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The sun peeked through my curtains and cast a warm yellow glow onto my bed. The rays of brilliant golden sunlight beckoned me to wake up. I sat up straight with a big smile plastered on my face. Then I jumped out of my bed and sauntered over to the living room. As usual, my little brother was wailing loudly. For what reasons unfathomable to me, I rummaged around my bag and pulled out a sweet. My friend had given it to me, and I would have loved to have eaten it. However, I could not let my brother's sobs continue unabated, as Mom was busy yacking over the phone. Hence, I twisted off the wrapper, then held the sweet in my hand. A delectable sweet scent filled the room as I handed the sweet over to my brother. 146, 148, and 150. I counted aloud, “Mom, I'm going to the Lego store.” I cried jubilantly to my mom, who was fussing over my brother. She mumbled something that sounded like a goodbye. With that, I skipped happily to the nearby shopping center. Stopped abruptly.

Rays of golden sunlight fell on me as I walked towards my destination, unable to contain my excitement. Today was the day I had long been anticipating. After saving up my allowance for what seemed like an eternity, I had finally accumulated enough cash to buy the Lego Aquarium kit. I had been eyeing it ever since it had been released, and today I would be holding it in my hands.

I hummed a jaunty tune as I quickened my pace and began to skip merrily. The birds on the trees were also chirping happily as if to cheer me on. Evidently, they shared my excitement. My pocket jingled with coins as I skipped. I was nearly there. I could picture myself holding that big Lego box, face shining with glee. This thought energised me so much that I broke into a run.

A few minutes later, I had finally arrived. I pushed open the door, and a blast of cool air conditioning caressed my face. Just then something caught my eye.

A large transparent money box with the word “donation” printed in bright red sat there, like a dog waiting to be fed. As I looked into it, I saw that there were very few notes and coins in there, which surprised me. “What is this donation drive for?” I wondered. I walked closer to read the pamphlet. The person standing there was handing out UNICEF: “Donate money to those who can't afford to buy food or water. Make a change in someone's life today.” I read along the title. I read on, completely mesmerised by it. As I looked at the photographs of poor, malnourished kids, something stirred inside of me. I felt a strong urge to help them. Something stirred inside of me.

I was in a dilemma. What should I do? I asked myself repeatedly while weighing the pros and cons of each situation. On one hand, I could donate the money I had and help those kids. However, if I did that, all those years of saving to buy the Lego kit would have been for naught. On the other hand, I could not just ignore this distraction and buy the Lego set, but then I wouldn't be helping those poor kids. Their lives were much more important than a box of blocks. Torn between two choices, I sank to my knees as a storm raged inside of my head. Suddenly, the gears in my head stopped turning. I knew what I had to do, what was truly right.