Thirteenth Floor

Students, here is a piece written by Rija Z Ghazanfar of M2. Enjoy reading it! And don't forget to give her your comments.

The number 13 an omen, a bad luck, a curse! Bah, what rubbish right? Some say the world will end on Friday the thirteenth. Funny that is. All these are superstitions which evolved from nowhere but the human psyche. At least that is what I though until the day I got married.

It was an ancient treat to the yes which rose meters and meters high above our heads in the Spanish air. Yes, I am talking about the Plaza Venezia where my wedding took place on its most charming thirteenth floor, the floor beautifully clad in violet and black. It seemed as if nothing could go wrong.

Holding my father’s arm, walking up that aisle in a gown, which could put the queen’s gown to shame, was just the best thing ever. The view which the thirteenth floor offered was magnificent and the fast moving wind gave the entire scene a fairy tale like aura.

The ceremony was sealed with a kiss and the party began. Everyone sang and danced delirious to the music. The sound of laughter and unperturbed fun was only pierced suddenly by a shrill scream of terror as my thirteen year-old niece fell plummeting to the ground several feet below. Whereas, all of us could only hover over the terrace of the thirteenth floor and stare in silence as the bad luck laughed at us in triumph. What as I supposed to think of all that I laughed at? The thirteen year-old niece and the thirteenth floor, a curse or a coincidence?

Rija Z Ghazanfar M2

April 2011

Boys don’t cry!

Read this short story by Urooj Alnoor of E1 and give her your comments.

It was the same routine again and I was heading back home with these words echoing in my head: “boys don’t cry”. After covering a mile or two I felt a tear roll down my cheek. I realized that I was actually missing her for the first time in my life.

My sister Christa was born when I was nine years old. After her birth she was diagnosed with cancer. ‘Cancer’. As a nine year old, I didn’t know what the word meant but the thing I knew was that cancer was the reason of my hatred towards Christa. Christa wasn’t the kind of sister I wanted, she was ugly, bald and had a lot of abnormalities that were due to the side effects of the chemotherapy she went through every month.

I hated walking with her to school, I felt ashamed when she came to me in the break time to tell that she had scored the highest in her class. The reason I avoided her so much was that children used to tease me for having an ugly sister like Christa.

I still remember the day when my mom told me to take Christa to school as she was insisting to go with me. When we had walked a half mile I heard my friends passing comments on me walking with an ugly girl. At first I ignored them but when it got on my nerves I scolded Christa for coming with me and left her alone on the road. Still she never complained. That night she came to me and gave me a good night kiss when I was asleep.

I did not know that that was my last good night kiss from her. The next morning she was found lifeless in her room. Now that she was gone I realized how cruel I had been to her, how I ignored her each time she came to me, how I used to scold her for things that were not her fault. I felt so foolish for not realizing all this when I had my sister alive. I wanted to say sorry to her but my words stuck in my throat. Suddenly, felt someone hold my hand. The feeling told me it was Christa, she was with me and she had forgiven me for my mistakes. I felt a sense of satisfaction. I wiped my tears and headed towards home.     

Urooj Alnoor

E1

Bet – the Best Entertainment Trick!

Here is an interesting narrative written by Mohammed Haris bin Yousuf of E1. This essay is very simple yet amazing. Please read it and post encouraging comments. Happy Reading!

Bet – the Best Entertainment Trick!

I always had a craze for making bets with my friends – winning and getting all their money. Though it is wrong, it meant a lot of fun to me.

One morning, I was walking with my friends to the cricket ground for a match. We all were hungry as none of us had had our breakfast. Therefore, we decided to move towards the food court first. Now the problem was who would pay for the breakfast! There was a giant sized building beside the food court and one of my friends challenged me to climb to its thirteenth floor in three minutes. If I managed to do so, he would pay and if not then I must pay for all. He also put this condition forward that I must not use the elevator or I would lose the bet. Both of us submitted our wallets to another friend. Then it was time for me to head towards the building.

 I had faced many challenges before but this one seemed like a white elephant. On my way to the building I could smell the aroma of delicious breakfast that I might get free of cost. I started running so fast towards the top that I was out of breath. Soon as I reached the twelfth floor I realized that the staircase ended there! There was no thirteenth floor in that building! I could do nothing but smile at my own silliness.

That day the biggest hunter had got trapped in his own trap!

Mohammed Haris bin Yousuf
E1

Some of the best essays

Dear Students
I hope your preparations for the final exams are going awesome (as our E1 would put it)! Well, some of you might remember the promise I had made to publish on our blog some interesting and creative essays written by you all in the preliminary examinations.
Three essays have been shortlisted to be published on Potpourri. Please read them and post encouraging comments!
Regards
Ms. Zainab

Cambridge Online Dictionary

Dear Students
I hope you are giving your best in the preliminary examinations. Well, I just found out about this Cambridge Dictionaries Online Blog. It is very rich in content and will assist you in building up your vocabulary. Do visit it. Here is the URL http://dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/
Regards