Golden ink

Once upon a time, there was a kingdom in the north part of earth, named Alkabaz. The people were live in prosperous and tranquility life. That was because all people loved to search and share knowledge. Knowledge made their life better. They knew how to grow plants well, how to build buildings orderly, how to keep nature good, and how to attract tourist kindly.

One of their hobby was reading. Even The King of Alkabaz very loved to read books. He had a great library inside his palace. It was opened for public. There were geography books, history, science, biography, philosophy, law, religion, stories, etc. The King's favorite genre was poetry.

King of Alkabaz not only loved to read, but also write poems. He used to write with a quill, writing pen made by moulted wing feather of bird. The quill was filled by golden ink. The golden ink was made from a mixture of iron mineral salt, tannin, and golden dust. Only King had that ink, so that golden ink has become mark of the kingdom. Then the poems became so expensive and valuable to be sold. But The King did not intend to sell his poems.

One night, The King was dreaming. He was visited by an old man, told him to throw away the golden ink. Because the ink would bring disaster to his kingdom. The King very confused, to believe or not his dream. The dream came three times. But finally The King ignored it because he was very proud to write with golden ink. He wanted to show the other kingdoms how rich his kingdom was.

A few months later, children of The King were playing in the library when they found the golden ink. Unintentionally, they spilled the ink into the kingdom pond out of library's window. Suddenly the pond's water turned into golden color. Kingdom pond actually was connected to the water piping system of Alkabaz people. A few moments later, all of water at the kingdom was polluted by golden dust. People that drank the water suddenly died and made the situation became terrific!

When the situation was heard by The King, he was so distress. He gathered all people in front of his palace. He said sorry for the incident, he regret to became so arrogant of wealth. Soon he commanded some soldier to drain all the kingdom ponds and pipes. Then he asked all of Alkabaz people to pray to God to send them heavy rain so that their water become fresh again. And God listen to their pray.

Finally The King threw away the golden ink. Now he wrote poems with ordinary ink but he made many beautiful and wisdom poems about life that much more valuable than a poem written in gold ink.

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.