Pepsi cola Radio

One day I went to the supermarket and saw something new. There were papers on the cashier's counter. I wondered what is that I asked the cashier. ‘‘It is the Pepsi Stuff catalog’’.

Please tell me further about it. I said I was curious about it. He said ‘‘every reward has a specific amount of points; they will redeem your reward points for any of these gifts. You choose one of them if you want and see how many points you need to get it.’’

Ahha, I said, but what do I do to earn them? He told me by purchasing the Pepsi bottle and looking inside the bottle cap to see if it contained a Pepsi label. How long does it take to get the prize? ‘‘One to two weeks’’.

I was excited about the idea. I took the catalog and went to our house yard; it was my place to get deep and think.

Humm, I looked at it. I was hell confused and intrigued by them; there were plenty of them, and I could not decide which one to choose. 

The T-shirt had fewer points, but I asked myself if I wanted it. I said no. What will I do with the Pepsi t-shirt logo? What about the cap? No, I do not wear hats or need them; let's see, I have two options: TV and radio.

Tv has the most points; it will take forever to collect them, plus I will share it with everyone. However, the radio is tiny, comes with earphones, and I can take it whenever I want; it will be mine only. So, I decided to get the radio. I have to acquire 50 points. I will do my best to get it.

I was a quiet child and never spooked about anything I was doing; therefore, this was my secret to fulfill without anyone knowing. It was an easy one, to be honest.

I started to buy Pepsi the next day, and I was lucky to earn my first point on my first attempt. Now I have 49 left, but it was not an easy task, especially since I was seven then, and buying this amount of souda was insane.

I could not drink it without diluting it with water because it hurt my throat due to gas. Even with that effort, finishing it took me a whole day. Or, every other day, I gave it to a family member, not to notice the amount of Pepsi I consumed.

It took two months to collect the points; some days were a hit, and others were a miss. The bottle price was 1 RS then; it was too much for my budget, but no pain, no gain. Whenever I felt discouraged, or the process took so long, I went to the catalog, the points I collected, and watched them as a reminder to keep going and Give it 110%

 I put them in a plastic bag and hid them in my secret place in our backyard. I dug a hole and put it there to look like a treasure; I've always wanted to do that. I got inspired by the Japanese anime series Treasured Island.

Finally, the day came, and I gave my treasure to the cashier. I was proud of myself for My commitment and patience and for making it until the end.

So, they took two weeks to deliver it. However, I was still impatient as a child who felt accomplished and wanted to be rewarded for diligence.

I went to him every day to ask if they had brought it. I felt disappointed whenever he said no, but I did not lose hope.

The supermarket was in front of our house, so whenever I had time, I went to the roof and secretly watched if the Pepsi truck came at any time.

One day I finished school and was walking home when I saw the Pepsi vehicle. My gift is here, I said; I was on cloud nine. I went to the cashier, and he gave it to me. I was the happiest child on Earth.

 I went home to see it; it was a small blue one with the Pepsi logo in the middle. It has I read Light to let you know if it is working or not. Also, It has one round button on the right side to switch it in and off and to change the channels. It was easy for me to use.

I was thrilled and nervous. I had no idea what I was going to listen to. I didn't either know why people used the radio for. 

 Anyway, I put the battery in and switched the radio on, but I heard nothing; umm, let me change the channel, I said, but I still heard no sound.

What! Did they scam me? I teared up; I paid all that money for nothing. I waited two weeks for nothing. Why is life not fair? I worked hard on this.

I went to the grocery store and told him this was not working; please replace it. He took it from me and tried it; he said it worked.

But Most channels air at night, so you must wait a few hours. I was surprised when I heard that, but at least it works, and I will not wait for the replacement. 

I was waiting for the night to come. I watched the clock and went outside to see if the sun was setting. I could not wait any longer.

I turned it on to see if there was any voice, but still nothing, and I turned it off quickly because I was afraid of the battery dying.

I remember at 7 or 8 pm, I turned it on, and I heard someone talking; what is that!

I was astonished; wow, I was the only one listening to that. What language they are speaking, I need help understanding. Then I discovered it was English.

I had no idea another language existed; I thought Arabic was the dominant language on Earth. I wanted to know if there are countries other than my country, Egypt, India, and Kuwait, because we used to watch many of their series and movies in our house.

When I listened to the radio, I got deep into my thought and imagined the new world.

What people look like, how they live, whether they knew we were living, did they look like us, or what their country looked like.

On The first night, the two conversed in English, and then suddenly, they played music. I understood nothing. Still, I was fascinated by it; I remember the rhythm of the songs until this day.

The fun part was going to bed early, sneaking it and covering my head, pretending I was sleeping so no one would notice I was awake, and taking it from me.

Thus, I chose the radio because it is little, and I can move it around and hide it whenever possible. 

I used to let the radio on until I slept and woke up with a noisy shhh sound at dawn. That means they are closed, but at least I knew the airing time.

In case you are wondering what happened to it, it was with me until middle school, then the earphone broke.

The radio was no longer working because it was too fragile and old. I could not throw it away; I was attached to it; it was my treasure, and I loved it. It opens my eyes to the world. However, one day I got the courage to let go of it after a long hesitation. Yes, I was sad. I had so many memories with it, but I knew I would not forget it even if it were not with me.