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Six budding young writers from Bahrain were awarded for their creative writing skills by judges and English teachers from the UK.
The 12 to 18-year-olds were among hundreds of school students from the UAE, Iraq, Oman, Qatar, Yemen and Bahrain who took part in the British Council Short Story Competition held to celebrate 75 years of cultural relations around the globe.
The British Council's English projects manager in Bahrain, Noora Al Sabah, said that the competition was challenging as young contestants had to construct a story with sentences that began with letters from the phrase 'British Council is 75'.
She said: "The entries received were brilliant and the panel of judges were impressed with the participants' writing skills. The main aim of the competition was to motivate young learners to express themselves in writing creatively in English. The topics of the winning stories showed the contestants' awareness of local, cultural and global issues."
Entries were judged by British storyteller Alec Williams and British Council English teachers, Diana White and Mersedeh Badrian.
The winners from the senior category (16-18 years) were (in order): Sabahat Najamul Arefeen, Saminah Amin and Ahmed Al Basha, while the junior category (12-15 years) winners were: Zaid Al Borshaid, Ryian Alam and Sanjana Varghese.
The awards included laptops, MP3 players and e-dictionaries and an opportunity to get the stories published on the British Council's webpage. The British Council is the UK's international organisation for educational opportunities and cultural relations that operates in over 100 countries worldwide.
WHAT THE AUTHORS had to SAY
Sabahat Najamul Arefeen, 16, Grade 11 student at the Modern Knowledge Schools, is the author of The World Today that won the first prize in the senior category.
Taking the competition as a challenge, she said that the toughest part was to put together the last line. A keen English language and literature student, Sabahat from Mahooz, said: "The layout acted as a guideline in which I could narrow down my ideas on how to start the next line. It was not only efficient but also helpful. The main challenge was putting together the last line starting with the number 75.
"I kept thinking about the last line and how I wanted my story to end. Having studied English literature at school, I've recognised that effective stories are those that have endings that create an impact on the reader. Therefore, I wrote the last line first and then started my story and worked my way towards that ending."
A devout Muslim, Sabahat's story is inspired from her culture, religion and the goings on in the world today. She said: "Eid for me is not only a way of celebrating festivity but a celebration of being a Muslim. I realised that sometimes I take this celebration for granted without even thinking about those Muslims who are unable to celebrate such an event because their world has been devastated.
"My initial idea was to write about how I love celebrating Eid, but then I changed it to show the reality of our world. All I wanted to do was to create awareness about the impact suicide bombings are having on our world."
Zaid Al Borshaid, 12, author of Mystery and Magic in the Desert and Year Eight student at St Christopher's School found the entire competition a fun exercise because of the endless possibilities for the story.
A fast writer who took just half an hour to write the story, Zaid, from Durrat Al Bahrain, said: "The format was not limiting as there are loads of words that you can use. I just tried to think of words that started with that letter and would make sense in a story.
"The culture of Bahrain inspired me as there have been so many different people who have come to this kingdom. Although I enjoy writing and reading, this competition has definitely improved my confidence."
The World Today
Breaking dawn at 4.30am I'm still awake. Haven't slept all night. The excitement has kept my eyes open.
Rethinking the month that has just gone by. The holy days. The religious weeks of Ramadan, are over.
It is very close. The miraculous moment is very close. Just two more hours, my mind cannot wait.
The anticipation grows, builds and spreads throughout my soul. The excitement is at its peak.
It's time. The two long hours have ticked by. My parents have awoken and are getting ready.
Smiling my way downstairs, I've already put on my best pair of clothes; the light blue, wavy, comfy dress.
However, I still have to wear my long, silky, black abayah and, of course, a complementary hijaab.
Covering my hair and revealing my face, I place my feet in the new, silver, flat slippers and leave home.
Opening the car door, I smell the air filled with the scent of freshly cut grass. We're getting closer and closer.
Until we've parked I keep silent. I can see the mosque; the prayer that will mark the start of Eid is so close.
Not long now, other men and women even children approach the pale white mosque.
Charging, hurrying, rushing my mother tells me to slow down, but I simply will not wait any more.
Impossible takes place.
Light, sound, fire. I don't remember what happened. All I know is that I'm no longer walking.
It all exploded in a second. So much blood, the unbearable pain, it even hurts to cry.
Screams is all I can hear as I shut my eyes, in fear of knowing that life will never be the same again.
75,000 and more lives have been murdered, destroyed, ruined by suicide bombings. When will it stop? When?
- By Sabahat Najamul Arefeen
(1st prize Senior category)
Mystery and Magic in the Desert
Bahrain is an amazing place, full of culture and history.
Rich in oil and natural resources.
It is a beautiful place to live in. Amazing how trees can live in a place where rainfall is scarce!
The Tree of Life is magical and there is an old folk story about this tree...
It goes like this. There was once a man, he was very young.
Stubborn and stupid he left his home to go on an adventure.
He lost his way and ended up stranded in the desert.
Cold and scared for at night it was freezing, he saw a ghost and started to scream.
"Oh, good gracious," said the man. The ghost replied, "You will have three wishes if you plant this tree."
Under the moonlight he planted the tree.
Now the ghost said: "Choose your first wish."
Cold and with his teeth chattering the man replied, "I wish there will be a 100 gazelles around this tree!"
"It is time for your second wish," the ghost said.
"Let these gazelles have food for the rest of their lives," said the man
"It is done, now for your third and final wish," the ghost replied.
"Sami is my name," said the man. "I wish this tree will live longer than I live!"
75 years passed by, the young man who was no longer young, huddled up under the tree and died!
- Zaid Al Borshaid
(1st prize Junior category)
