23 minute read
The Unfortunate Optimistic Tentacle
By Hazza Mohamed Rashed Al Ameri
In a world full of hope and surprises, I have my own incredible story to share. But first let me welcome you to Abu Dhabi, the city I’m from. Ahlan wa sahlan! That’s how we say ‘welcome’ in Arabic. Abu Dhabi is in the United Arab Emirates, located in the Middle East next to the Arabian Gulf. Have you been to the UAE? Most people think the UAE is just a dry sandy desert with golden dunes and camels, but we have so much more to see. There are turquoise blue beaches that are filled with magnificent ocean life like dolphins,
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dugongs, sharks and flourishing coral reefs. With all the variety of aquatic life, I was able to grow a great love for the oceans and it was here that my wondrous occurrence happened.
My story begins with a trip to the beach. This is my favourite thing to do as we go every weekend. I usually can’t contain myself as I get so excited each and every time. On this particular day, for some odd reason, I woke up earlier than usual. Everyone in the house was still drifting away in their dreams so I took it upon myself to wake them all up.
‘WAKEY, WAKEY, IT’S BEACH DAY!’ I yelled to
wake my family up.
‘BE QUIET!’ my sister yelled back.
In a lickety-split I collected my beach gear which includes binoculars, a strainer, a pail and a shovel. Then we were off to the beach! It’s a serene drive as the highway crosses over the ocean, mangroves on one side and open beach on the other. We always go to Saadiyat Island Beach. It’s the best beach in Abu Dhabi, with white sands and waters so blue.
As soon as my baba – that’s ‘dad’ in Arabic –
parked the car I couldn’t hide my excitement any longer. I shoved my sister out of the way so I could get out of the car. The smell of the salty air immediately travelled to my nose and the cool breeze swiftly blew my hair. The sun’s orange glare just peeking up over the waves is one of the most beautiful sights ever.
I instantly collected my backpack from the trunk and dashed to the shore. I removed my flip flops; my toes were so happy to be in the cool soft sand. As I stood there wiggling my toes in the sand, I looked towards the blue ocean, took in a deep breath and thought about my grandfather’s stories of lulu (pearl) diving.
My family unpacked and set up some blankets on the sand for us to have our breakfast. After a hearty meal, I was ready for my beach adventures!
I took my binoculars out of my bag and looked at a flock of eager seagulls flying over the beach as they were diving for fish, eating their breakfast too. I started to walk across the sand to hunt for nurdles, which are little plastic bead-sized pellets. They are the beginning step for making anything
plastic. I learned about nurdles when I volunteered for my first beach clean-up. Since that day on I can’t unsee nurdles in the sand. I used my strainer to sift the sand and separate the nurdles. After finding a few, I put them in my pail.
As I walked a bit more, not too far from my family, I heard the commotion of squawking seagulls so I eagerly took my binoculars out to see what was happening. I looked through the binoculars and saw seagulls circling around something that didn’t seem quite normal to me. I anxiously tried adjusting the focus over and over because I couldn’t believe what I was actually seeing! I got in the water, knee-deep to get a closer look.
From what I thought I had seen, it seemed to be a red-coloured tentacle sticking out the water, waving at me! I looked through the binoculars again and it was gone. I looked again and I saw the tentacle a bit closer. It would disappear for a few seconds then reappear closer. Lo and behold! It was a red giant pacific octopus right at my feet! It startled me immensely and got my heart beating out of my chest.
I was about to run out the water but one of its sticky and slimy tentacles wrapped around my leg and a voice yelled out ‘PLEASE DON’T LEAVE, I NEED YOUR HELP!’ Even though I was confused and speechless, I wasn’t scared. The octopus had signalled to something else that was further out in the water. What I saw next was something beyond belief! A whale shark peeked his head up and the octopus gave him an encouraging gesture.
I, still in shock, wasn’t sure what to do, say or think! The octopus hurriedly took it upon himself to introduce who they were.
‘My name is Kenny and my best friend, the whale shark, is Ray-Ray. He hasn’t been feeling well and hasn’t been eating. He’s getting worse by the second and immediately needs help!’
I felt a sense of grave concern, so I quickly introduced myself to Kenny the octopus. ‘My name is Hazza and I’m ready to help in any way I can!’ I frantically told Kenny I had to go get my parents as I couldn’t help him on my own. I ran as fast as my legs could take me, becoming completely out of breath. As luck would have it, my father is a
marine biologist and could immediately call the right people for additional emergency help since we had no time to lose.
My baba and I swam as fast we could to Ray-Ray to comfort him. Being next to a HUMUNGOUS whale shark in person made me feel as small as an ant.
Kenny told me with such worry ‘Ray- Ray has been my best friend since we were born and we travel the vast oceans together.’ Kenny then
went on to share heartfelt stories of their worldly adventures. As we waited in the waters the blazing sun got higher in the sky and bronzed our skin. A ship with help had finally arrived. Marine medics strapped Ray-Ray onto a whale-lifting machine and hoisted him on board. The aquatic veterinarian quickly gave Ray-Ray medication to ease his pain and immediately performed surgery on his belly.
The veterinarian had discovered the problem once he looked at the contents of Ray-Ray’s stomach. Ray-Ray had ingested an alarming number of plastic fragments and microplastics. I was extremely devastated by what I had seen
and was saddened by what Ray-Ray was going through. Since whale sharks are filter feeders and swallow a substantial amount of water daily, they risk consuming microplastics too.
Once the vet had removed most of the plastic pieces in Ray-Ray’s stomach, the surgery was over. They released Ray-Ray back into the water with a tracking device. As soon as he hit the water he splashed around the ship to signal how thankful he was to them for saving his life.
Days after this emergency, I still couldn’t imagine how Ray-Ray and other marine animals suffer quietly. I always knew plastics were a threat to the ocean ecosystem, but I didn’t fully realize it until I witnessed it first-hand. As a result, my parents and I ran campaigns on the dangers of plastics in our oceans. We also organised beach clean-ups that brought the community together for a very important cause.
On one of our family beach days I, again, set out on my beach adventure. I took my binoculars out and looked out onto the glistening turquoise waters. To my surprise, I saw Ray-Ray’s dark grey tail fin waving at me! Kenny surprised me again
by wrapping his slimy tentacle around my leg and climbed his way up to my neck.
(that’s ‘hi’ in Arabic).
He then wrapped all eight tentacles around me, ‘It’s an octopus hug from me and Ray-Ray!’ He mentioned that the two of them are happy and thankful for the kind help that saved his best friend.
With the information on the tracking device, my parents can always check up on Ray-Ray to ensure his health. He has been happy and
healthy so far, however, this dreadful situation can happen to any marine animal at any time. My family have stopped using single-use plastic in all parts of our life and will continue to do so. We have also created a group in our community that has get-togethers and informs people of the dangers of plastics in the oceans.
The less plastic we use, the more we are able to save our beautiful oceans and marine life. Through communities working together around the world, we can all save the earth from plastics that are damaging to the beautiful oceans. I think what we do will make a difference and I hope everyone works to help make the same difference.
I Can Do it Too
By Meghna Senthil Kumar
1: Meet Mira!
Mira is a strong-willed girl. She doesn’t have many friends, but she has a natural talent for sports, especially basketball. She wants to be a great female example of empowerment. Her parents just love her to bits. Kids constantly bully her because of her gangly appearance, but she never retaliates, other than an icy glare. Her worst enemy is Emad. Read on to find out why!
2: The story begins . . .
Thirteen-year-old Mira was sleepless. It was two in
the morning and there were a flurry of questions running through her head.
WHY were women not in the main focus of sports?
WHY are men considered more powerful than women?
WHY are women ALWAYS depicted as damsels in distress?
Mira’s one wish in the world was women’s empowerment. She wanted to be a great leader like her idol, Malala Yousafzai.
In her community of Al Barsha, there weren’t many things to do. Either Mira played basketball or she wondered about gender equality.
When the first glimmer of dawn brightened her room, Mira thought more deeply.
Can I do something for gender equality?
Why are women considered weak even though they are strong both physically and mentally?
A few hours later, when she had just started to sleep . . .
BEEP! BEEP!
‘WAKE UP! Time for school!’ her mum shouted
from downstairs.
Mira dreaded school, but she had no choice
but to get up. Surprisingly, she felt refreshed and completely normal as she had been awake for twenty-four hours straight. She brushed her teeth, showered and dressed. Mira rushed downstairs and gobbled up her breakfast pancakes.
‘MUM! Every day everyone bullies me for
being tall!’ Yes! She was six feet! Very tall for an eighth grader.
Her mother’s reply was ‘Mira, you have to toughen up! Bullies only want to get a reaction out of you. If anyone bullies you again, please inform me and I will inform your teacher. Bullying isn’t tolerated in schools.’
Before she could say OK, fine, Mum, her father called her. ‘Mira, get in the car, I don’t have all day!’
3: Club Day
When she arrived at school, she remembered that it was Club Day. She had waited for this day since she was nine! Then she wondered, ‘What if I don’t find a club I actually like? What if no one allows me in the club?’
She didn’t realise that she was saying it aloud!
‘Nothing like that will happen, Mira!’ Her father reassured her.
Mira got out the car, ran in to the building and reached the gymnasium. She scanned the room for her favourite club assignment stall, the sports club.
She always loved sports, mostly basketball as she could dunk some hoops very easily, thanks to her height!
She was still searching. ‘UAE Culture Club . . . Music Club . . . Science Club . . . AHA! SPORTS CLUB.’
When she was going to write her name on the signup sheet, Emad blocked her. He was the leader of the sports team.
‘Uh-uh. No girls allowed!’ he said.
‘Coach Kabir said girls could join, EMAD!’ Mira
replied.
Just then, Coach Kabir come to the stall. He inspected the sign-up sheet and asked Emad,
‘Why are there no girls’ names in the sheet?’
Just when Mira was going to tell the coach that she was going to join, Emad intervened.
Coach Kabir said to her, ‘Mira, dear, I shall see to that. Meanwhile, you run along and sign up for a club.’
She was shocked at how Emad had lied the to coach about the club, but she couldn’t retaliate. Her eyes were glassy, brimming with tears. Anger was building up inside her. Mira ran to the corner of the room and wept. Her chances of joining any club: DESTROYED!
All that positive spirit inside her drained. She had been looking forward to this day since third grade.
‘MUM! Emad told coach that I want to make Sport Club for boys only,’ she said to her mother as she came, no, STORMED into the room. She didn’t bother going by car. So Dad was still waiting outside the school. Poor Dad!
‘Well, dearie, I shall have a talk with your coach.
Now come here,’ she said to Mira as she sat next to her mother on the couch. ‘Toughen up,’ she said as she cuddled her. Her mother allowed her to sleep the whole day. A tired father came into the house. After checking on Mira, he immediately dozed off on the couch. Mum sighed.
The next morning, she told her husband, ‘Please tell Mira that she needs to toughen up and fight back.’ She explained everything that had happened. ‘Give her a pep talk and ask her to join the sports club,’ she said to him, and he agreed.
4: A Match
‘Kids! We will be having an interschool basketball championship next month with Redwood Academy!’ said Coach Kabir in the gymnasium.
‘Guys, Redwood Academy has the best players,’ said Emad to his friends.
Coach Kabir went on, ‘The winners get a huge trophy and a cash price of AED 25,000! Each team will represent a charitable organization. This year we are representing the WOMEN’S RIGHTS TRUST.
Our cash prize will be donated to them. Here are the names of the selected players: Ahmed, Omar, Sam, Jack and Emad.’
YES!! Mira said to herself. She felt a little better after the encouragement her father gave her in the car. Still, the class moaned. They wanted the money for themselves.
All these boys high-fived each other. Although Mira was a star player, she wasn’t selected THANKS TO EMAD.
Coach Kabir THEN said, ‘I have another small but still special announcement to make. Mira is now a reserve player. Since she didn’t have the chance to come to the sports club, it’s the least I could do,’ he said, smiling and giving her a knowing look.
She was ecstatic. Thanks a lot, Mum and Dad, she thought. Her heart was singing songs of joy and on the outside, she was tapping her legs, squealing. Coach Kabir then dismissed the class, sent them to the library and started to train the boys. Then Mira worked up the courage to ask for a position in the sports club. ‘Can I join the sports club?’ Then she narrated the entire incident to him.
‘Oh, why didn’t you tell me before? However, you can join the club.’ He called Emad over and said. ‘Emad, you and I need to talk later today.’
Emad groaned.
5: Another Chance
A month passed, and it was time for the championship. All the students of Jumeirah High and Redwood Academy were seated on the benches.
Cheerleaders were singing chants, teams were practising on the either side of the court and oud players were strumming on the sidelines. The whole court was buzzing with activity.
Mira’s parents were sitting in the first row and made up a small chant of their own! She took a walk around the court.
Just then, when Emad was jogging around the court, he tripped on his untied shoelace and fell down!
The medical team on the sidelines rushed to him and found a sprain in his ankle. ‘Sorry, kid, you can’t play. You need complete rest for about two weeks,’ a nurse said.
Emad replied, ‘But the game . . .’
He needed to be the star! To make the winning throw! But now he couldn’t . . .
Now Mira could play! Coach Kabir looked at her and asked her to play. She happily agreed, much to her parents’ delight. The game was going to start.
TWEET!! The whistle blew.
6: The Game
Redwood Academy snagged the ball then dribbled it towards the hoop. Mira blocked the shoot and dribbled it to the other side and dunked it through the hoop.
YAY!!! The crowd cheered.
Emad just rolled his eyes at almost everything she did. Right now, there was no doubt Mira was better than Emad.
After the first round, they all rested after a tiring and unpredictable game. Even though Mira was their best player, no one from her team played attention to her.
‘You’re just a girl. Not as powerful as us!’ one
of the boys said to her. Holding back her anger,
she gave him an icy glare.
The second round began.
The game went on smoothly. Time went as fast as a cheetah. Soon, there were only ten minutes left of the game and the score was tied 30—30
Everyone watching was either biting their nails, hyperventilating or praying. The players were dribbling so fast that even they forgot where their hoops were! Fortunately, the coach always reminded them.
7: I’m Powerful
The players were intense. The game was more unpredictable. Jumeirah High’s team’s dislike for Mira decreased. She always got a pass!
Just then, she heard a person calling out to her. When she turned, someone slammed the ball in her face!
Everyone was shocked, except Redwood Academy’s team. Everyone in the court rushed up to her, including all parents! Mira felt like she was falling in a huge pit. The medical team rushed to her. Mira whispered to them, ‘Tell them to just give me a
free throw!’ YES! Her determination was undying.
‘Sorry, dear, the game may end up in a tie. There are hardly thirty seconds left,’ Coach Kabir said to her. For a few seconds, she thought about her goal in life, the team’s unfairness towards her, Club Day, how everyone bullied her and the Women’s Rights Foundation. Just then . . .
She got up, dashed for the ball and DUNKED!
Jumeirah High went wild! They had won 32–30! The Redwoods couldn’t help but groan and gape. The whole school gave her a standing ovation! Even Emad and his friends were clapping loudly!
Shocked by the thunderous applause, Mira had tears of joy in her eyes. She had done her part. Even though life wasn’t nice to her, she had faced it. She had proved that she was strong. Physically, mentally and also as a girl.
A POWERFUL GIRL.
Emily and her Extraordinary Sea Adventure
By Ioana Teodorova Stefanova
RING!!!!
The alarm clock rang. Emily woke up with a gigantic yawn from her wooden bed. She was still tired from her tenth birthday party yesterday. Then she washed her white-skinned face that had bright turquoise eyes, brushed her long blonde hair and went downstairs to make her breakfast. After Emily finished her food she went to the window to see if it was a nice day outside on the
beach. It was a nice day, so she went to ask her parents if she could go outside to play and swim.
Her parents said ‘OK, but remember, don’t be late for lunch.’
‘OK,’ Emily answered, and went outside.
She decided to take a short walk on the beach. While Emily was walking, she found a big, beautiful seashell that had been washed up by the sea. Then, she found a nice spot in front of her beach house to make a sandcastle. When Emily finished the sandcastle she went to have an excellent, refreshing swim in the salty sea.
Emily swam to her favourite spot. An old, wooden, sunken ship. She liked to explore the ship, looking at the fish swimming around and inside it, wishing she could do that too. While Emily was swimming in the ship, her leg got stuck in an old fishing net. She tried to untangle herself from the net, but she just got more tangled. She started panicking. Emily was a good swimmer, and she could keep her breath for a long time, but time was running fast.
Then the most extraordinary thing happened. Emily felt something. She tried to breathe and
believe it or not, she could breathe and see perfectly underwater! Emily was happy and scared at the same time. Happy because she found out she had a power! Scared because it could be really dangerous. Now that Emily knew she could breathe, she had more than enough time to untangle herself and go above the water.
When she was above the water, in the distance she saw a fin. Emily got super, duper scared and started swimming to the shore. The fin came closer and closer. The closer it got, the faster Emily swam, but the fin was faster. When the fin was right in front of her it showed its head, and all this time it was . . .
A BOTTLENOSE DOLPHIN
Emily was relieved that it wasn’t a shark. She smiled and said ‘Hello.’ The dolphin answered. She was surprised that she could talk to and understand animals. She asked if they could be friends.
‘Why not?’ the dolphin answered.
They interviewed each other back and forth. Then they started to play. While they were playing Emily saw a big jellyfish. When she took a closer
look, she saw that it was just a gigantic plastic bag. She was relieved for another time that day. They played for a long time and Emily got tired. Her friend put her on her back and swam to the shore. Emily thanked the dolphin and ran to tell her parents the great news.
During lunch time Emily told them in detail what happened. She told them her friend’s name is Finny. Her parents were really happy that she got out of the water.
The next day Emily decided to go swimming again so she could see if what happened yesterday
was a dream or not. When she was in the water, she swam a little. Then, she saw a sea turtle.
Emily asked the sea turtle, ‘How are you?’
The turtle answered ‘Good,’ and somehow she understood what the turtle said. They talked for a long time. While they were talking Emily realised that during that long period of time she could breathe normally underwater. Now she knew that it wasn’t a dream. It was true.
When Emily went to school, she went to her first class: UOI (unit of inquiry). Emily‘s class learned about how sea creatures are in great danger.
‘How are they in danger?’ Emily asked.
‘Great question,’ her teacher answered. ‘People are throwing trash into the sea, and animals like sea turtles think that things like plastic bags for groceries are jellyfish so they eat them and that leads to death,’ her teacher explained. Emily gasped. She remembered that even she had been scared by a plastic bag that looked like a jellyfish.
When school finished, Emily went home. She told her parents about what she learned in UOI. When she was sleeping, she had terrible nightmares about the poor sea turtles and the
other sea creatures. When she woke up Emily immediately had an idea. She wanted to open an underwater school. She named it: The Sea School.
Emily started making posters and pictures with colours to teach the sea creatures about the difference between food and not food. When she was done, she laminated the posters so they wouldn’t get destroyed in the water and went to show her parents to see if they liked them. Her parents loved them.
From that day on Emily went deep into the sea to teach all the sea creatures her lessons. One day she had a special lesson for the sharks. She was going to teach them how to tell the difference between food and garbage. Emily told them a story about how people throw trash into the sea, how it makes pollution and how they will make a difference. Another day she had a special lesson for stingrays. She told them about things they should sting and things they shouldn’t sting. Her favourite lesson was with the bottlenose dolphins. She taught them what she taught all the other animals. It was her fa-
vourite because the dolphins offered to teach her some dolphin tricks. One of them was a game with a ball.
The trick was to get a ball and balance it on your head. There are different levels. The first level is to balance it on your nose. The second one is to balance it on your forehead. The third level is to balance it on your tail. And the last one is to balance it on your fin. When they got to the third and fourth levels Emily looked at herself and smiled.
She exclaimed ‘I don’t have a tail or fins. How am I supposed to play the game?’
‘Just use your hands and legs.’
When they finished teaching her tricks, Emily went back home with the help of her dolphin friends. She told her family about her fantastic day. When she finished her story, they reminded her that it was a school day tomorrow and that she needed to go to bed. Emily sighed and did as she was told. She hated going to bed but this time . . .
She didn’t. Emily had a great idea.
The next day Emily was so excited because her first class in school was UOI again. She rushed
over to her UOI class. When Emily got there, she saw that she was the first one! Emily asked her teacher if she could give a small presentation to the class. Her teacher agreed and so when the class came, she presented it. Her presentation was about how thousands of animals are getting harmed. She talked and talked. When she finished, she asked the class if they would help her keep the animals safe. All the kids shouted:
‘YYYYEEEEEEESSSSS!’
They stood on their chairs and cheered. Her teacher even suggested she give her presentation on the day of the class assembly. Emily agreed.
On the day of the assembly Emily was the first one on stage. She gave her presentation proudly. When the assembly finished her parents were prouder of their daughter than ever.
The next weekend all the kids gathered together to start cleaning the beach and saving the animals. Together they called themselves: The Animal Savers. They loved that name, so it was kept. And from that day on they got together
every Saturday to clean the beach. They even invited other people to join their group. They attracted many people and soon their group became famous. They had lots of followers around the world.
All of this happened because of an ordinary ten-year-old girl who had extraordinary power.
