Aisha's Haunted Days

Chapter Eleven

Big Brother

The next day Aisha and Ali were talking about the ghost story when they accidedntly walked out into the lawn and spoke about the story...... right in front of their older brother, Ahmad, who was playing basketball.

"What are you two talking about?" he said, dribbling the ball.

"Nothing!" said both Aisha and Ali at the same time.

"Tell me!" Said Ahmed.

"You wouldn't belive us if we told you." Said Ali.

"Yes I wou-"

"Do you find this poem familiar?" said Aisha cutting Ahmad off angrily and reciting the poem that was in the ghost book.

"Yeah I do." said Ahmed suspiciously.

Aisha gasped.

"When?" she asked. "When did you hear it?"

"5 years ago."

Aisha looked at Ali, Ali looked at Ahmed, Ahmed looked at Aisha.

They were all looking at each other.

*

"So you were walking down the street when a woman ame and asked you where the nearest mosque was, you gave her the direction, and then she went all funny and recited the poem?" Ali Asked Ahmed.

"Yeah."

Aisha gulped.

"That was in the story."

"What story?" Asked Ahmed.

"Maryam brought a story at the sleep over, it had an incident like that."

Ahmed's eyes opened wide.

"Really?" He asked.

"Yeah." Said Ali.

Aisha's Haunted Days

Chapter Ten

Oh, Just Belive us!

"Any explinations?" I blutred out, trying to swallow the lump that had formed in my throat.

"No." Said Omar.

"Exactly when did this happen?" I Asked.

"Three years ago, when you were six."

"Didn't you tell mom and dad?!"

"No. They wouldnt belive me."

"Lets give it a shot."

So Laiba and Omar went to their parent's and told them about the incident's.

"Okay, so, this is just a story your making up, right?" Asked their mom.

"No! We're serious!" Said Omar.

"There's no such thing as ghost's." Said their mom.

"Fine!" Said me and Omar together and left."

"Okay, so we should seriously stop reading this book cuz its already 05:30 AM now" Said Maryam.

"Yeah, but  it's such an exiting story." Said Ali. "And whats the point of sleeping now? It's already time for Fajr and school."

"We are on holidays but it is already time for Fajr."

So everybody prayed Fajr and returned to their homes.

Aisha's Haunted Days

Chapter Nine

The Poem

"Okayyyyyyy so that's chapter one." Said Maryam, snapping the book shut.

"AAAAAARRGGGGHHHH! Can't you read more??????" groaned/ asked Ali

"It's supposed to be a sleepover, not a readover." snapped Aisha, pointing at the clock (yes, there was a clock in the tree house).

02.00 A.M

"What-how-but..... I'm not sleepy!" Said Ali.

"Come to think of it none of us are." said Aliya.

"OK, fine."

"Two Month's after the worst month of my life I forgot completly about the ghost incident, I went out to ride my bike daily, went to go for errend's                              too.

Then one day I experienced another incident, This one wasn't Terrifying, but, here comes the big "but" it was confusing.

I was walking down the street, when a woman came.

"umm..excuse me, could you tell me where the nearest mosque is?" she asked.

I gave her the directions then something wierd happened.

the womans eye color changed from brown to cobalt blue then to ice blue then to teal blue then to purple blue then to navy blue and then to black.

Then she started to look older and older. Then she recited a poem.

"Those who speak to the twins of Blue

Know beyond what witches do

These are the people who try to defeat

But do not succeed

Daughters of the son

Waste no time, hurry for your time is running out

One is a mother

One is a friend

One has escaped

One needs to mend

Be brave young ones

And you will find

The greatest power

Not the sword

Not the mind

It comes from inside

So look within

You will fight

You need to win"

Then the woman coughed and returned to normal while I just stood there. Thoughts scurried through my mind, what did she mean by the twins of blue? What was this poem about? Try to defeat who? Was this a joke?

"Oh! So sorry! I must have dozed of."

"What did you mean by that poem?" I asked

"What poem?" Asked the woman. "I didn't recite any poem! Oh dear, you must have dozed of too!"

Then the woman walked away.

I still couldent forget about the poem, I ran home as fast as I could and wrote the poem down on a note-book.

Then I went to my older brother, Omar's room.

"Omar! Omaaaaar!" I yelled.

"Yeah?" Responded Omar.

I entered his room

"I was just out walking......" Then I told my older brother about the incident, Omar also listened in awe.

"and then the woman came back to her senses before I could ask her what she mea- hey what's the Matter?"

Omar kept looking more nervous and nervous by the moment.

He hesitantly got up from his chair and went to a drawer, opened it and pulled out a paper, yellowed with age.

Then he gave it to me.

I read it, then looked at Omar, horror-struck.

Omar also looked extremely scared.

The poem I had heard was writen down on the note-pad!

Aisha's Haunted Days

Chapter Eight

The First Chapter

My name is Laiba, I am 25 years old.

I have had some scary incedents in my life since I was 9.

Once I was striding down the road, minding my own business, and I heard a gurgling sound.

"Who is it?" I asked out loud hoping to get an answer.

"Guuuuurrrrrrrr.......guuuuuuurrrr." Came the sound again.

This time I got a little scared.

"W-who is it?" I repeated.

"Riiiiiighhhhht behind youuuuuu." 

I spun around and saw it- a ghost, with skin as pale as a powdered donut and a bloody face.

"AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!" I screamed.

I maneged to get away from there before......well I really didn't know what the ghost wanted......but after it I would probably have been doomed to misery or something.

when I came home I couldn't stop thinking about it, I refused to go out unless it was SUPER IMPORTANT, I suffered bad dreams and sleep paralysis for a month.

It was the worst month in my life.

*

Aisha's Haunted Days

Chapter Seven

Sleepover

The next day Maryam bought the phot and Aisha was able to recignize it as the ghost. "Yup this is the one." She said.

"Mmm....."Said Maryam thoughtfully "You know.... I once read a story where ghosts like that haunted people." She remarked.

Aisha froze all over.

"Did the story say anything else? like how to get rid of the ghosts?" Asked Aisha.

"Yes, it did, theres a private company called Rose Beech Acadmey....but that parts gotta be a lie....right?"

"Who says? the ghost part was true! Why shouldn't this one be?" Said Ali

"Yeah....your right."

"Can you bring the book to the sleepover?" Asked Aisha.

"Yeah, sure I can."

"Great." grinned Aisha.

*

"I-I see that you brought the book, I didn't realize it would be so fat."

"Should I read it out?" Asked Maryam.

"Yes!" said everybody at once.

"Oka.... Hey what's this?" she asked pulling out a doll with one eye.

"Hey, isn't that the doll we found in the store room?" Asked Ali.

"It-it is." answerd Aisha.

"Huh, well just put it over there." Said Ali guesturing with his hand to a corner.

"Ok." answered Maryam.

"So, you reading the book?" asked Aisha.

"Oh, yeah."

Aisha's Haunted Days

Chapter 7

Turns Out To Be Real

The next day Aisha and Ali told their friends about the scary incedent's that had happened the day before.

"I went to your house Maryam...." Aisha told the whole story about how she had met the "woman".

"What did this woman look like?" Asked Maryam.

Aisha gave Maryam a perfect description of the ghost.

"I wont say any thing becaus all of you are going to start shouting at me.........even Zain and Ali."

"Why would we do that?" asked Ali.

"Because....... I remember someone looking like that in out family but she's dead."

"SHE IS! AND YOU DO?" Aisha, Ali, Maryam's Brother Zain, Anousha screamed in unison.

"Just as I expected.... her name is Anila, and she died about four years ago, when I was seven, I have a photo of her somewhere in my house, should I bring it to school tomorrow?"

"Yes please." Mumbled Aisha.

Aisha's Haunted Days

Chapter 6

Ghost Again

The next day after their school, the went to decorate the tree house to look SUPER spooky.

When they do to the tree house.....

"AAAAAishaaaaaa,AAAAAAAllliiiii." came a voice.

"Wh-wh-wh-who is it." stuttered Aisha.

"It's me, Izma."

"N-n-no it's not." Said Ali.

"That's where your wrong."

"Let's come bake tomorrow, probably Aiza (Aiza war their little sister) trying to scare us." Said Aisha in an annoyed voice.

"Yeah, I think your right."

Aisha's Haunted Days

Chapter 5

Shocking.....Thingy

"Izma," she read. The doll opened his eyes. it had only one eye.

"ugh, where on earth did this come from." said Ali.

"It might belong to mom or dad, or maybe even grandma." replied Aisha. "Want to use it for the decorations?"

 

"Sure! Who woulden't?"

They found some other decorations and came out.

"Lets check if dad knows who this belongs to!" Said Ali.

"Okay."

"Daaaaaaaaaaaaaadddd!!!!!" Said both Aisha and Ali at the same time.

"What?" said their dad.

"Dad we found this doll in the store room, we want to know who it belongs to!" said Aisha.

"And its really old and spooky! If we could we would love to use it for decorating the tree house!" Joined in Ali.

"Okay, take me to it." said their dad

They literally dragged their dad to the living room where they had put the decorations.......but the doll wasn't there any more! 

"Well?" said their dad.

"Uh, Blackie (Blackie was Aisha and Ali's cat) must have ran off with it, it'll turn up." said Ali

their dad shrugged his shoulders and went into the kitchen.

Aisha's Haunted Days

Chapter Four

The Doll

"Ooooohhh, yes! lets go into the store room and get some decorations for the tree house!"

*

Aisha tried to turn on the light of the light of the store room, but it was not working.

"Oh no! the lights not working!" Said Aisha gloomily.

"Don't worry, I Brought a flashlight." Said Ali

"Oh good!"

Ali turnd on the flashlight and scanned the room with it.

"Wait wait wait!" said Aisha suddenly. she took the flash light from, Ali and pointed it to a............ doll.

Aisha and Ali both went to the doll, Aisha picked it up, and turned it over.

"Izma," she read. The doll opened his eyes. it had only one eye.

 

Aisha's Haunted Days

Chapter Three

Aisha's Twin

"Wow!" Aisha exclaimed. "How did you escape?"

"Who told you I did?" said the woman.

Aisha gasped.

The woman turned her face away, muttered something under her breath, then turned her face back to Aisha's. But instead of the kind face Aisha had seen earlier, it was mean and cruel looking, and if that wasn't enough to terrify Aisha, there was lots and lots of blood on her face, like she had just been attacked!

"AAAAAUUUUUUUGGGHHH!!!!!!!!" screamed Aisha.

She ran away to the door and got out just in time to slam the door shut in the woman's face.

Aisha ran all the way home, too. She tried to stay calm but her heart was thumping madly.

"Whassamatter?" asked Aisha's twin brother, Ali.

"Ooooohhhh, You wouldn't believe me if I told you."

"Yes I would, yes I would!"

"Fine...... I just saw a ghost."

"Really?"

"Yes"

"Take me to it."

"it's in Maryam's house, and I'm not going back there. Not for all the chocolate in the world."

"But I want to see it!"

"Still a no."

"I'll give you all my chocolate!"

"I already told you, I'm not going back there, not for all the chocolate in the world."

"Then I'll give you all my toffee and chocolate,too!

"Not for all the toffee and chocolate in the world, too."

"Fine! by the way, you remember the sleepover we wanted to have ?"

End of Chapter Three

Aisha's Haunted Days

Chapter Two

The Story

 "I was a little girl, about your age. I lived in a small, beutiful town called Lake-Wood. In that town, there was a great qari with a beautiful voice. One day the qari suffered a terrible, terrible horrible accident, and the accident did some serious damage to his throat. It eventually healed but the qari could no longer recite the Quran."

" People barely ever saw him after that, he stayed in his house, reading mysterious books about monsters. In one of his books, he learnt how to make the monster I was telling you about. He made it and brought it to life! But the monster turned against him! He couldn't control the creature! No one could."

"The monster eventually broke his way out of the qari's house and came into the streets. There was screaming every where, a noise I could never have forgotten. The monster came after me too, but i tripped. I managed to take a photo of the monster, that's the one your holding right now, by the way.

Aisha's Haunted Days

Chapter One

The All TooMystirious Woman

One sunny lovely perfect day, Aisha went to visit her best friend Maryam, they had been Best Friends Forever since they were 5 years old, now they were almost 12. When she got to Maryam's super, un-discribeably big Mansion, a woman she did not know opened the front  door. "Yes?" she asked. "Umm....Assalamoalaikum, I came to visit Maryam," Aisha told her with a hint of  extreme confusion in her voice as she had never no never ever seen the old woman in Maryam's house, neither had Maryam ever, ever,ever, no never mentioned her, and by now, Aisha had thought she knew all about Maryam's family!

"Oh! Yes, yes, come in. Maryam is not at home right now, but she will be in some time, I expect, she's always leaving like this, without telling, and when you need her, pops in the house"

Now Aisha was even more confused, Maryam had told her that she would be home when Aisha came, but she wasn't! Maryam would have telephoned her if she needed to go somewhere and told her not to come, given her another time to come, but she hadn't, Aisha smelt a rat, not a dog, not a cat, But. A. Rat. Nevertheless Aisha came in the house, sat down on the gigantic magenta sofa, where a photo on the gigantic table caught her eye. Aisha picked up the photo.

The woman sat down beside her, and despite being an absolute stranger to Aisha, she had an extremely kind face.

"What is this?" Aisha asked, holding up the photo. 

"That, is a monster molded from clay made out of dirt and brought to life," the woman told Aisha.

Hearing this, Aisha could not hold back her low pitched giggle. Normally nobody ever heard Aisha's giggles, but the woman heard it.

"You don't believe me, do you? I took that picture myself, with my own bare hands. I'll tell you the story." The woman said

saved by a promise

"Ring, ring, ring!" rang the hometime bell at Rockingdale School. "Okay class, wind up your books, it's hometime," announced Miss Asma. There was a clatter of books as students of grade 9 prepared to leave. I was exiting the main hall when someone called from behind, "Ahmed, Wait up!" It was Ali, my best friend. He came up to me and proposed "let's meet up at 4 pm in Central Park. We'll play some football and have fun." "Okay, I'll be there" I promised. "See you later then. Bye!" Ali waved.

It was nearly 1:45 pm when I reached home. The temperature was very humid and the heat was scorching. I hit the shower and changed my clothes. "Ahmed! Come quickly and eat dinner, it's getting cold" my Mother called from the dining room. Everyone including my uncle, a retired army soldier who was visiting us from Lahore, was waiting for me to start dinner.

"I am taking a nap right now, but I have to wake up at 3:30 because I promised to meet Ali at Central Park at four," I said with my mouth full. "Don't talk while eating, It's bad manners" my father glared at me. "Ok, I'll wake you up as I have to go shopping. I'll drop you then continue on my way" Uncle said. "That's fine by me," I replied.

"Ahmed, wake up! It's 3:30 pm," it was Uncle. "Let me sleep, I don't want to go, I am tired" I mumbled drowsily. "No, you made a promise and now you have to keep it," Uncle said sternly. I realized that he was right and woke up rubbing my eyes and yawning. I dressed quickly and washed my face. "Let's go, Uncle, I'm ready," I said. "Okay, let me load my revolver," he said. "Why do you need a revolver Uncle? There is no danger for miles around" I asked.  "You can never be too careful" he replied. 

"Okay, so this is the park. Where is Ali?" Uncle asked. "Inside probably" I replied. "Fine, I'll drop you inside with Ali, then leave," Uncle said. We went inside the park, scanning for Ali. There was no sign of him or anyone else for that matter. We sat on a nearby bench and waited. After a couple of minutes, there was still no clue of Ali. I drummed my foot on the ground impatiently. "Why was he so late?" I asked myself. 

We heard a car starting up in the distance. Suddenly there was a muffled scream. Uncle leaped to his feet and started running in the direction of the scream. I followed him. We saw Ali struggling in the hands of a man who was entirely dressed in black. There was another man on the driving seat with the same attire. My Uncle headed towards them, whipping out his revolver simultaneously. 

"Freeze, or I shoot" my uncle shouted in a commanding tone. The man ignored uncle and threw Ali in the back of the car. He jumped in the seat next to the driver. The car started to move away, my uncle aimed at the vehicle and squeezed off a couple of shots. There were two loud bangs as the tires burst and the car skidded to a halt. The men leaped out and started fleeing in the opposite direction. During all of this, I had stood on one spot helplessly, watching the events unfold before my very eyes. 
Uncle sprinted to the car and pulled Ali out. He was still conscious and looked terrified. Uncle reassured him that he was safe and the kidnappers had fled. He helped Ali over to where I stood. 

There was no sign of the kidnappers so we assumed that they had gone for good. "Thank goodness you kept your revolver Uncle or there is...." my words were cut short as a shot rang out. 

Ali screamed and lurched to the ground, spraying blood on the pavement. Uncle whipped around, drawing his revolver. There was one of the kidnappers standing on the other side of the park, a gun in his hand. Uncle popped off a couple of more shots and struck the man in his thigh and shoulder. He stumbled to the ground heavily, muttering obscenities. Ali groaned in pain, his trousers now soaked red.  

"Call the Police and Ambulance, Ahmed" Uncle said handing me his phone. He dropped to Ali and examined the wound. "Thank god, it is only a flesh injury, painful but not fatal," he said with relief. He applied pressure on the wound and stopped the flow of the blood. Ambulances arrived in 2  minutes, followed by the Police. 
Ali was taken to the hospital, his family was also notified. The Police hurried over to the kidnapper to take him in custody. He had been unconscious but was coming around. My Uncle and I narrated the proceedings to the Inspector in charge who noted them down. We were thanked for our bravery, while in reality, only my uncle deserved it, as I had done nothing. Ali was discharged the same day with only a scar on his thigh to relate the events.

Then it struck me that if I had not kept my promise, Ali would have been kidnapped, his parents paying a huge ransom to release him. From that day on, I never broke a promise however small or unimportant it seemed. 

determination and faith

"Hussain! Wake up! You are late for school again!" his mother yelled from the kitchen. Hussain jumped up with a start and looked at the clock. There were 9 minutes before the bus arrived. He got ready in ten minutes, rushed outside and saw the bus going away in the distance. "Oh no! I have to run to school again for the umpteenth time," he thought.

He sprinted to the school at a rapid pace and reached just before the main gates closed. "Thank goodness I ran fast, or I would have got a tardy again," he said to himself.

At break time, he opened his bag to take out his lunch box, but what is this? "Oh no! I forgot lunch at home again!" he groaned. He was feeling ravenous but what could he do? "Hussain? Forgot lunch again?" his friend Javed, chanted. "Yes," he replied. "Well, Abdullah of grade 10 has brought extra lunch. Why don't you ask him?" Javed suggested.

Hussain approached Abdullah, "Can you please give me some of your extra lunch? I left mine at home" he said. "Only if you beat me in a race" Abdullah smirked. "But you are bigger than me and quite fast" Hussain exclaimed. "It's up to you" Abdullah shrugged. "Ok, I'll race" Hussain decided.

"3, 2, 1, GO!" The race kicked off. Ahmed was leading by quite a distance, Hussain was losing! "If I lose I will have to study with an empty stomach," he thought. He urged himself forward and put a burst of speed. He overtook Abdullah like a lightning bolt. "Yes, yes! I won!" Hussain yelled triumphantly. "Only because I got cramps," Abdullah said. Nonetheless, he handed Hussain half of his lunch. Hussain quickly gobbled it down and then returned to his class.

11 years later, Hussain was in college. He was studying hard and finally graduated. Despite studying, his real ambition was to become a sprinter. People laughed at him and said that he would never win a street race let alone become a professional sprinter. But Hussain held firm.

He went home after the graduation ceremony and announced to his mother that he was going to drop all studies and become a sprinter. His mother supported him and gave him all the confidence in himself she could muster.

Hussain started training day and night; his faith in his abilities unwavering; his mother's support unshakable. Finally, after 6 long months of grueling training and consistent hard work, he applied for the National Championships. To his astonishment and delight, he was accepted immediately. His mother was overjoyed and happy for her son as his dreams were coming true. Hussain, on the other hand, was having negative thoughts: "was he good enough? Would he win or would he be humiliated in front of the whole nation?" His mother comforted him and supported him with all her might.

Finally, the day of the Championships arrived. The race was about to begin. "3, 2, 1, BANG!" The race started, Hussain was trailing in the back. "If I don't do this I will disgrace myself and my mother will be ashamed of me," he thought. "Come on! You can do this!" he assured himself. He dug his heels into the track and propelled himself forward like a jet. He came first! Hussain couldn't believe his eyes as he saw himself on the leaderboard. His dream had come true! He had proved everyone who had doubted him wrong! But there was still one more step left. The most toughest and competitive platform in the world, the Olympics.

After training tirelessly for 4 months, pushing himself beyond his limits, he was ready for the Olympics. He applied for the 100-meter sprint and was accepted! He was overjoyed and happy. But there still remained a lingering doubt of failure.

It was the day of the Olympics. Hussain warmed up. He could see his mother from the sidelines giving him an encouraging thumbs-up. "What if I lose or even worse, what if I stumble and fall?" he thought. "I have to get in the top 3 as I may never get this chance again," he said to himself. He visioned his name on the bottom of the scoreboard. He shook himself. "Come on! You have been preparing for this day for months, you can not lose hope again. Your mother and even other people are depending on you.

"On your marks! Get set! Bang!" the race got underway. True to his word he flew like a rocket from start to finish and came first! Not only had he won, but he had also set a new 100-meter sprint world record. He ran to his mother and hugged her. "I won only because of your support and faith in me mother" he whispered in her ear. 

Hussain learned a lesson that day that determination and hard work can achieve anything in the world. And it all started with being late for school again!