Family

This is Burhan. In the early years of his life and like other children, he’s sometimes stubborn and sometimes obedient. In this evening, he seems he will be stubborn, for he doesn’t want to sleep. Outside, the noises are loud and the bells are ringing their sounds. He can’t sleep. He turns to his father saying, “I beg you, Father, to read me a story.” This is Burhan’s father. He’s a kind, tender man, and sometimes more than necessary. Even though the bells are ringing their sounds, he keeps reading to Burhan a story about the beautiful donkey. When he finishes reading, Burhan yawns and turns off the light, saying, “Have a good day, Burhan.” But Burhan doesn’t want to sleep. Here Burhan remembers he forgot to brush his teeth. He calls his father, “Father, I forgot to brush my teeth with the toothbrush.” ...

There was a small girl named Amal. One day, Amal was sitting in her room with her toys, thinking sadly and saying, “I wish my mother was with me now. I wish she would come home and not stay long in the hospital.” Her mother had been injured in a car accident since a week ago and was in the hospital. Amal used to sit at their neighbors, Mrs. Asmaa’s house, and at night her father would take her from there at a late time of the night. ...

Mrs. Zhu lived in a city of the cities of China. She had two sons from the finest young men. It happened that the two brothers traveled to another city and lived there for a period of time until they married two sisters from among the daughters of the family. One was named Rose Flower and the other Crimson Flower. Then the two brothers returned after that to live with their mother, and with each of them his wife. ...

Noura, Jamila’s beautiful daughter, loves watermelon. In the morning she eats watermelon, at lunch she eats watermelon, and at dinner she eats watermelon. One evening, the mother put food on the table consisting of chicken and molokhia. But Noura got angry and said, “I don’t like chicken and I don’t like molokhia. I only like watermelon.” Her father said to her, “Chicken is beneficial, Noura, and molokhia tastes delicious.” Noura shouted, “Watermelon, watermelon, I only want watermelon!” Her mother got angry and said firmly, “Molokhia first, Noura, then watermelon.” One evening, Noura entered the kitchen and saw a large watermelon on the kitchen table. She said, “I want to eat it all alone.” She carried it and put it under her bed to eat it after everyone slept. She slept thinking about the large watermelon under the bed. ...

One day, on New Year’s Eve, the weather was extremely cold. The friends were gathered thinking about celebrating the new year. The rabbit said, “The weather won’t give us the opportunity to play outside. The weather is extremely cold. It’s better to return to our homes.” But Nmour appeared suddenly, wearing clothes similar to a magician’s clothes given to him by Karim Amin. Nmour spoke with great happiness and said, “Today is very suitable for me to present the dangerous magician’s show.” The rabbit said, “This weather won’t give us the opportunity even to enjoy any show.” Nmour replied to him, holding his hat and said, “I promise you, Rabbit, that you’ll feel warmth throughout my show that I’ll present. Look at me, I’ll bring out a tiger from my hat.” ...

In a distant time, there were three small rabbits on a farmer’s farm. One was gray-colored and was kind and gentle despite his extreme love for eating. The second was black-colored and very skilled but also very quick-tempered and excitable. As for the third, he was white of heart and color as well, and he had good character. His only fault was that he would let his imagination wander as if he lived in the Island of Dreams. ...

Cinderella was a beautiful child living happily with her father and mother in their beautiful palace. Cinderella’s father was a wealthy merchant, but one day Cinderella’s mother passed away. The father chose a female relative who had two daughters to marry, so she could take care of his daughter Cinderella. At first the woman pretended to love Cinderella, but after that she began to show her true self, treating Cinderella badly. ...

The white cat Sasha asked her friend Farah to go out to play in the garden adjacent to their home—a garden where she often sat on the windowsill looking at it from afar. But Farah refused Sasha’s request and said to her, “Going out is dangerous for you, especially since you’re a cat raised in a house and don’t know the ways of street cats.” Sasha was angry and decided one morning to leave without Farah’s knowledge. She jumped from the window to the road to go to the garden, when a speeding car almost hit her, were it not for the driver pressing hard on the brakes. The car stopped near Sasha, who was very frightened and ran with great force into the garden. ...

Once upon a time there was a large apple tree filled with delicious large apples, and a beautiful child lived beside it who loved to play around that tree. The child enjoyed climbing the tree, jumping, and eating some of its delicious fruits every day. That tree loved playing with the child every day very much, and found happiness and joy upon seeing him. Days passed and that small child grew into a fifteen-year-old boy. One day the tree asked him to come and play with her. ...

The bird Dina went out to enjoy and play in the forest and spend a pleasant time. She said that she would not go home until night, and suddenly a strong wind blew that knocked down the trees. The bird Dina was afraid and worried. She headed quickly to her home. On her way back, she heard the chirping of little sparrows. She opened the window and saw that the sparrows were looking at something. On a branch of a tree where they were sitting was hanging a nest with a small bird that had a broken branch that could fall from it. The bird Dina looked at the sparrows and found them jumping with fear without concern. So she asked the sparrows about the fear. ...