Gamma Rules - With Al Sahwa 5

This is the fifth story by Al Sahwa School Seniors as part of this project. Below is a message from the authors, Al Maiyasa Al Jimhi, Hadeel Al Mahrooqi and Rawan Al Matani.

After several appliance letters and a long wait, my friends and I have finally been accepted at Syracuse University in Syracuse New York. Joanna, Kristen, Connie and I are more than thrilled to be finally going off to university together. Alas, our 'college life' will finally commence.

It felt unusual waking up so early after such a long lazy summer vacation, but the excitement made it very much effortless. After a rather quick ride of an hour and 20 minutes from Rochester to Syracuse, we reached campus. We tried so hard to tame ourselves, no one likes psyched freshmen. Traditionally, we had to join a certain sorority. My friends have begged and pleaded me to join them in their ultimate sorority of choice; Kappa Kappa Gamma. I obviously couldn't refuse, since we were all in this together, might as well be in the same sorority.

Kappa Kappa Gamma is one of the nation's largest and most well-known sororities. They are stereotyped for being attractive, rich snobs, but don't get me wrong there are also a whole lot of kappas who are awesome, fun-loving and great girls, just not enough to make me stay in that sorority. It was absurd. All members, including my friends were mesmerized by the bubble-gum wrapped world of the Kappa life. Our rules were preposterous and our senseless gatherings engaged heavy debates about whether slumber parties should be held on a weekend or our cumpulsory tanning sessions would be conformed to those who are dark skinned. I've never been surrounded by so many airheads in my life, and the worst part of it is that my friends have become infatuated with the whole idea. I could not recognize them anymore. But what had really disgusted me and forced me to leave was the continuous gossip I was hearing during my stay. It had revolted me, and was a major turn off. This wasn't for me and I wanted out.

I packed my bags and left very simply, no one noticed me anyway. During my walk around campus I encountered a group of girls sitting on a bench and couldn't help but over hear their conversation. They were discussing the new Gatsby movie starring Leonardo DiCaprio. One was dissing the whole movie and the other was defending it to the death. I eventually gave my own opinion on the movie, being favorable to the girl who liked it. Quickly, one conversation lead to another, and I ended up being invited to a new sorority; Delta Gamma.

Delta Gamma was like Kappa Kappa Gamma, but not on steroids. I got along with the girls there. They were intelligent, artistic and creative, every single one of them and I loved it. Until one incident that has drastically changed my view of this house. One of the members has put on a bit of weight, which I thought wasn't that big of a problem. The girl herself however was hysteric and when I had come to ask her of her anxiety, she told me that she now has to attend a diet centre during the upcoming holidays and loose all the weight she has put on. She further explained to me that one of the rules of this house was that no one should be above or under 100 pounds, regardless of their height. Because the number 100 resembles a perfect 10, therefore anything beneath or exceeding this figure is ugly. I could not believe it. These are even worse than the Kappas. I questioned the head girl about this, whom I've grown to be very good friends with, and she confirmed the rule. 

It was not long till it was my turn to oblige to this rule. I could not risk being allotted to Kappa Kappa Gamma again. The diet centre looked liked a sanatorium. It reeked of metal and medicine. It was awful. As I registered, they handed me a pile of seven books and a packet of mints. The books were presumably to kill time I'd spend in the centre. I didn't mind though, I liked books, and mints as well, although most patients neglected them, but made it easier for me to steal them. My days in the centre were bleak, tedious and lonesome. I could not bear this prison-like atmosphere. There was no way out of it. They do have a garden with fresh air, but still, it was diet centre air. 

One day as I was casually sitting in the lobby, observing all the patients and nurses entering and leaving rooms and going about their duties, a fellow came in. He did not wear white nor did he look like a doctor and he carried a pile of envelopes. It took me a while to figure out that it was the mail man. As he was leaving, I've noticed that the door that automatically gets locked, had not locked this time. I glanced at the registration desk and the nurse that usually sits there was not in sight. This was my chance. I ran to my room, gathered all my belongings, including the books I've collected throughout my stay and made a run for it. 

It was exhilarating! The cold air did not kill my excitement and I was now on cloud nine.  I was scurrying through the chilling streets of Brooklyn till it had become dark and was desperately asking for a ride from any stranger. One eventually stopped for me. It was an old woman. "What's a young girl like you doing in Brooklyn at this time?" she peculiarly asked. "Any girl from around here would've known that the night time is certainly not suitable for a young girl to be walking around!". "Ma'am, It's a long story, I'm not from around here, I need to get home may you please drop me off at the train station, wherever that is". The woman took me there and I was very grateful to her, however I had nothing decent to offer her other than a book. She declined my gift and said that she was merely 'helping a sister out'.

I took the next train to Rochester. Finally, I've found peace. My mom was certainly happy to see me although she also took pity on my unpleasant appearance. I've donated all the books I've collected on my journey to charity. I now attend Rochester University and have ditched all Gamma rules.

This story is based on Sindbad the Sailor's 4th voyage. This adaptation has a modern twist to it however is still parallel to the events that happen in the original version. 

Link to 4th Voyage: 

http://www.candlelightstories.com/2009/03/27/arabian-nights-the-fourth-voyage-of-sinbad-the-sailor/

The Friends and The Physics Lesson - With Al Sahwa 4

This is the fourth story by Al Sahwa School Seniors as part of this project. Below is a message from the authors, Reem Al Lawati,  Mulki Al Jimhi and Maryam Saif

School is like a zoo, with its cage-like classes and its wide range and diversity of species. You’ve got the “jocks”, the ”nerds”, the “Goths”, the “pretty girls” and the plain “cool guys”.  Johnny Oxford, is your typical “nerd”. With his pimply face and his shorts waist high, still keeping the suspender trend alive. It was a normal day at school. Oxford would already be at the physics lesson prepared to hear another lecture from the teacher. Students would walk in chatting, laughing and eager to start the lesson. Everyone except Domenic. Domenic is the “cool guy” that never really cared about attending his classes. Especially physics. What makes Donny even cooler is that regardless of the vast amount of times he’s bunked the physics class, he still remains supreme and never gets caught by school authority. His admiring classmates praise him and soon gave him the nickname, The Don. Donny has been Oxford’s friend for a while now. No one knows why or how that ever happened, but with time they have learnt to accept it. Oxford has always envied Donny for so long. He’s envied the ease he’s always in and the bliss of not attending a physics lesson.

One day they both decided to meet after school in Don's House. "Why do you always skip physics, Donny?" said Oxford wondering. "What’s the matter Ox-man? You know how much I hate physics, I hate Lenz’s stupid laws and all that stuff, besides, I like chilling.” Don replied. He went on telling Oxford the great amount of fun he misses when he goes to the coffee shop across the street. He also rambles on about his great skills in climbing the school walls. “Aren’t you worried about the exams?” said Oxford. “Why would I be? I’ll casually bunk that as well.”

When Oxford went back home he was thinking about what Donny told him regarding the physics lesson. He also wanted to experience the leisure and the ecstasy of skipping a boring lesson like physics. He made his decision. The next time he sees Donny, he’ll tell him that he’d like to join him on his beautiful journey. The next morning, before the flag ceremony to commence, he, with pride and joy, told Donny that he’d be skipping the physics lesson with him.  Physics was the fifth lesson and before that, they decided to meet at the gym bathrooms.

The bell rang. Oxford successfully reached the gym just as he was told, with that great feeling of accomplishment, looking forward to the other side of that tall depressing wall. The wall that separates the boys from the men. Donny made his way to the gym. Suddenly his physics teacher saw him and said smiling, "Hello Domenic, nice seeing you again!" everyone in the hall had their jaws wide open. The Don couldn’t believe that his teacher saw him. Traumatised, he became conscious of the fact that he would be attending the physics lesson, something he hasn’t done for years.

Meanwhile Oxford was waiting in the bathroom hall. He began to panic. Donny took longer than usual. He decided to climb the school wall by himself, assuming that Donny would already be there. He made it to the other side and as soon as he landed his feet on the non-school ground, he received a text from Donny.

“Ox-man, I got caught. I’m in class. They called your parents asking about you, and your parents ensured them that you were at school. I heard them say that you’ll be suspended if you don’t come to the lesson. You better hurry!”

Oxford ran. Ran like he never thought his skinny legs would be able to. The thought of being expelled was like death to him. Oh how he regretted it! He slammed the door open and entered the class, looking like he was attacked by a group of monkeys. The teacher broke into laughter, and so did everybody else. He patted him on the back and said “ever heard the saying: Look before you leap?” handing him his copy of The Fable of the Donkey, the Ox and the Farmer. “It’s my favourite.”

Our story is a modern parallel adaptation of Shahrazad’s tale “The Fable of the Donkey, the Ox and the Farmer”. It is a funny and more relatable twist of the original story.  You can read the original here http://markturner.org/lmx.html .We would love to hear your feedback and your literary comments about our story.

The Beast - With Al Sahwa 3

This is the third story by Al Sahwa School Seniors as part of this project. Below is a message from the authors, Bushra Al Shahri, Ikram Al Lawati and Hebba Al Kindi.

It was about time for a new adventure, that's what I thought about when I first stepped into my friend's Leela private jet, 4 people, and an unknown destination. I was hoping for something more like "eat, pray, love" but I never knew what was coming. As we were flying somewhere over the pacific, the plane suddenly started shaking; we were crashing. The pilot then quickly opened the door of the plane; "everyone grabs a life jacket and JUMP into the water" he yelled. As soon as I jumped out of plane and plunged back to the surface, I started looking for my fellow friends, but no one was there. I waited and waited but nothing happened. Suddenly I saw seagulls fly in one direction and I knew there was land nearby. So I swam and swam and until I found it: HEAVEN. It was a beautiful tropical island. I was roaming around looking for food and clean water when suddenly I saw a toddler. What was a toddler doing in an isolated island? Perhaps it wasn't isolated at all, I thought to myself.

The toddler started crying so I approached him trying to calm him down, I didn't want his parents –if they even existed – to think that I've had harmed him in any way. So I started playing with him and I decided to give him a piggy back. My back was sore, and when I came to lower him to the ground, suddenly the weight grew heavier on my shoulders. "I AM NOT A HUMAN TODDLER YOU FOOL, I AM A LEPRCHAUN AND I HEARBY MAKE YOU MY PERSONAL SLAVE”. I was shocked, a leprechaun in a tropical island, he knew what I was thinking. "I know what you're thinking, leprechauns are supposed to be white and Irish, but guess what there are black leprechauns too”. I replied "Aren't you supposed to be nice then, I thought leprechauns were at least nice, you see I wouldn't mind working for a nice leprechaun who'd pay me in pots of gold”. He yelled “shut up you fool, after all the discrimination I've been through I don't want to be nice to anyone, especially your kind of people." I yelled back: oh so you think I am racist just because I am white huh? Well guess what I AM SINDY BED AND I AM NOT A RACIST. A powerful blow hit my head, and it was all dark. When I woke up the leprechaun tortured me, I had to carry him all around and he wouldn't let go of me. He made me steal pots of gold from him and he discharged his marshmallow filth upon me. I was tired and my back really started to ache.

One day when he was asleep, I stumbled upon a very particular kind of fungus, the "shrooms". I knew this very well, since I had to prepare an assignment on hallucinates. I sliced pieces of the shrooms and hid it in his food, when he ate it he grip loosened and I was free to go. I took advantage of his state of mind and dragged him by the river side, I plunged his head in the water and I whispered goodbye you beast.

“If you are interested in reading an adapted story of Sindbad’s 5th voyage, please read this but also comment about it.”

Link of the real story: http://www.wollamshram.ca/1001/Dixon/dixon01_13.html"

Escaping Revel - With Al Sahwa 1

This is the first story will be posting by Al Sahwa Schools Seniors as part of a project I introduced here.

It is written by Muna Al Wahaibi, Isra Al Kindi and Noaf Al Bulooshi. Please comment your thoughts about it below, and share it if you so feel.

Uncle came home one night, to our little run-down dwelling in the slums, looking exceptionally pale and out of sorts. I asked him what was wrong, hoping he wouldn't say that he'd been out gambling again. He looked up at me nervously and I could see guilt in his eyes.

"What have you done?" I questioned, my irritation rising at me Uncle's incompetence. Ever since my parent's death five years ago I've been living with Uncle Palo, but his irresponsible behavior can drive a person mad. It was like I was his guardian and not the other way around. If he's not drinking, then he's gambling. He squanders all the money we ever raise and then borrows money to gamble more, which has pulled us knee-deep in debt. "I'm sorry, Laura" he replied, "I took a loan from Revel and his men." "You wouldn't!" I cried hysterically, "Even you wouldn't do something so dumb." Uncle simply looked away. "You know that's playing with fire. Now you've done it Uncle. You've stuck your hand in the devil's mouth." "It was only a little," he reasoned, "I didn't know he would-" "Don't lie to yourself! You did know!" I interrupted, "Everyone knows that you can't win with Revel. Where will you get the money from? How are you going to pull your hand out without having it bitten off?" "That's easy," he replied, not meeting my eyes, "I'll give the devil something else to chew on." I looked at him, confused. "What do you mean?" I asked, but he didn't reply. From behind Uncle Palo entered the infamous Revel and his gang. I froze in fear. "Is this her?" Revel asked Uncle. Uncle gulped and nodded. "Take her," Revel ordered his men and they moved towards me. I could see what was going on now. "No, no, let me go!" I yelled as they grabbed my arms. "Uncle, don't let them take me away!" Tears rolled down Uncle's cheeks as they dragged me forcefully out of the room. "Uncle Palo!" I called out to him again and again, but he still didn't move. He betrayed me to protect himself. I could feel anger boiling up inside of me along with the overwhelming fear.

Revel and his men took me to their base, a several-story building hiding in plain sight at the end of the slum. Everyone knows where these rotten thieves live and their crimes, but no one can do anything about them. Anyone who tries is labeled dead before Revel even kills him, which he does. One of the men took me to the kitchen, a place as rotten as them, obviously unkempt. He shackled my feet together with a long chain, so I wouldn't run away. "This place is to be clean by sunrise," he instructed before leaving and locking the door behind him. I sat down and cried miserably for hours before hauling myself up onto my feet and getting to work. As I scrubbed the grease off of the counter-tops, I resolved that I will run away no matter what. I will escape this torture even if takes me years to do so. I managed to get the kitchen relatively presentable by dawn, but I was completely exhausted. As I put my head down on the hard ground to get some shut eye, however, the door unlocked and the same man from yesterday came in. He studied the kitchen but said no word of approval. "Starting today, you'll bring up breakfast and some drinks to the boss's room on the third floor," he ordered. I dragged myself up onto my feet and got to work. He watched me as I prepared breakfast on a tray and then placed the bottle and a few cups next to it. I followed him up, my chains clinking as I walked up the stairs. He showed me into a room where the men where gambling around a table. Revel was cleaning his gun while watching television. I placed the tray in front of him. He didn't give me a second glance. The man then shooed me out and closed the door. I started descending when I realized that this was my chance to escape. There was no one to stop me. I hurried down as fast as the chain would allow. I tripped in my excitement, but hurriedly pulled myself up and continued on. I could see the door now. I was blinded with joy and I didn't see the men guarding it until it was too late. "Where do you think you're going?" they asked as they pushed me down. "I'm sure Boss would like to have a word with you." I tried to wrestle my way out as they dragged me back up the stairs, but it was no use. They pushed me to my knees in front of Revel. He gave me a bored look and clicked his tongue. I was eyeing his gun fearfully. He pressed my face painfully into the ground with his shoe. I wondered tearfully what they were going to do to me. To my surprise, they unlocked my chains and removed them. A second later, however, they shackled me again. This time, the chain was much shorter than the first time. I could hardly walk, let alone run away. They threw me in the kitchen again and locked the door behind me. I cried myself to sleep. Days turned to weeks as I served them breakfast and drinks every morning and cleaned the kitchen every night. I noticed that even when Revel goes out, he does not take all his men. There was always someone guarding the door. I couldn't take it anymore. I took my chances and climbed out the window in the stairwell one day after I had delivered Revel's breakfast. The windows in the kitchen were barred, so I couldn't use those. I fell painfully to the ground beneath then quickly got up and tiptoed away. I could already taste freedom when a yell sounded from behind me. I had been spotted. I tried to run, but my chains wouldn't allow it. I was captured and my chains were shortened once again. Now I had trouble climbing the stairs from how short the chain was. I decided there was no way I could escape the way this was going. The more I tried to run, the harder Revel's grip gets around me. My ankles ached from the constant chaffing of the chains. I had to think of some other way to escape. One day, a few weeks later, Revel and his men came back late at night yelling and laughing joyfully. I wondered what was going on when one of them came into the kitchen. "Bring up all the drink's we've got!" he ordered with a smile plastered on his face, "Tonight we celebrate our greatest victory!" I thought fast as soon as the door closed behind him. This was my chance to escape. I loaded a tray with drinks and another with cups and carried one in each hand. I waddled up the stairs and placed the drinks on the table. Before I re-entered the kitchen, I noticed that the front door was left unguarded. The men were probably all celebrating upstairs. I didn't take the bait, however. I decided to wait for the perfect chance, to make sure I was not going to be captured again. The voices of the men that sounded down to the kitchen were obviously drunk by midnight, but I waited even more. It was a few hours before sunset when I grabbed a bread roll and some water and tiptoed out of the kitchen. I kept my eyes peeled and listened out carefully as I snuck out the door and into the cool night air. I didn't relax until my feet were aching from the walk and Revel's hideout was completely out of view. I drank some of the water and stowed the rest, along with the bread, for later consumption. Now that I was out, I didn't know where to go. I certainly could not go home, that's the first place they'll look when they notice that I've escaped. However, if I stay out on the streets I would certainly die of starvation. I walked for days, sustained by whatever I could find. People didn't give me a second glance since they were in the same state I was in. One day, I was sitting by a fence, waiting for death, when a man came up to me and asked me what had happened. I told him my story and he exclaimed in astonishment. He told me that I was the first to escape Revel's evil grasp. He took me to the police station where they removed my chains and listened to my story in awe. Finally, they decided that something had to be done about Revel. They gave me a place to stay, in an orphanage far away from the slum, away from Revel and his men. A few weeks later, I heard that Revel and his men had finally been arrested and had been sentenced to jail for give or take twenty-five years. I slept well-assured for many nights before turning eighteen and finding myself a nice job at an orchard, where I could make a living picking apples. I never saw Uncle Palo, Revel or any of his men again.

With Al Sahwa

When I started this blog I set out to post at least 3 times a month but that has proven to be incredibly hard during the semester. I told myself I would make the time to post and not use "I don't have the time" as an excuse. And I'm sticking to that. I do have the time. There are little wholes in my schedule where I have nothing to do. What I lack however, is the energy. Writing isn't easy and I don't have the energy to gather random thoughts and string them into legible sentences. So, when one of my favorite high-school teachers told me about this project I was ecstatic.

What it means for you, dear reader, is that you will get to read things on this webpage of mine. What it means for me, is that I have to do none of the work.

Over the next few days I will post stories by Senior students from my beloved Sahwa Schools. This is an assignment where they have to modernize (right up my ally) Arabian tales and get people to respond to them. Part of the project is that they have to respond to comments on their stories, so we would appreciate it very much if you dropped a line after reading (even if anonymously).

So keep coming back here for the stories and don't forget to comment, share and just get a conversation started.

With The Edge of Nowhere - A Book Review

The Edge of Nowhere, written by Elizabeth George is about Becca King, a young woman on the run from her abusive father. Now what sets this aside from what I usually review is that there is a fantastical element to it; Becca can hear people's thoughts.

I have to start off by saying that I don't like supernatural stories. I avoid them and when I do read one I rarely ever finish it. But because of the overwhelming abundance of bookstores in this country, I couldn't find anything else to read. So here I am, doing something I thought I would never do, I'm reviewing a supernatural novel.

Now, the first thing I noticed about this story is that most of the characters are painfully 1 dimensional; including the protagonist. The only character I was impressed by was Seth, a 19-year-old drop-out with learning disabilities. I feel like he is the only character who genuinely had depth and grew throughout the plot. The second is that although there are fantastical elements, they made no real impact on plot progression. So, despite my predisposition away from Fantasy I actually liked the plot in this one. Because unlike in others I have read before, the supernatural bore no real influence on the story. The plot would've been more or less the same without her "ability". It truly was refreshing to read a fantastical YA where the fantasy doesn't take over.

Now, this book is the first in a series, but I don’t think I'll read the rest of them just yet. There was nothing exceptional about it and I'm just not invested enough in the characters to follow them further.