From Balloon To The Moon

Tonight, the sky is so dark

Cold wind came into my room

through the small hole of the window

I rolled my blanket gently

Stepped one by one

toward the backyard

Tonight my dream will come true

The air balloon I hid behind the bushes, still remain there

Quickly I moved into the basket

Then I opened the propane valve, so the fire could flame up into the envelope

without jacket or sweater, I am ready for one night flight

Gradually the air balloon rises up higher and higher

I'm leaving my home while my parents being asleep

In the morning they will find that letter,

"Mom, Dad, let me go adventuring a little while. love you. Ali."

The wind blowing me away from my town

to the mountains of countryside

Now I can see millions of stars

they are glowing very clear

without city light bulbs disruption

Because there is only a moonlight here

that shining perfectly

This is my dream

From Balloon, I will fly away, To The Moon

Hmm, What a beautiful night...

Thank You My Lord for the perfect creations of Yours :)

Environment Little Heroes

This all began from my grandma. She is an active woman, especially in environmental issues. My grandma is really care about green land, fresh air, clean water, and garbage. She loves to share anything about these things to anybody. She wants everybody take care of this earth. Moreover to her grandchildren. Me and my cousins love to listen grandma's explanation. She called us the "environment little heroes". doesn't it sound cool? :)

Grandma has a big yard to be planted by many trees and flowers. Every time her grandchildren come, she asked us to gardening together. We planted any seed or just gave fertilizer. She said, heroes will plant even they know tomorrow is the end of the day.

Me and my cousins love to ride bicycle to go to school. We remember grandma's story about air pollution by car or motorcycle will affect the depletion of ozone layer. Beside that, riding bike make us healthier and saving cost. Bicycle is the vehicle of environment little heroes. Yeah..

Fishing is one of our hobbies. Once a week we go fishing at the river near grandma's house. That river is very clean. None of people who lives at the riverbank littering garbage or waste into river. Grandma and her friends used to fostering community at that riverbanks to take care the river ecosystem. So that nowadays, many people can feel the advantages of clean river.

Environment little heroes consist of 5 children. Me as ranger white. My elder cousin as ranger green. My younger cousin as ranger blue. My nephew as ranger orange and the rest my younger brother as ranger black. Those colors are the symbol of environmental elements. Black for space, orange for animal, blue for water, green for plants, and white for the air. Wherever whenever, we are ready to save the earth! Go go! ^___^

Do Not

Short story behind the story: It was so difficult to find the next story titled by letter "D". Some ideas came up but I didn't make it for several times. Alhamdulillah finally, here is the next children story.. Don't forget to read Basmallah and enjoy reading! :)

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I thought, My Mom was not cool at all! Since my age about 7 years old, she gave me many rules. All of the rules start by this magic words: "Do not".

My neighbor was building their house one day. Me and my friends asked some piles of sand that unused in construction. Then, we mix the sand with soil and water. We built a replica of house, monument, pyramid, and many more. We loved to play sand. Until My Mom came and said, "Do not play sand! It is dirty. It is the place for many bacteria grow. Hurry wash your hand, Dani."

Night maybe was the hardest time for My Mom persuade me to go to the bathroom. Oh come on, I was so sleepy due to many activities all day long. I was so lazy. I always argue that my teeth is clean, no need to brush my teeth. I would pretending be asleep and hugged my pillow tightly. But My Mom never gave up to remind me, "Do not sleep before brush your teeth! Bacteria will make holes and you have to see a dentist. Toothache is badly sick, you already felt it, right?". Well, I became remember how painful it was, last year. So I did what My Mom said.

Doraemon is my favorite film. So interested, I used to watch it from a distance that very close to the televison. Unless Mom passed the living room, saw me and said, "Do not watch TV very close! It can damage your eyes. Move three steps backward.".

In the afternoon, I used to play outside with my friends. Sometimes we liked to buy snack or "jajan". But I always remember what My Mom said, "Do not buy food carelessly! Avoid if the place not clean, the color is flashy, or the sauce is smelly. Those means the food is not healthy to be eaten"

The most powerful sentence of "Do not" is: "Do not skip school!" or "Do not skip learn qur'an in mosque!". Mom said many children want to school but they can't because of no money. Also many people searching for truth in life but they can't find it because they can't read qur'an. So I have to thanks to Allah for opportunity to school and learn qur'an by never skip it even one day. So that I never skip it.

That's all what made me think that Mom is not cool at all. She is so annoying when say "Do not". But later I know, she did it because she loves me. It's all for my sake, for my health, for my goodness.

Now, I just want to say, "Do not stop to remind me, Mom.." =)
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notes: in parenting technique, we are suggested to minimize the use of "Do not", unless the child above 7 years old :)

Crying Plate

I am a plate. My color is white. I was made by plastic. Several months ago, a woman got me dumped in the dumpster in a market. She separated me from other trashes and thought that I still could be used. Immediately I was washed and placed in a dish rack as soon as she arrived at home. Her kitchen was quite cramped and smoke smelled.

One day, she was cooking rice with firewood stove, when her child picked me from the dish rack.

"Mom, I want to use this new plate for lunch", said the child.

"Alright, help me to prepare the dishes in the living room", said the woman.

"Yes, Mom." the child immediately picked three plates including me, and two glasses.

Some minutes later, the woman came to the living room with a bowl of rice and a fried fish.

"Hani, Could you please call your father?"

"Yes, Mom.", the little girl went outside and walked toward the beach. It was only about 20 meters to find her father was sitting with other men. They were taking a rest after pulled some boats to the beach.

"Dad, the lunch is ready", said the little girl. Then they went back home together.

Mother divided the rice into three plates. The girl poured water into two glasses. One glass for father, one for her and her mother. No spoon or fork because they like to eat with hands. The only side dish for them is a fish. Father divided the fish into three slices. The tail part for mother, head part for father, and the belly meat for the daughter. I felt so pity on them.

I remembered the family who ever had me before this. That time I was placed in luxurious kitchen. They used to eat red rice with delicious and various meats and vegetables. They had some juice to drink and cakes as dessert. Their daughter loved to use me to placed her strawberry shortcake. What a wealthy family. That time I was very happy to be there until they dumped me just because I get etched accidentally by a knife.

Saw how the poor family where I live with now, I felt so sad. I was crying so the fish that eaten by the little girl became more salty by my tears.

"Mom, I think this plate is crying and make my fish more salty", said the little girl.

"It's funny, plate can not crying, Hani. Would you like to add ketchup?" said the mother.

"No, it's OK. Even this plate is crying, I still can enjoy it.", she was smiling and keep eating.

I stopped crying and smile. My heart was touched by their modesty life. I am not the crying plate anymore. Thank You, little Hani.

Bird's Eye View

One day, I saw a bird on a sidewalk. The bird was greenish yellow. I stepped closer slowly and tried to catch it. Suddenly the bird spoke to me! "Hello little boy, do you want to fly with me?"

"what, you just talked to me? yes, I want to fly! but how?" I was really surprised.
"hold this rope, I will lift you up", said the bird.
I held the rope, then amazingly I found my feet off the ground and I could touch the air!

"Where are we going? and what's your name, little bird? My name is Firdaus", I held the rope very tightly, I thought we were flying at 15 meters high.
"Well, you can call me Cikrak. We will see mountain, forest, river, and houses from a bird's eye view. Do you like it?", the bird flew higher. "Of course, it will be fun! Let's go...", I screamed aloud.

"Hey, look that. It's like a cone that has a hole in the middle. What is that?", I asked Cikrak.
"That's Merapi Mount and the hole is called crater. Me and my family live in the forest around this mount.", he said. "Great, is that the forest that you mean? It is like a green carpet from this view. But some trees grew taller than the surrounding. It is an uneven carpet. haha".

We kept flying until suddenly we got dazzled by a light. "What was that?", I asked.
"Oh, It was sun light that reflected by the river." We followed the stream.
"Wow, subhanallah, the river looks like a long snake because it meandering. I want to touch the water. Cikrak, can we get closer, please?" I stretched my hand down.
"Yes of course", we flew lower so I could touch the flowing water.
A minute playing water then we moved on, "Let's continue our flight..."

"We are above the village, now. What do you see, Firdaus?", Cikrak asked me.
"Hmm, I see the wide rice-field area. The color is like you, greenish yellow, haha. And look at the houses! They are squares that spread irregularly. The colors are red, black, orange, and even blue."
"Which one is your house?"
"That one, the red square. Wait, I can see how close my home to Ali's, tough usually I get there by a bicycle. I thought it was far.. I wonder why?"
"Yes, because from this height you will see things get smaller, it's called perspective effect. So the long distances will looked so close.", Cikrak gave the explanation.

"Thank you, Cikrak. You gave me knowledges and this unforgettable experience. Now I know how the bird see the world from up here. Praise to Allah for this beautiful earth. Nice to fly with you...", I thanked Cikrak and we went back to touched the ground.
"Anytime. Take care of our nature, so that we can always see how wonderful it is. Good bye, Firdaus.."
"Good bye, Cikrak...".

"Firdaus... come on wake up, sweetheart. It is five o'clock.", suddenly I heard my mother's voice.

Ups I was dreaming, actually...
what a dream :)

Apple Baby

Saturday morning, my mother got a phone call from Uncle Ahmad. He said that her wife has just gave birth their first baby. My mother was so happy to hear that. She said she will visit them as soon as possible.

Yesterday, my mother asked me to go with her to the hospital. We were going to visit the new little baby of Uncle Ahmad and Aunt Gina. We went to the baby shop for a while, to bought a gift. I chose the gift. It was a sweater which shape looked like an apple. I chose it, just because I like apple. "Good choice. it is very unique, sweetheart", mother said to me.

When we arrived at the hospital, Aunt Gina was holding the baby. She was so glad for our visit. I went directly to her and tried to see the baby. My mother lifted me up so I could see the baby clearly. "What do you think about the baby, Rahma?" my mother said to me. I touched the baby's face and said, "it is so cute, mom. is it a girl?". "Yes, she is a girl, you are smart Rahma", my aunt said.

"Oh Rahma, give the gift to the baby, please", said my mother. "Oh yes, this is the gift for the baby, auntie.."
Aunt Gina and Uncle Ahmad said thanks. "Can we open it now?", Aunt Gina asked me. "Sure, I also want to see if it is suitable for the baby", I answered. "What a sweet sweater. The shape like an apple, isn't it?" Aunt Gina directly dressed the baby with the sweater. "Look, she is like an apple baby", I said.
Hahaha, everybody in the room were laughing and happy.