O’ Level students are fully clear on this point that when getting hold of a topic for story writing, and intending to use first person pronoun ‘I’, they can pose to be anybody, like a mom, a baby, a shopkeeper, an elderly person or a young man etc. See the way Muhammad Abubakar Mian seized the topic, triggered/prompted his imaginative explosive to cause this ‘big bang’ you call ‘a short story’. Intensely engaging right from the first word he dropped onto the sheet, the story is compellingly believable. With crispy, punchy sentences most naturally gushing out like a water spring, and well-connected like pieces in a chain, the story itself unfolds all information, the background, the present scenario and a likely future. You’d feel as if you were watching this incident with your own eyes. It’s like a Hollywood movie scene.

Muhammad Abubakar Mian was asked to generate a short story using the following two sentences anywhere in the text.

“Blood was still oozing out of his nose…”

“I had never expected her to betray me like that.”

Blood was still oozing out of his nose as I slammed him against the wall and continued to beat him to a pulp. His tattered shirt was red all over, but no amount of bleeding would stop my onslaught. My fury of punches continued to rain down on him as I blocked out the screams of my wife. She pleaded me to calm down, but that was like asking a bull to stop and wait as an entertainer tied his shoes - impossible. In retrospect, I’m not exactly sure where all that intense energy had come from, but come it did, and when it came, it was violent. 

The stranger had touched my wife in the privacy of my home. I use the word “stranger” lightly as he was a stranger to me but might not have been a stranger to these walls. My wife could have let him in on a number of occasions. This was a possibility that I did not want to believe, but was forced to at least consider. I had never expected her to betray me like that. These thoughts raced through my mind as my one-sided offensive continued. 

There was one thought that resonated throughout my body more so than the others: ‘This was my fault. It was my neglect that had led my wife to what she has done.’ She was not to blame, and neither was the man at the receiving end of my fists. The latter was only taking advantage of the former’s unfortunate situation. The thought of this magnified my anger ten-fold, but it was through this anger that I realized the man before me was now motionless. His whimpering had subsided and his body grew cold. The next sound I heard was that of a police siren going off somewhere in the distance as two men in blue jackets kicked down the door.

"Letter to the Principal" is Muhammad Abu Bakar Mian's answer to the question on directed writing in the Grand Test held in February this year (2014). It was found an excellent piece of work. Other students from O' Level stream can have exposure into 'HOW TO DO' a formal letter by concentrating on both the content and quality of the text here..

Letter to the Principal

Dear Sir,

I am filled with great pride and honor having been selected for recommending this year’s “Student of the Year” award. This is a high task as one must be a good judge of character in nominating another student for the certificate. For better or for worse, I am quite the social butterfly and am well acquainted with almost everyone in our school. It is only after many hours of consideration that I have come to choose Muhammad Ali as my nominee for this award.

Muhammad Ali deserves being the student of the year more than anyone else for countless reasons. He serves as an excellent role model for not just his classmates, but those that he surrounds himself with outside of school. I can say it with confidence that if you ask anyone about him, you will hardly hear anything negative. Ali has worked hard all his life – which is something that is really starting to pay off as he nears graduation and is about to enter college.

My nominee’s academic record is spotless; Straight As is the name of the game here. Apart from this, Ali is heavily involved in extra-curricular activities taking place in and around the school. He led the school’s Lego Robotics team to victory this year, and helped secure first place in the district-wide debate competitions. While serving as our basketball team’s captain, he has also managed to find the time needed to be part of the Student Council. His role in the Student Council has been especially important since he has helped resolve much of the bullying problems that were present earlier.

I am not nominating Ali on the basis of his academic achievements and extra-curricular participation alone. It is my firm belief that more important than any of this is his gentle and very caring nature. While he is not afraid to speak out and challenge the status quo, he has also never delayed himself in helping other individuals as much as possible. This is something I can personally vouch for as he has spent a good portion of his free time tutoring a few of my friends and I in math and physics.

I hope I have done well in portraying Muhammad Ali as the perfect candidate that he is and I pray that your make the right decision.

Yours faithfully,

Muhammad Abubakar Mian

O’ Level Final Year

PakTurk International School

Islamabad

Our present post deserves applause. Originally sparked by Anas Haider of class O’ Level, and then heavily edited by Muhammad Abu Bakar Mian, the story highlights a globally recognized problem: bullying. Keeping our scenario in view, the story is focused on school bullying, a topic on which you’ll find loads of material available on the internet. What is school bullying? In Ken Rigby’s words the answer is it has varied shapes, like: “psychological, emotional, cyber, social or physical harassment of one student by another at school or within the school community. This includes at school and within its grounds, in transit between school and home, local shopping and sporting centres, at parties or local parks and in cyberspace. The playground is the most common place for bullying to occur. Bullying involves an initial desire to hurt, this desire is expressed in action, someone is hurt, the action is directed by a more powerful person or group, it is without justification, it is typically repeated, and it is done so with evident enjoyment.” Ken Rigby (1998). See a successful use of an oxymoron in the last line: "emotional excursion".

I was shocked to find my friend Sami among the bullies of the Class

Sometimes you will find your friends doing the unimaginable. This is what happened to me when I realized Sami was a class bully. I learned that being betrayed by a friend in such a way hurts a lot more than when it’s just another person.

As far as I knew, my friend Sami was a close companion and confidant.

It was an anxious night as I sat revising for my upcoming English test. I could not have known of the horrible day that would soon follow. After a good night’s rest, I found myself in the testing room with the English paper in front of me. While solving the paper, I noticed the two students sitting behind me trying to cheat. I hid my paper from their prying eyes and did my best to pay absolutely no attention to their chatter. Unfortunately, I didn’t know that the students sitting right behind me were the bullies of the class.

These students, one of which was Sami, didn’t say anything to me as I handed my paper in. When I got home however, Sami asked me to drop by our favorite hangout spot. My mother told me to go after eating lunch, but I convinced her otherwise. Upon reaching my friend Sami, I found myself in a disheartening situation. In a fierce burst of anger, he threatened to kill me for not helping him cheat during the English exam. I asked him if there was anything I could to do make it up to him. Hearing this, he offered to forgive me if I gave him a large sum of money. Agreeing to his terms, I ran home as fast as a lion. Running into my mother’s arms, she asked me why I was gasping for air. I told her we played a lot of football and that I was exhausted. After having lunch, I went to my room and spent much of the night pondering over what I should do next. To whom should I tell my story? Suddenly, an epiphany went off in my head, and I decided to consult with my Vice Principal.

The following day, I informed my VP of the entire ordeal and the difficult situation I now found myself in. My Vice Principal suggested that I give him the money, and have the shady deal recorded on camera. That way, I would have solid proof of Sami’s blackmailing. Thankfully, everything worked out just the way we planned and Sami was expelled from the school.

If you find yourself being bullied, the best thing to do is consult someone else. It’s never a good idea to go through such an emotional excursion alone.

Anas Haider

Class O’ Levels

PakTurk International School

Chak Shahzad Campus, Islamabad

Boys of O’ Level Final, the other day, were challenged by their language teacher to produce a story within 40 minutes time, in a way that the ending must have some sort of surprise. Here is what our writing genius Muhammad Abubakar Mian ‘blurted out’. Witty and amusing stuff!!

I had practiced saying it a hundred times, but when the moment came, I just couldn't open my mouth.

“I had practiced saying it a hundred times, but when the moment came, I just couldn’t open my mouth!” Wasiullah wailed.

Upon hearing this, the entire room burst into a thunderous roar. It was hard not to laugh at Wasiullah’s misfortune. Wasiullah, the shy gentleman in our group of friends, was retelling his failed attempt at befriending the pretty girl living across the street from him.

“And what happened next?”

I questioned while trying to conceal my smile as best I could.

“Absolutely nothing.” He murmured. “She stood there looking at me expectantly with those soft pearly eyes of hers. She waited a few seconds for me to say something, but I guess she gave up as the next thing I saw was the small of her back and her golden-brown hair.”

“Soft pearly eyes? What the hell have you been smoking, man?”

“I smoke only the sweet fumes of love.”

Wasiullah replied as a smile quietly stretched across his face. His mood seemed to have been improving. It was clear, however, that Wasiullah had something special brewing in his heart for this girl, and that it was up to us to get the job done.

It was decided that I would be the one to accompany our lovestruck knight on his next expedition. Wasiullah seemed to be having an issue with introducing himself. For this reason, my task was to take care of the introductions before quickly leaving the two of them to themselves. Wasiullah informed me that the girl went for a stroll through Central Park every day at around three in the afternoon. We decided that this would be the best time for making contact with her. The next day both of us made our way to a bench near the entrance of the park and began waiting patiently. After about an hour of sitting around, Wasiullah let out a nervous squeal.

          

“There she is!” he yelped.

 Mustering as much suave as I could, I slowly made my way towards her.

 “Hi there.” I hollered.

The girl, however, walked right past me. Befuddled, I caught up with her and put my hand on her shoulder. Once she turned around, I told her my name with an inviting smile. This is when the girl pointed to her ear and I made a harrowing realization. The girl, who our dear Wasiullah had so quickly fallen in love with, was deaf.

Muhammad Abubakar Mian, O’ Level Final Year
PakTurk International School
Chak Shahzad Campus, Islamabad

A short story by our intelligent Armughan Aslam, a hard working boy in my O’ Level class. True that some areas and some of the sentences need improvement here, this still is worth reading a text. Armughan, as you will see, can successfully incorporate vocabulary words. His imaginative ability is also commendable. I’m sure he will most certainly be doing lots better in his future attempts.

“I realized that the man walking down the street had done something abnormal…”

I had never been so anxious in my whole life. My blood pressure had skyrocketed, and I was in a state of anguish and confusion. I could never have expected that the new Mercedes, which I had bought less than a week ago, would be stolen so effortlessly.

It was a sunny afternoon of November. I was driving back home after a hectic day in the office in my brand new Mercedes Benz. After years of promotions, hard work and savings, I was finally able to afford this luxury, and it made me extremely jubilant. As I rolled into my street, I noticed a tall, hairy man worriedly searching for something. In the span of a second, I realized that the man walking down the street had done something abnormal: he took hold of a garbage bag near my home and started pacing in my direction. I had to brake hard in order to save the man, who quickly came up to my door. Then, darkness!

When I regained consciousness, I found myself lying on the lopsided sidewalk, with a faint pain in my head. I remembered the man squealing “Please forgive me” before landing a blow on my head with a rod. Worse, he had gotten away with my up-to-date Mercedes, which made me angry as a charging bull. Without a second to waste, I headed to the nearest police station and registered an FIR against the culprit. During the while, I overheard policemen conversing with each other.

“Have you heard the news? A bomb cleverly hidden in a garbage bag is out there somewhere in the city.” yelped one policeman to the other. “If we don’t find it soon, it can surely wreak havoc.” Before I had time to think, a sudden newsflash illuminated the LCD mounted on the wall: A bomb had just set off a few miles away from town. Soon the news spread like wildfire, and footages from the scene where being broadcasted live. All of a sudden, I felt a jolt within, because the dilapidated automobile damaged by the explosion was actually mine!

Just then, it struck my mind: the man, who apparently had robbed me of my car, had actually tried to dispose of the bomb as far away as possible from the city. I could not help tear at the fact that he had sacrificed his life to save the lives of hundreds. I informed the policemen of my story, and they too couldn’t help but praise the bravery of that man. That day, my faith in humanity was finally restored.

Name: Armughan Aslam

Student of O’ level Class

PakTurk International School, Islamabad