"The Creatives" August 2018

The

Creatives

August 2018 Issue Vol.1

YOUNG POETS CORNER

Does Stress Kill Creativity?

TIPS TO BECOME MORE CREATIVE

Special Feature

Winning Stories From

Reach for The Stars Competition

ART GALLERY

by Children and Young Adults from different parts of the world

The Creatives is a publication

by Ray Academics for children and young adults.

Ray Academics 21 Bank Square Market Model Town Lahore Phone: +92-302-8556771 email: info@rayacademics.com

Calling Writers from all around the World!

Email your entries at info@rayacademics.com in the following categories:

Poems

Stories

Contents 3 4

5

8

Articles

Riddles & Jokes

Art

Letters to the Editor

Editor's Letter Remember Me

An award winning poem about the APS massacare written by Ahmed Farrukh. This poem received the first prize in the Creative Writing Competition

And I Witnessed

An interesting written piece by Abeeha Masood that won the second prize at the Creative Writing Competition held at Ray Academics

Young Poet's Corner A collection of poems contibuted by children and young adults

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Eid Click Competiton

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Reach for thes Stars

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Subscription

A collection of winning stories in this Creative Writing Competition held at Ray Academics

Take a Break!

Enjoy reading some jokes or doing some puzzles in this section.

Kiddies in the Kitchen

Enjoy reading some jokes or doing some puzzles in this section.

Global Zone

Countries

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Momi Talks!

Email: Info@rayacademics.com Website: www.rayacademics.com Ph: +92-302-8556771 Distributed by: Ray Academics

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Art Gallery

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The written piece, “One Raindrop� has been contributed by Aaiza Zafar from Connecticut, USA A column by Dr Momina Salman Does Stress Kill Creativity?

Tips to become more Creative

FAQ

EDITOR’S LETTER Patron-in-Chief

Dear Readers, On behalf of Ray Academics I am proud to present you our monthly magazine, “The Creatives.” This publication resonates our passion for encouraging creativity in children and young adults This platform extends to all innovators and is not restricted to exclusively for Creative Writing.

All work is assessed fairly and without discrimination since Ray Academics is an independent entity and is not affiliated with any school or insititute.

We encourage all children and young adults to contribute to this magazine irrespective of their religion, nationality and their residence. Infact we would like to unite children all over the world especially those with Pakistani ethnicity.

Since the inception of this organization, Ray Academics has been holding regular creative writing competitions in order to search for aspiring talent in the community.

There are no specific requirements for acceptance of work at the Creatives except that we are looking for creative works.

This platform is open from 6 year olds to 18 year olds. The nature of their work must be original.

We provide a creative space to children and young adults because we want our future generation to develop their thinking skills and grow up to be efficient problem solvers. A dearth of which has only multiplied the problems in our local community as well as Pakistani communities abroad.

Lets come together to make a change that our society so dearly deserves.

Happy Reading!

Parveen Akhtar

Editorial Team Mehrunissa Shahryar Damia Nouman Ryaan Mirza

Photography Zahrah Ehsan Shamaila Shahryar Zeenia Mir Mehrinissa Shahryar

Distributed by Ray Academics 21 Bank Square Market Model Town Lahore, Pakistan Ph: +92-302-8556771

Email: info@rayacademics.com

Bushra Bushra Ehsan Editor-in-Chief CEO Ray Academics

Ray Academics was established nearly two years ago and since then we have come across some fantastic work which is a strong indicator of a high level of critical thinking and creativity in our youth. You will come across some of this astounding work contributed by these young childten in this issue.

Share your thoughts, your heartfelt poems or that forgotten story that you shoved away somewhere in your drawer. There is great value in your thoughts and your ideas. We would like invite you to join us at The Creatives to celebrate your uniqueness.

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Remember Me This moving piece has been written by Ahmed Farrukh, a student of LGS Johar Town Branch, Lahore in memory of those innocent children who were martyred in the ruthless terrorist attack on APS school in Peshawar that took place on December 16, 2016 Written by Ahmed Farrukh Remember, remember!

The 16th of December, When kids, blithely, entered the school gate, Unaware of their dreadful fate.

The lessons that day were interesting, The students were quite hardworking, All was well until the time came, It was as if the intruders had no shame.

Seven heartless militants invaded, With their guns fully loaded, They opened fire at the innocent, Who were not at all resistant.

One by one, children were shot, Many were martyred by the heartless lot, They gave their lives, clutching their pen, The time was around ten.

Still open were their books, Innocent were their looks, The classrooms had no life, but death, It was the dreadful fate the youngsters met.

Even the staff wasn’t spared, Everyone was just too scared, A lot of blood was shed, Establishing an atmosphere of dread.

Blood was spilled like water, Like lava coming out of crater, Children who had years to live lay dead, Covered in blotches of red.

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To the terrorists, finally the bullets met, As the army officials payed back their debt, After many counter fights, the intruders lay dead, Leaving behind tears to shed.

Every eye was wet, Due to the fate the 141 martyrs met, The loss was unrecoverable, The terrorists were untraceable.

The incident unified the nation, Government officials went for consolation, Remember, remember, The 16th of December.

And I Witnessed..

Award winning Story by Abeeha Masood of LGS that paints a picture with words of ....

Faces I did not recognize and people I did not know were rushing past me. Some were screaming with excitement, others were getting goosebumps while some were busy taking pictures. And I, I was simply standing there, staring, witnessing the hysterical scene.

I gripped my father’s finger more tightly and with every passing moment I looked up to see his face.

He was looking straight ahead with astonishment and worry in his eyes. The stadium lights were fluctuating with the gap of a few minutes. Every time the lights were turned on or off, the noise around me just got louder. People pushed each other out of their way and a few groups of wild, super fans dominated the entire population gathered outside the gates. Young girls, probably my age or a little older, had charts in their hands with the pictures of some guys which I assumed to be football players.

Mostly I saw only

red, blue or white colors around me and some people were wearing the flag of England as their main clothing. In my head, I was thinking about how I never understood this part. What was the point of wearing such big flags?

You show up to support the football team, you cheer for them and scream until your throat is sore isn’t that enough? But then again, how would I know how deep their passion for football ran. It wasn’t my type of sport. I was only there for my father; to keep him company. He had been requested; more like commanded actually, by his boss to witness this particular match and then write an article about it for the next newspaper issue. At first, I was thrilled to get out of the house on a school night. But once at my destination, I was having second thoughts about my decision. I would rather have stayed home and studied for my French paper.

Strings of beads, balloons and colorful ribbons

Strings of beads, balloons and colorful ribbons filled the atmosphere. There was too much red, white and blue I felt as if I was standing in a giant flag of England.

I could see tripod stands with cameras taking photographs and those digital cameras going off every time someone took a picture. I started to wonder, what was a person like me doing here? filled the atmosphere.

There was too much red, white and blue I felt as if I was standing in a giant flag of England. I could see tripod stands with cameras taking photographs and those digital cameras going off every time someone took a picture. I started to wonder, what was a person like me doing here? I should be at home cramped with books. This was not my environment. The push of a girl brought me back to the pre sent and I waved goodbye to my thoughts. The crowd was getting more and more louder. Every minute we got close to

seeing the gates open, the horde of fans exploded with joy and delight. Some were even shivering with the excitement. Of course they were; this was one of the most important matches in the history of football for the English team. My nerves were catching up to me and so I took deep, long breaths to calm myself.

My only fear was what would happen when those gates finally did open. A group of fancy, teenage girls came running towards our direction.

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Their pencil heels were half in the ground, their stylish bags and trendy jewelry was luring and so attractive. They sure did have an excellent fashion sense. But they seemed to me as one of those high school queen bees’; very delicate, fair and gorgeous. But they also tend to be mean. One of the adorable girls tripped and fell, spilling her drink all over the ground. I couldn’t help but laugh. After a few seconds, I realized that I could not stop laughing. I felt like I had a hanger in my mouth. Maybe mean girls also get what they deserve, I thought.

Some percent of the population was deeply and fully committed to football. I could tell by the paintings on their faces.

Headband which said: ‘We Support England’ were visible on a lot of foreheads. Some people had even written it with markers.

Different quotes and words of support were written on the skin surfaces of many fans.

The extreme part was when I saw a boy who had painted the English flag over his entire body. That was groovy. I later learned that there was a whole group of them. WOW! I don’t think the people are crazy they are just excited. A few minutes after, the countdown began. My father gripped my hand with a new strength. I moved closer to him. As soon as I heard the crowd shout zero, I held my breath and closed my eyes. There was one final shout from the crowd and then I received a lot of pushes and kicks which indicated that the gates were now open.

An open call to all children around the world!

Email us your stories,

letters to the editor, jokes, riddles, recipes, artwork, pictures, articles etc.

Email us at info@rayacademics.com

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Winner of the Best Eid Click Competiton

Creative Writing Classes

Every Saturday at Ray Academics!

Starting on September 1st, 2018 11am-12:30 pm 1:30pm -3:00pm

7-10 years 11-14 years

Friday Classes also available!

Contact +92-302-8556771 for more information Visit www.rayacademics.com for course information

Photography Competition

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Young Poet’s

Corner

Family by Manal Idris 7 years old TNS Gulberg Do you see the star in the love of you?

My daddy, mommy sister and me.

We are the moon, We are in the sky, Standing up so high, We can be a friend with them all we can I love the moon and stars forever!!!

A Snowy Day by Eesa Shah Gr2 International School of Chouiefat There is a big funny snowman standing, I was drinking a tasty dark hot chocolate, There were so many snowballs that we were throwing, My forever favorite friend and I were playing, Run! Run! Run! There is a scary blizzard approaching!

The Naughty Penguin by Abdullah Sohail Gr4 LGS 18k There was something that my cousins and I were making, It was a special snowman that was moving, Suddenly the snowman turned into a pesky penguin who was very naughty, The penguin sneaked into the mall very, very slowly, He entered some shops and broke something, This happened because he was so,so naughty!

Send us your Poems at info@r rayacademics.com

Does Anyone Care? by Noorae Ali Faisal 11 years old Headstart School .

Dream Full of Roses by Shahnaz Khan Beaconhouse Concordia College The shadows are calling As I have lost my sense No fear! No cry! No care!

That’s what I want to be.

Limit is crossed And I’m exhausted Having all my fantasies With Dark blue eyes Hoping to free No matter where I stand today But I know that I have a Plan To discover the beauty With dreams, full of roses I want to fly...

Oh! Please let me free

Mischievous flowers By Zahra Abbas-Gr4 LGS 14K Flowers float above the ground Making mischief all around Don’t go near them I am warning you, Or they will make you mischievous too.

They dance and sing around all day Without letting anything get in their way It is impossible to make them stop Out of your hands they will flop But try and try and you will see That you will catch them finally

With noises that I cannot bear, Sitting on a side blocking my ears, The bombs flying everywhere.

People dying everyday.

It’s a tragedy what can I say?

Your life is happy, peaceful and all.

But I live in a land where the sun is gone.

Everyday and everynight we hear people screaming.

And as a child myself I am suposed to be beaming.

Beaming with joy running around.

But I stand here with a big frown.

Does anyone care I am hungry?

Does anyone care I am scared?

Does anyone care I am trapped in here?

REACH FOR THE STARS Results of the Competition

“Every great dream begins with a dreamer.

Always remember, you have within you the strength, the patience, and the passion to reach for the stars to change the world.�

-Harriet Tubman

REACH

FOR THE STARS Creative Writing Competition April 2018

Motivating students towards creative writing remains a daunting task for many. Weaving ideas smoothly and yet with precision in writing requires patience and hard work. An expert writer would analyze each sentence structure and then add enticing details with precision. Can children of today who are immersed in technology gadgets find the virtue of patitence and inculcate a crafty piece of writing? Yes, of course.

However, children need to be encouraged to write and also need to look at written pieces produced by peers to understand how they must enhance their writing skills. Ray Academics holds regular creative writing workshops and competitions to make writing more fun and inviting to young children.

Their ideas are celebrated with gifts, activities and even games. “Reach for the Stars,� was another successful initiative taken by Ray Academics to give children a chance to take pride in their words and showcase their work.

Winning Stories of Sub Junior Category 7-8 yearolds

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"Reach for the Stars" was held between the months of March and April. Students sent in their submissions online and many schools of Lahore were represented in the competition. Students from City School, Lahore Grammar School,Aitchison College, Lahore School of Learning, Beaconhouse School System, Chand Bagh School, International Kindergarten School of Lahore (IKL), School of Islamic Learning (SCIL), Abad-e-stan Sophia were among many of the contestants.

This competition gave children the opportunity to take their skills beyond their classrooms. We take great pleasure in showcasing the work of brilliant writers.

First Prize: Zahra Abbas, 8 years old, Grade 3, LGS

Second Prize: Leila Raza, 7 years old, Grade 2, IKL

Glitter Madness By Zahrah Abbas

First Prize One day I was going to my friend Lizzy’s house.

When I got there, I told Lizzy to play cards with me. Lizzy agreed. As we went to play we bumped into her neighbour Mrs Glitter. “Umm hello!” I said. “Oh! Silly me I forgot to introduce you to my neighbour Mrs. Glitter” said Lizzy. “Nice to meet you” I said. “Hi!” said Mrs. Glitter. She had shiny hair and clothes. “This is for you” said Mrs. Glitter.

She gave Lizzy two bottles of glitter sprinkle. “Put it on your hair” she said.

So that’s what we did and when we woke the next day, we were unicorns. We were so shocked and surprised. We were flying in the air and could do magic. There was tons of glitter in the air. I wanted to go home and I knew Lizzy really wanted to go home too. “I am allergic to being a unicorn” she said. “Come on, it’s not that bad” I replied. Soon we came to a place called Rainbow falls and we

Third Prize: Israa Irshad, 6.5 years, Grade 2, IKL

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flew over the rainbow waterfall. We saw some rainbow crystals too. I picked one of those crystals. Suddenly a huge rainbow swirled around us and we were humans again. After that all I remember is playing tag with Lizzy in her front yard.

Laugh Your Head off!

Why was the road nervous?

It was about to get graded.

Magic Tree By Israa Irshad

Third Prize For our science project we needed to plant a seedling. All of us started digging the soil, made the hole deeper to plant the little mango tree. The teacher said we all should say, Bilsmillahhirahmani-rahim and put the seeding in the hole. We need to water the plant everyday. We learned that the little seedling would grow into a huge mango tree on day.

Later on, the leaves of the plant were pale and wilted. Perhaps we did not give enough water. Our teacher reminded us that when we are given a responsibility, we need to do it. The seedling cannot talk and tell what it needs .

Few days later we saw that unexpectedly the leaves on the mango tree were shining with different colours. They were all the colours of the rainbow and so beautiful. The leaves were also singing the songs with great joy.

Maybe we planted the magic tree instead of the mango tree.

Take a Break!

Have some Fun with our activities!

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Can you name a city where no one ever goes?

Electricity.

Why shouldn’t you give Elsa a balloon?

Because she’ll let it go!

Did people laugh when the lady fell on the ice?…

No, but the ice cracked up.

-contrbuted by Damia Nouman

Fun Quiz Q1. Which animal can recognize its reffllection in the mirror?

Q2. Are cats smarter than dogs?

Q3. Which animal has 32 brains?

Q4. Which animal is the largest animal in the world?

A Fallen Phrase

Tricky Spellings

Enter

Answers

Exit Fun Quiz A1. Dolphin A2. Dogs are smarter than cats A3. Leeches A4.The Blue whale is the largest animal in the world.

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Winning Stories Reach for the Stars

Winning Stories of Sub Junior Category (9 yearolds) Monster Pansy by Karim Ahmed Once there was a boy called Tim who was excited because he loved science and the teacher told the class that they would be growing plants and flowers for their science project. She said that whoever would have the most beautiful plant or flower would win. The flower and plant project would take place in a month. So everyday when

red pansy and a day before the project, he put the pansy in his classroom.

On the day of the flower project he walked to school with his friends. It was raining heavily, the sky was smoldering black and the thunder was making a roaring sound. To the children’s surprise, when they reached school, they saw that school was closed. The children were disappointed. They were so excited to show everyone their flowers and plants. Suddenly, it began to hail. The

When he turned around, he saw his pansy staring at him. It had sharp teeth like a vampire and eyes were glowing red and it was snarling at the children. Tim and his friends ran into the cafeteria and they closed the door behind them but the pansy followed them and started breaking the Tim came from his school he did his homework and then went on a walk around the park to find beautiful flowers or plants. One day he found a beautiful flower in the park called a pansy so he chose pansies for the plant and flower project. He spent days growing the beautiful,

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children quickly opened the school gate and ran to their classroom for safety.

When they entered the class, they saw that everything was destroyed. Pencils were chewed up like sugarcane, artwork and boards were eaten up and there were

torn leaves and stems all over the floor. Suddenly, Tim saw something move. When he turned around, he saw his pansy staring at him. It had sharp teeth like a vampire and eyes were glowing red and it was snarling at the children. Tim and his friends ran into the cafeteria and they closed the door behind them but the pansy followed them and started breaking the door with its roots. The children were terrified. Suddenly, Tim had an idea. He went in the kitchen, brought out some food and started throwing the food at the pansy.

The other kids joined in and pelted dumplings, eggs, onions and cucumbers at the pansy, but to the children’s surprise, the pansy started eating the food and grew bigger in size.

The pansy finally broke the door and entered the cafeteria. The children screamed and ina panic, they broke the cafeteria’s window with a frying pan and ran into the playground. The playground was wet and the rain had just stopped. The pansy continued to follow them slipping on the hail as it jumped in its plant plot towards the children. As the children were running the sun came out and the sky turned a bright

blue. Everything went silent. The children stopped running and looked around. The pansy had turned into a normal flower again. It lay on the floor with broken pieces of the plant plot around it. The children gathered around the pansy and thought hard. Why did Tim’s pansy turn into a monster pansy? With that thought in kind, the children dug a very deep hole and buried the pansy deep into it. The children then took their bags and ran back home. They promised to keep the pansy a secret.

On the next day when the children came to school, the principal announced that the plant project would be cancelled as the storm had destroyed the classrooms and plants. The students would have holidays for two weeks. The children screamed with joy! Holidays for two weeks! Tim winked at its friends because they knew it wasn’t the storm that destroyed the school but Tim’s monster pansy!

Ms Bushra Ehsan, Director of Ray Ademics prsented Mrs Linda Wali, the Director of International Kindergarten School of Lahore, with a Certificate of Appreciation for their collaborative efforts in participating in the competition, “Reach for the Stars.”

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Stuck in the Mud Winner of Second Prize

By Abdul Rafay Saad back home and planted the seeds there I saw a gigantic green monOne day my science teacher, straightaway in a special pot that I ster whose body was made out of Ms. Hareem, asked everyone to made in my pottery class. I placed spheres and each sphere had a grow a flower as a science project. the pot on my window so that red circle and a small yellow cirEveryone groaned except me as I there is sufficient sunlight for it to cle inside the red one. It had two love experimenting. grow quickly. The next day I woke antennas with small hardly noBut the only problem was that up two hours earlier than school ticeable eyes under them.

I didn’t have the seed. So I had to time and rushed to my window to The monster tried to eat me buy it. I went to the nursery and check my pot. away so I cried for help. Then I saw a strange old woman sellI saw that the magic of the seed saw three ants behind me, one ing seeds. She looked like an old made it grow fast and a golden with a builder’s hat on its head. witch with a long nose, warts all flower has appeared. But I noticed Oh great, now I was surround by over her face, hunch-backed and there was a golden hole in mud a monster on one side and three a wicked smile. I asked her to killer ants on the show me variety of seeds. She other side. One of took out a dusty brown box She looked like an old witch with them said, “We’re and opened it. The box was a long nose, warts all over her face, here to help you filled with seeds, labelled and get away from this hunch-backed and a wicked smile. I arranged in rows. For example monster. Don’t be she had rainbow seeds to grow asked her to show me variety of seeds. scared, we won’t rainbows, bizarre seeds for kill you”. I exmonsters to grow monster plants beside that flower. I was curious, claimed, “Talking ants!” I followed and some left-over beans from so I touched the hole. them as they seemed to be the “Jack and the beanstalk”. I pointed Two seconds later I saw that I only option. I told them to go fastat sparkling golden seeds, which was inside a golden tunnel. It took er as the monster was chasing us. were not labelled. The old woman me a few seconds to realize that We ran to a dead end but the ants said “Don’t take them, they are I’ve shrunken and entered that knew a secret hole from where we cursed!”. She warned that I once small golden hole in the mud. I was could escape the monster. The sesold them to a man and his wife so scared that I started screaming. cret hole was on top of the dead told me that he vanished after Then I heard a roar that gave me end. I said “I can’t jump that high” buying those seeds. I didn’t care goose bumps. I wanted to know but the ants said, “When people and said “I don’t believe in super- where the roar came from so I get small their jumps get high”. I stition. I’ll buy them.” had to be brave. I started moving trusted them and tried jumping.

I was so excited that I rushed towards that horrible sound and To my surprise, I really jumped to

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the top and reached the hole.

Me and the ants entered the secret hole and reached a safe empty room away from that horrible monster. The ants told me, “I have saved them by planting this seed as it is an escape from mud they had been stuck in for ages. If they touch that special seed they can get freedom and so can I”. I asked, “How did they know about that special golden seed?”

They said, “We saw you trapped in mud, so we knew that you’ve planted the special seed that can make you small on touching the golden hole it makes. So if you touch again, you’ll get out of here too and will become big like before.”

So we started our search for the planted seed. The ants helped me make tunnels for me to pass through.

We kept looking for an hour until we saw a beam of golden light. We followed it and finally found the seed. I was so excited that I started dancing like nuts.

The ants said, “Stop dancing and start touching ya lil dancer!”. I got embarrassed and touched the seed.

I said goodbye to the ants as I might not be able to identify them when I get big. In a few seconds I was passing through the same golden tunnel and was big again. I said, “Thank God, phew”.

It felt good to be my normal self. Then I immediately taped that golden hole so that no one touches it again. I looked at the golden flower I grew. I took a magnifying glass to see who that green horrible monster was. To my surprise, it was a cute caterpillar! I also saw those ants dancing like crazy at the corner of the pot. I exclaimed, “Stop dancing, ya lil dancers!”

They laughed and waved back at me.

I suddenly heard a voice, “Rafay hurry up and get ready, only thirty minutes are left for school.” I got ready and rushed to school. Later I wrote down this whole story of my adventure, which you’ve just finished reading.

Pollution

Winner of Third Prize

By Iba Kazmi

Every day I passed a door. Its always closed and locked.

One day, as I pass ,I notice that the door is open. I could not hold myself and stepped in. Suddenly, I thought of things told by people. As I was thinking, something grabbed me I shouted, screamed and yelled for help but nobody came.

After few minutes, I found myself in a garden with beautiful flowers. “What a placcccce?” I was mesmerized. I ran into the beautiful garden and I also took some flowers.

The wind blew gently and the petals in my palm flew gently with the wind. It was marvelous I was having lovely time.

Then I saw a land Dolphin! I was scared, but I put myself together and asked “why are you on the ground?, what’s your name?”she replied” my name is Dolphi I am on land because I have chosen to live here “but why did you choose it ……Let me guess to scare people just like me?”I asked. “No calm yourself, I chose to live on land because in the sea, there is a lot of litter and dust. I cannot survive there, so I came to live on the land. Let me show you around but, please tell me what is your name? She asked “My name is Iba” I replied. We went to see birds castle first.When we entered and heard “Oh, humans again! Humans do not leave any place clean.” Dolphi took me out.

Dolphi gave me a tissue and told me,” do not cry. Do not take it to heart.” I rubbed my nose and my tears and threw the tissue paper on the ground.” What did you do this for?”She yelled at me. I asked,” what did I do?” suddenly a horse who was very kind and wise, asked me about myself. Dolphi screamed “stay away from her. She does not want us to live in a pure air. “no” I said. “Yes, you do, Look down! You have thrown dirty tissue YEEE!” I apologized. I picked up the tissue and put it in the dust bin. When I came back, the horse asked me, “Do you want to overcome this habit and make your world green again?” “Yes, I would be very pleased but the problem is that I do not know how to do it,” I told the horse. He told me to stop cutting the trees or throwing litter. They must start planting and growing trees, flowers and crops. Factories should be built outside residential area in a safe place. Ask people to use water wisely. He also told me the importance of plants. Dolphi was also relaxed, so she told me about 3 Rs i.e. reuse, reduce and recycle.

I went back and before taking all the measures I asked for government help. They appreciated me and allowed me to start a campaign.

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Junior Category The Unbroken Rule First Prize Ayesha Masood I was called to serve my army as surgeon with my team but none were alive after that bombing.

I still have that image in front of my eyes, those blood red skies, those shrieking and deafening sounds of people that were heard miles away. People were in pain. There was nothing except mutilated dead bodies and steams of blood. I could see dead soldiers with unrecognizable faces and guts ripped out of their bodies. It looked like both armies were in great loss of lives and weapons. It seemed that it was one of the most deadly wars of the history. I saw people of my country dead with titan red blood spurting out of their wounds and it incurred wrath and feeling of revenge in my heart for the enemy.

My head was spinning like a carousel and I was moving with thumping heart amidst that massive destruction. So much agony had numbed my senses and I was drifting like a withered leave in gale. I was trying to find my people and to see if someone was still alive. I pulled out a sword from the body of my enemy and a fountain of blood soaked my face it tasted vinegary. Above me I saw a crack of light in the bloody skies. I saw hope but below my feet was still that bloody soil and no hope. I had an intense urge to stab my heart with my own dagger. War, the product of our selfish motives, had engulfed many innocent lives. It took me few minutes to compose myself.

Suddenly I heard a human voice groaning and screaming for help.. The voice was not so clear at first but as I came closer it became clear and started moving in its direction. I didn’t want to die anymore because I finally saw hope .I ran towards the voice which seemed to me the last cries of dying humanity. To my utter surprise, it was an important officer of our enemy, screaming for help. Fire of intense hatred ignited my heat oppressed mind and I said to myself, ‘Kill him, he is the enemy’. I

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looked at him with spiteful eyes. I hated the sight of him. I always wanted to burn him alive. But how could I kill a helpless and injured man? There was conflict in my mind. My self-imposed and irrational ideas compelled me to leave him unattended but how could I break the unbroken rule that is love of humanity. I could hear shrieks of humanity in painful cries of the injured man. Humanity won and color, race and creed failed to stop me I headed towards him with the healing hands of a doctor and saved the entire human race from falling into pit of degradation and humiliation. Love of humanity is the unbroken rule to save the world from destruction. AYESHA MASOOD

Ayesha Masood-Chand Bagh School (MURIDKE)

CHAND BAGH SCHOOL (MURIDKE)

A Certificate of Appreciation for Ms Abida Janjua for efforts in collaboration with Ray Academics

The Unbroken Rule Best friends Jessie Jones and Abigail Smith sat outside their boarding school, a beautiful, tall building surrounded by hills all around. On the hills were numerous caves. Jessie was new to the school, and so knew very little about the history and customs of the school. She was an adventurous and inquisitive personality. Jessie’s and Abigail’s friendship had grown strong over just a week.

Abigail was a bespectacled girl who loved books and was very intelligent. She was reading a book when Jessie, who had gotten up and had started to explore around, asked, ‘Hey, Abigail! Want to go with me to those caves and explore around? I wonder why anybody hasn’t already, they’re so exciting, even to look at. “But that’s not allowed! Don’t you know the story of Madison Robins?” replied Abigail.

Seeing Jessie’s blank look, she began, “About five

years ago, there was a girl named Madison Robins.

Once she was taking a swim in the outdoor swimming pool. She wanted to explore the caves. She had only told her best friend of the hankering to explore the caves.

She went into one of the caves, and found there a maze of caves, and got lost in there. She stayed there for an inordinately long time, wandering around, hopelessly lost. Everybody grew very worried about her, especially her best friend. She had a sudden hunch that Madison might have gone into the caves. She told Miss Thornton, the principal, and Miss Thornton immediately sent out search parties. After many hours of searching, Madison was finally found, weak and faint. They took her to the hospital. In a few days, Madison had fully recovered.

Then the rule that no student was ever allowed near those caves was established, and it has remained ‘The Unbroken Rule’.”

The Futuristic World

Third Prize Maha Nouman In a small town called Trundle Town lived a fortune teller.

An old woman always dressed in red had a magical glossy crystal ball. It told the future. Now one day, a pixie came to Trundle Town. His name was Elfie.

Elfie went to the fortune teller.

The old lady appeared out of nowhere. “Madam” said Elfie, “I want to see the future world.”

“Sure”, said the woman Then she put her hands on the silver ball. Elfie was able to see the world. People were using horses, camels, bulls and donkeys. People also had kitchen gardens in which grew scrumptious and fresh fruits. No one was going to supermarkets by driving cars which were polluting the air. Elfie thought that people in the future had destroyed earth so much that they started making earth a better

place. Everything was similar to olden times.

Elfie felt so glad that people were not polluting the water, air and land. Instead they were living a healthy life. Parents were spending more time with their children by going to the beach, countryside and parks. Just then the ball turned silver again.

“So, did you like the future world?” asked the woman “Yes, of course I did” replied Elfie Then they both shaked hands and Elfie went home to his own town as it was getting dark. As soon as Elfie reached home, he fell asleep. The next day was Monday, so Elfie got up early and went to school. In history class, he told the story of the futuristic world and his teacher told the class that history repeats itself, so Elfie’s story might be true.

MAHEEN SALMAN-SCIL, LAHORE

MAHA NOUMAN-LGS, Lahore

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Global Zone One Raindrop

by Aaiza Zafar My eyes open as the sound of dripping enters my ears. Drip. Drop. Drip. Drop. I rise from my bed, and the light traveling through my window makes my dark room look ominous. My head turns to see through that window.

Outside, the sky is completely gray. Droplets of water slide down the glass. I approach the window to see below my apartment, and there are people fleeing, going back inside their houses. A disappointed note hangs in the air.

But for me, my heart jumps ecstatically. I race downstairs, grab my raincoat without question, and burst out into the world of rain.

I smile with joy and look up at the sky. I see all raindrops, every, single, last one of them, descend from the clouds as if they were diving boards. I feel each one make a tiny splash on my coat, making me wetter every second.

But this didn’t bother me at all. In fact, it let me feel a mix of different emotion. Many people see rain as a sign of sadness or find it as a negative element to avoid. But I think differently. To me, every drop of rain has a different mood than the other.

I hear one drop splash on my coat louder than the others, and I feel the aggression it releases. Then another drop swirls on me before it slides off, as if confused.

This is the beauty of rain. It represents just how many emotions one can feel, and how many ways they can be expressed.

I walk calmly down the street, and hum to myself as I experience each different type of raindrop: joy, pride, shame, grief, and more. I stop as I see another girl standing before me, with no umbrella, just a raincoat like me.

I blink in surprise. No one in my neighborhood has ever stayed outside in the rain, they have always despised it: I was the only one. “Are you lost?” I ask politely, trying to make sense of what my eyes were seeing.

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“Oh, no,” the girl replies in a sweet voice, her tone softened. “I just love going out in the rain; everyone at my old neighborhood did. But it seems nobody here does.”

My eyes widen. I couldn’t believe that there could be another person like me, let alone a whole neighborhood! But once I did, the loneliness I would feel when I got back home and suffered my parents’ chiding about getting colds disappeared.

I giggle, my body warming up despite the fact that I was completely soaked. “I like the rain too; let’s walk together,” I suggest, and reach out my hand.

The girl blinks, hesitating, but then a grin relieving her of long-lived stress spreads across her face. “Yes, I’d love to,” she lifts her arm to hold my hand.

We walk side by side as we adventure through the world of emotion. And for the first time, I feel a raindrop of friendship.

Aaiza Zafar

12 years old, Smith Middle School, Glastonbury, Connecticut, USA

Kiddies in the Kitchen Mint Margarita Ingredients: 5-8 Mint Leaves 3-4 tbsp Sugar 2 tbsp lemon juice 7 Up or Sprite 250 ml 1/2 cup water Ice cubes

Method: 1. Blend together mint leaves, sugar, lemon juice water and ice cubes 2. Add more mint if you want the drink to have a strong minty taste.

3. Add 7up or Sprite alond with rice 4. Pour the drink in glasses

Mango Strawberry Slush Ingredients: 6-8 Frozen Strawberries 1 whole mango 2 glasses of chilled water 1 pinch of salt Sugar to taste

Method: 1. Blend together mango, strawberries, salt and 1/4 glass of chilled water till the mixture is smooth 2. Add 2-3 glasses of water and blend together 3. Add sugar to taste and blend together again 4. Pour the drink in glasses

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Momi Talks

!

A COLUMN BY DR. MOMINA SALMAN

I think, therefore I am As a medical doctor who has been practicing medicine in the United States for over 15 years, this famous saying has taken many new meanings for me.

I feel that the fundamental problem with medicine is when the body is divided into different parts and treatment of different organs and systems are often in isolation of each other, without considering the body as a whole.

Thankfully, holistic medicine is making a come back and now doctors are being educated about how everything is interconnected.

Personally, for me, my perception changed 180 degrees after I finished my course in MIND BODY MEDICINE from Harvard University at the BensonHenry Institute. It opened a whole new world for me. I have practically seen patients get better and turn their lives around, starting with their thought process. The saying, I THINK, THEREFORE I AM definitely resonates in my mind when I come across such cases.

But what does that mean for kids of today? Let me elaborate. How come 2 year olds have more energy than 16 year olds? Well, they know no fear! Fear can be synonymous to stress in most instances.

What is Stress?

Stress is a feeling that you don’t feel confident about overcoming the obstacles in your life. These may be a real or perceived problems. But your mind does not know the difference between the two. So how do kids overcome stress? With the anxiety on the increase in the everyday lives of children I feel that its pertinent that we address this health hazard and help children learn effective coping strategies.

I will be going over different strategies in our upcoming publications. For this edition I will discuss how stress kills creativity and how creativity can help reduce stress.

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How Stress Kills Creativity?

When the body is in stress, it is in a flight or fight

mode. This used to be very beneficial a long time ago in primitive times when we were living in the forests and running from tigers. However, this reaction has now become counterproductive. When your body is in this state, all your parasympathetic system, the relaxing system, shuts down and all your sympathetic system, the fighting system, is in overdrive. So, your adrenaline, a hormone that helps you fight, goes very high, it upsets your hormonal balance and makes you feel uncomfortable. So in the setting of running from a tiger, feeling uncomfortable…..its not too bad! The sympathetic system is helping you to save your life.

But in this day and age, we are not running from tigers, or elephants or crocodiles!

When we are stressed and our mind and body is focused on trying to survive, we are not going to get a lovely creative thought! Stress is distracting, and thus destructive to creativity. If you are worried about being late to school, you will have less mental energy to think of a good idea of how to get there early. Living in a stressful world, working constantly under the pressure of just life itself…what a terrible way to live.

Being fearless, sets you free!

How to Beat Stress My first piece of advice is that One size does not fit all! So everyone will have their own way of dealing with stress.

I will discuss only one of the ways today, but this is not the only way and this may or may not work for you. This article is not meant to be in replacement of medical professionals. However, you may find some thing in my column that will help you deal with your current life situation.

The good news is that being kids, this is the time to make good habits, to retrain your mind for a healthier and happier future.

How Creativity Reduces Stress?

In very simple terms, shifting your thoughts and thus your mindset, clears your brain and helps your focus. When you are being creative you are using your brain and being completely involved in it. That will boost your productivity and switch off your inner chatter. Yes your mind does keep your mind busy with negative thoughts.

Singing/Song Writing/Poem Writing

I had a patient who would sing when she was anxious. That is a practical form of creativity distracting your mind and calming it down. Again, it may not be for everyone. But congratulations to all of you who are writing poems and are active in creative writing. You may not even know but you are making positive changes in your brain.

Drawing

If you prefer drawing, use your sketch book.

It does not matter whether you are good at drawing or not. Let me repeat that, as it is worth repeating; It does not matter if you are not good at drawing. Drawing helps reconnect with the playfulness of your kindergarten years. You will subconsciously remember the happy times of finger painting and just having fun!

parents. Later on in life, this habit will continue to give back to you.

Writing About Emotions

This only works for people who donot have a mental illness, as it may stir up thoughts that may be detrimental to your state of mind. If you are suffering from depression or post traumatic stress disorder, writing about it may make you relive and make it worse.

But for healthy students who use expressive writing find that it helps reduce stress and anxiety.

Any Kind of Writing

Writing doesnot have to be related to your direct emotional or social situation. Writing in any form can otentially help. Expressive writing helps people overcome their emotional inhibiton. Writing helps people organize thoughts. It helps them regulate their emotions. Fictional writing gives them freedom of imagination. It helps you focus on the positive. It helps you change your thoughts for the better.

I THINK, THEREFORE I AM Need I say more?

Until next time..

Keep writing!!

.

Gratitude Diary

Journaling positive thoughts will improve your mood and reduce your stress. This at first will not sound to you as being creative, but it actually is a form of creative writing.

There is a lot of evidence (scientific experiments) that have proven multiple times that this exercise not only improves your mood, energy, but also your relationships. At your age, you will be surprised how much more appreciative you will be of your siblings and

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Art Gallery

Aaiza Zafar-12 years old, Smith Middle School Glastonbury, CT, USA Abdullah Alam-LGS JT, Lahore, Pakistan

Maha Mansur-9 year old, Hope Well School, Glastonbury, CT, USA

Zarwa Umar Bhatti-8 years old, LGS, Lahore

Sauban Naveed- 9 yearsold Aitchison College Lahore, Pakistan Ayan Mansur- 6 years old, Hopewell School, Glastonbury, CT, USA

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Zaina Zafar-6 years old, Hopewell School, Glastonbury, CT, USA

FAQs Q Q Q

Can only students of Ray Academics contribute to The Creatives?

No, you don’t have to be a student of Ray Academics to contribute to The Creatives Can anyone contribute?

Submissions are allowed from 6 year olds to 16 yearolds. We are welcoming of new ideas and would love to showcase young talent.

How can I ensure that I don’t miss a single issue of The Creatives?

You can always get an annual subscription for the magazine. The magazine will be delivered at your doorstep as soon as it is released.

Q

What’’s your policy on plagiarism?

Q

Are there any requirements?

Q Q

Ray Academics has the right to ban you from making any further contributions if you have copied work and attributed as your own.

Stories, poems, articles, interviews are all welcome at Ray Academics. Please note that all contributions need to be typed and emailed to the editor at info@r rayacademics.com. No contributions will be accepted on whatsapp, messenger or any other platform. Your written work must be double spaced and you can use the Arial or Times New Roman with a 12 size font. You must include your name, age and school.

Can I send only written work as a contribution?

No, you are welcome to send in your art work digitally.

How can I send in my art work?

You can take a picture of your art work and email it to us at info@r rayacademics.com