When the last crumb was gone, Khalid's tummy didn't feel empty at all. It felt full and happy. One samosa had been enough after all.

"Can I sit next to you on the coach?" asked Theo.

"Yes!" said Khalid.

That evening, Khalid told Nani everything. She gave him a warm hug. "You see?" she said softly. "Food for one is enough for two. When we share, Allah puts barakah, a special blessing, in our food."

At bedtime, the shiny conker sat on Khalid's windowsill, and the moon glowed softly over the rooftops of Leeds. Khalid smiled a sleepy smile. Tomorrow he would see his new friend again.

He snuggled under his warm duvet, closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep.