Malaika Irfan is the student if Creative Writing Program by Author Ayesha Marfani. The author conducts online classes for the kids and this is what they have written during the class. The kids also practiced the art of storytelling. This is the original unedited work of the kid.
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Beauty is not the Key
By Malaika Irfan
Fatima sits in front of the mirror and thinks what beauty is?
Is it only the appearance? Or is it only fair complexion along with
Beautiful big eyes and long silky hair?
Our beauty is the strength of our character or beauty lies in someone’s eyes. She thought it is
very hard to define beauty. Even beautiful people feel insecure, especially if their character is not strong.
Have you ever seen anyone get judged on how they look? Well, this is the case for a girl.
Fatima is a twelve-year-old girl who suffers from a disease named Vitiligo that’s when some area of your skin has white patches. Fatima’s room is small it has a single bed in it, a small red desk with a white office chair and it has a big wardrobe for her clothes.
Every morning Fatima gets out of the bed and puts on her pink fluffy slippers and heads off to take a shower. After her shower, she sits in front of the mirror thinking every day, is the beauty the key to making friends. She can see herself sitting in front of the mirror with her long black silky hair with her green eyes. Sitting and wearing her maroon-colored school uniform. The only thing that people think is weird about her is her skin, but it actually is perfectly fine for her.
Fatima has a great personality she is caring, funloving and kind, but no one thinks of that they just focus on her skin with white patches. It’s just like judging a book by its cover not knowing what’s inside it. After that Fatima goes to the kitchen and gets her oats, she eats oats with blueberries for breakfast on weekdays only. Then she checked her school bag to make sure she has her library bag in it, as it’s her library day and she has to return her book which she borrowed last week from the library. “Oh, I forgot my USB drive on my computer desk”, said Fatima. I have to submit my science project on Solar System, she ran to grab it. She talked to herself. Then she rushed out of the house as it was about the time for the school bus and she saw her big yellow school bus is coming and took her bus to school.
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Fatima gets off the bus and she saw Mrs. Griffin standing near the gate chatting with some students who were working on the worm farm, Fatima went to Mrs. Griffin hugged her and said, “How are you, Mrs. Griffin?” Mrs. Griffin smiled and said, “I am, good darling.” and asked, “How are you, Fatima?” She replied, “I am very well.” Mrs. Griffin was her school principle. She is a tall lady, with grey hair and hazel eyes with a very graceful personality, she was not like other school principles, she really cares about her students and their families. Fatima hanged her bag outside the class on the designated place took out her library bag, homework folder and her USB and went into the class to put her stuff on her desk, after that she went to the worm farm to do her worm farm duty which she enjoys a lot, as her school is a sustainable school and they try to recycle most of their rubbish and food crapes and utilize it in worm farm to prepare, worm-wee, which they sell to parents on every Wednesday for their plants to make them rich and healthy.
Fatima’s school is big primary schools surrounded by lots of big trees, green shrubs and happy students, but very mean and judging Fatima and calling her names like a two-tone girl, spotted and zebra. At school in each and every subject Fatima has no partner, in class, her desk is at the back corner and she has no desk partner. At recess and lunch whenever she tries to join a game they say to her ‘’ you’re ugly get out’’.
Fatima still tried to keep her hopes up of getting a friend nearly her whole life she hasn’t had a friend. In class it was time to do the solar system presentation Fatima’s teacher called her name out and it was time for her to do her presentation as she was walking up with her USB drive everyone started to point to her. Fatima gave the teacher the USB drive and then went to the front of the classroom in front of the projector and stood up she was frozen her teacher said, what’s wrong Fatima why aren’t you presenting your powerpoint to the class. Fatima went up to the teacher and said that ‘’I can’t present my powerpoint because everybody laughs at me cause of my skin I am the only one in the classroom who doesn’t have a partner because everyone hates me. The teacher just read her powerpoint herself and marked it. On the other hand the teacher talked to the class and told them to be helpful and supportive to Fatima but during the lunch break and again start calling her names and taunting her.
Next week Fatima’s class went to the picnic and unfortunately Maria was not coming as she was very unwell.
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After a few days people in her school started spreading rumors on how Fatima looks but Fatima didn’t really react. After school, Fatima sat down in her room and got her laptop and typed upkeep my secret in. ‘’ I always have a day that is rough and have no friends but I can’t let the rumors take self-control of me and make me burst’’. She wrote that because she wanted to tell nobody about what’s going on and get angry to tell a teacher. The next day she went to school the first thing the teacher said was ‘’finally after being with the same students in your class for three years straight your getting a new girl named Maria. Then into class, Maria walked she looked like a friendly twelve-year-old girl, surprisingly the teacher told Maria to sit next to Fatima. Maria had short brown hair, she has blue eyes wears a maroon checkerd school uniform dress.
In a pleasant way Fatima asked Maria if they should be friends and Maria agreed. At playtime Maria and Fatima sat and started talking on the bench, then a boy came over and said to Maria ‘’why are you sitting and talking to this jerk’’. Immediately Maria stood up and said to the boy ‘’don’t come near Fatima if you’re not going to be kind, even this morning I saw people coming up to her and being rude’’.
Maria prepared to help stop people from bulling Fatima. After a few days Fatima decided to tell Mrs Griffin. As normal the next day Fatima arrived to school and when she saw Mrs Griffin she asked ‘’can we please talk in your office’’. Yes she replied. In Mrs Griffin’s office she sat, Mrs Griffin’s office was a small office with a book shelf and a desk with a computer and an office chair. Fatima started off ‘’ well something has been bothering me, since I have Vitiligo people think I look ugly and no one wants to be my friend. People have been calling me names like spotted and zebra, I couldn’t hold it in so I thought I should tell you. Mrs Griffin was stubbed about what she heard, she said to Fatima, “I will 100% give a consequence to everybody in school.” In a rush Fatima replied, not Maria, she is a great friend and a support to me. Okay said, Mrs. Griffin to Fatima then she said consequence should be to all those students, who heart your feelings. They are not going to get any playtime for one week and an apology letter to Fatima.
Fatima decides to present a speech about what she is capable of doing and what are the patches on her skin and addresses to the assembly. On Wednesday morning in assembly, Fatima was addressing the assembly, “My dear friends, Real beauty come from the kind of person you are, the choices you make and how you treat other people. Beauty can be inherited but the character is forged.” People who rely on their youthful good looks as their primary strength in life may be in trouble as they get older. But those who develop other character strengths will find their life becoming richer as they age.
