Daud was a 9th-Grade student. He was a very good basketball player. He was well brought up, and always refrained from bad habits. While returning home, sitting in the school bus his thoughts  diverted to his father. His father was a chain smoker though he never smoked in front of him. He would go out in the backyard and smoke near the tool shed. Daud used to watch him from behind the porch puffing away a cigarette in perfect round smoky clouds. For the past four years, his father had been smoking and that’s when his health started to deteriorate.

As the school bus approached his home, his friends were already there waiting for him.  Daud saw them and hopped out of the bus to join his friends from the neighborhood. They used to play basketball with him in the community’s playground every weekend. As for that day, it was unusual; it wasn’t the weekend. Daud hurried  home first, informed his mother about his plan, changed into his comfy tracksuit and went off for the game. When he reached the playground, to his surprise he found no one was there. Suddenly, a hand rested on his shoulder, making Daud turn around to find one of his neighborhood friends. Before Daud could say anything, his friend pulled his arm and dragged him to a place behind the playground. He saw there his friends were busy puffing off a cigarette while sitting beneath a tree. 
 “Try a puff Daud”, one of his friends extended the hand that held the cigarette. Daud stepped back showing his disapproval. “It’s cool, take a puff and feel the ecstasy”, his friend inhaled the cigarette, and insisted. Daud felt like running away from that place as he had seen his father struggling to get rid of the addiction. He told them the story of his father’s agony and pain and advised them not to do that. But they were not convinced. He left them there, left the playground and ran towards home. All the way back home, he kept on thinking about his father’s deteriorating health. As he went to his father’s room, Daud found him nearly unconscious. He called the family doctor, who gave medicine, nebulized lungs, and changed his inhaler. This restored his breathing but Daud was worried. Perhaps, he was also thinking about the fate of his friends at the same time.
His father’s health condition was not very stable. One day, when he saw his father’s health condition became worse, he called his friends, and invited them to visit his home. As they came, he took them to his father’s room and asked them to watch his condition. Though his father was feeling well at that time, yet it was only for the time being. His father advised Daud and his friends to stay away from smoking. “Otherwise you will see a fate like me.” Everyone saw him coughing and having difficulty in breathing. Daud called the family doctor, but the doctor advised him to take him immediately to hospital. His friends called the ambulance and rushed to hospital. On the way, they observed that his father’s condition had further deteriorated. He was admitted to the ICU.
Standing outside the ICU, Daud earnestly said to his friends, “Look my dear friends, see what this addiction has done to my father. I don’t want you to reach such a stage. Please stop smoking, don’t indulge in such a bad habit. It is injurious to our health and our future. If you continue smoking, you will certainly see the same fate.” His words were full of pain and sympathy. His friends lovingly held Daud’s hand and said: “Daud, you are right, you are a sportsman, and you have a spirit like a sportsman. We want ourselves to have the same sportsman-like spirit. We are happy that you want our wellbeing. We assure you that we will not smoke from now on.”
A year later, Daud and his friends were playing in the finals. His team won by 120 points against another team. Daud himself single-handedly won the ‘Best Athlete’ and ‘Best Scorer’ awards. He and his friends chose health over addiction. It was Daud who saved his friends’ future. The golden advice given to them saved them and helped them in emerging successful as the basketball players. They were thankful to Daud who helped them to become positive citizens as well as active members of society.