Fiction

MuslimKidsMatter | Isra’s Big Day – A Story About Believing in Yourself

Published

January 25, 2014

Nur Kose

Isra’s Big Day

By Sabriya

Isra stared blankly at the paper in front of her. Her teacher had said that she had to write down the name of an insect and her partner’s name on the paper. Isra’s friend, Sophie said they could be partners. “Let’s do a presentation about fireflies!” said Sophie.

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“Alright!” Isra agreed.

“Ok class, after we finish researching, we will share our information either by a poster or powerpoint,” the teacher announced.

Isra had butterflies in her stomach. “I don’t like to speak in front of crowds!” Her happy thoughts floated away.

As Isra was walking home, she kicked the ground with her blue suede boots. She felt nervous and scared. “As-salamu alaikum, Mom,” she said kind of nervously.

“Walikum as-salam, I’ll make you a snack,” said mom. Isra went to her room. “Maybe I just don’t know about the insect,” Isra said as she fed her sea horse, Aqua. “I probably should do some research.” Isra went online. “These facts are great!”

At night Isra went outside. “Fireflies!” she cried. One fluttered on her hand. Blink, blink, blink went the lights. Isra caught one in a jar and decided to practice her lines for the insect project.

“And I hope that you like my presentation,” she ended proudly. She practiced every single day. She said it in front of my mom, dad, brother and two baby sisters. On the day of the presentation, she wore a firefly shirt that said, “Go, get ’em!” She went to school and presented her firefly powerpoint presentation.

Now Isra can do anything. She has learned to sing, dance, create and present powerpoint presentations and more. She learned that she just has to believe in herself.

The End

About the Author

Sabriya Zaman is 11 years old. She enjoys reading, playing on the computer, playing soccer, talking on the phone with her friends, and drawing. Her favorite color is turquoise. Sabriya lives in Pennsylvania, USA with her family.

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2 Comments

Amel

January 25, 2014 at 2:51 PM

As-salamu Alaykum,

Beautiful story, masha’Allah. It is true that we can overcome our fears by pushing ahead even when we feel hesitant. Being prepared is also important. I wish I knew all this when I was your age. Keep up the good work, masha’Allah, and please continue to write.

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Kawthar

January 26, 2014 at 2:17 PM

Mabruk! Great job and I hope you keep writing :) I also like to consider myself a writer though I just started high school. By the way, did you include the sea horses because you thought it would be nice, or because you have some of your own? I’ve read that keeping sea horses is incredibly difficult even for the most accomplishes aquarists because of the difficulty of feeding them. They have tiny, tiny mouths and are extremely picky eaters. In fact most of them starve to death in their first year of captivity. But not to worry, my information may be a bit outdated. Do you know someone who keeps seahorses?
You write well. But I just wanted to make a few suggestions: Try to make your transitions a little smoother. We jump from a scene where Israel is nervous at school to when she is walking home without any heads up. Also, a little more description would be great-for example,when Isra walks in and sees her mother in the kitchen. What does her mother look like? What is she doing? Is she at the stove? Is she elbow deep in wishing dishes? So on and so forth. I highly recommend Writing Magic by Gail Carson Levine. No, it is not on writing about magic for those who object, and you are a little young for some of her books, but it is a very interesting and helpful writer’s book. I had a very good time reading it.
Jazakallah khair, and keep writing!

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