Hala and the Bow
- Ghala Hamid Alzaabi
- Feb 7, 2021
- 10 min read
Updated: Mar 15, 2021
Hala is just a normal girl, living in a far village. She didn’t love her life as it is, because people in her village were depressing and sad, but little did she know a bow can change her life and her loved ones forever...
Chapters:
1. Village Girl
Hala is a girl who dreams much, thinks deeply and lays neatly. Her dream is to live in a big house with all of her family together, she works so hard just to make the dream work. She wants justice always, but where she lives is the complete opposite. She lives in a far, far village where civil wars always happen, where neighbors throw words at each other and where, if you fall on your knees hurting, no one will ever help. The village is dark and odd. If they see a girl wandering around, they will throw things at her and they will be proud of it. Such an awful world, but she was always around. Hala is a 10-year-old girl with dark brown curly hair, like the waves of the dark seas, her skin glows like the stars that glow in the dark. Her words are deep, like the depth of the deepest wells. She is short, but her words are taller. She adores her family, even though she lives in the darkest place; with her family she somehow makes it shine. She has always dreamt of a new start, a new place, new people and new sparks. It never happened, but she never stopped dreaming about it. Every day she prays to live in a happy place.
She prays for a day that she will find something that will change her life forever, little did she know that the days of change are getting closer.
2. Mysterious Thing
“Give it a chance"
Hala decided to go out, to the other side of the village, to buy some goods for tonight’s dinner. She walked as quick as a predator chasing its prey, so that she does not get bullied by the men in the streets. She walked between females because she felt safer there. Then, while walking, some street boys, who were older than her by 5 years, started insulting her and bullying her. She kept walking, wondering how shameful they must feel, but the answer was always there…The other side of the village was so far away; she had to ride a carriage and trains to get there, especially with her small feet. Hala tried finding a carriage to ride, but it was hard because she was a child between hundreds of adults and teens. She just waited there for hours, eventually she sat down as she was tired and hopeless. Then a mysterious and kind old man saw her and decided to take her to the trains, so that she could go to the other side of the village. She was quiet during the whole ride, so the old man asked her for her name. She answered, “My name is Hala”.
He generously said, “What a nice name for a pretty young lady like you.”
She answered with a smile, “Thank you so much, how generous.”
Hala said her goodbyes to the old man and went to register to go to her destination. She was walking towards the train when, suddenly, a mysterious bow scratched her face as it was flying towards the destination of the wind.
3. Patterned Bow
“CAN a bow be MYSTERIOUS?”
Hala was so confused! The bows that they wore in the village are usually black and white only, but that bow was patterned with mysterious words. She didn’t think much of it, she loved it and she wore it above her ponytail. She went to the train, humming happily to her favorite song. She couldn’t believe that she was so close to bringing the delicious food across the village. She walked towards the best groceries in the village, she was happy. Suddenly, the same mysterious old man, who had brought her to the trains, came to her in shock. He said, “You’re Hala, right?” She replied, in shock, “Oh hey, how did you get here? I saw you leaving …” He pointed towards the bow that she was wearing and said, “I knew that you were special when I met you, I saw a spark.” Hala was confused and said, “Thankyou, I knew that you were a great guy too.”
He asked her to sit down and started to tell her the story of the little bow, he said that it was magical. She did not know if she should believe him or not, but he also said that the small patterned bow could change her life for the best. So, she agreed to follow in adventures that will change her, and her family’s lives for good.
Join Hala and the mysterious old man to see what will happen next...
4. Clues to the Blues
“Each clue matters”
The old man took Hala to the woods; it was dark at night. He built a shelter and found food for them to stay the night, until the next morning when the first clue will appear that will show them where the mysteriously fashioned bow will take them. The next morning, they both woke up super energetic and ready for a new adventure to a mysterious treasure or place. They started looking for clues in the woods. It was hard and it took them two whole days, but they eventually found the clue lying beside a wooden tree. Hala's family was so worried, they had not seen their daughter in days, and they freaked out. They did not know whether to start searching for her or not, because they did not really know
if their daughter was on the other side of the village or if she was having a hard time reaching there. They did not want to risk sending anyone out there, because they had already missed a lot of their family members due to them leaving and never coming back. So, they just stayed and they prayed for their sweet daughter to come back.
The first clue was a little tricky, Hala and the old man didn't know whether the clue would lead them to the other villages or to the same village that they were in. It sure was tricky, but they also had an item that will surely help them to discover the next destination.
5. Crews
“Go back to where you belong”
Hala remembered that the clue had mentioned that another clue, which would help them to find the destination, can be found beside the crews. Hala knew that it did not actually mean crew, as in crowd of people, but that it referred to the musical band, called Crews, in their village. On the way to the music studio, they saw a girl handing out papers with the words, “Crews are performing tonight.” The old man and Hala decided to go to their show that night. Hala was so excited to go to the show, because she was a big fan of their music. She was humming all the way to the clothing store, to buy a nice clean outfit for the show.
Hala and the old man went to the show early, so that they could search the place to find the next clue to the destination of the treasure. The band came up to them and said, “Fans aren’t allowed here.”
Even though Hala was a fan, she knew that she didn’t come to watch the show as a fan, but as a change of life. She replied, “We’re not fans, we are here to find a clue to a mysterious treasure or place.”
The band saw Hala’s bow, they looked at each other and smiled. They said, “Okay then, the next clue is to go to your family, the clue will be there.”
The old man and Hala weren’t sure whether to believe them or not, but they decided that it was time for Hala to go to her house and her family. It had been weeks since Hala had been with her family and they were probably worried.
6. Mr. Woodensmith
“It’s a pleasure getting to know you”
On their way back home, Hala was thinkingabout how she will find the next clue betweenher family. Out of curiosityshe said to the old man, “Oh, I never asked you what your name is.” He replied, “You can call me, Mr. Woodensmith.” “Such a nice name for an old man,” she said smiling. He answered, “Thank you, young lady.” They were gettingcloser and closerto Hala’s family houseand she was so excited to finally be with her family. She arrived, but before ringing the bell to her family’s house, she asked, “Oh, I never asked you about your family, what if the clue is there?” Mr. Woodensmith refused to answer directly, but said, “I’m pretty sure that they meant your family. C’mon, ring the bell”. Hala was so excited, she rang the bell and her family answered
the door happily. They started hugging each other, their smiles were as bright as they ever could be. Hala introduced Mr. Woodensmith to her family and she explained about the mysterious bow and that a patterned bow could change their lives forever.
Hala and Mr. Woodensmith didn’t seem to find anything that would lead them to the treasure or place. They asked for help from her family, but they didn’t find anything useful. Before Hala put herself to sleep, she remembered that she had missed a family member, her sweet grandma. Hala told Mr. Woodensmith about her grandma and they decided to go to see her the next morning, hoping that they will find something useful.
7. The Fright
“GRANNY can carry”
They woke up the next morning, they ate breakfast and walked excitedly to Hala’s grandmother. Hala always felt a different love from her grandmother. Her grandmother always gave her luck, so she had no setbacks. Hala rang her grandma’s bell and her grandma welcomed her. The grandma saw Mr. Woodensmith and said, “James Jones Woodensmith! Hello, what are you doing here?”
Hala was so confused and said, “But grandma, I haven’t introduced you to Mr. Woodensmith, how do you know him?”
The grandma answered, “He’s an old friend.”
She continued, “So, what are you doing here?”
“I came for a clue to change my life” Hala answered.
The grandmother smiled and said, “I should have known my old friend, welcome.” The grandmother hugged Mr. Woodensmith and gave Hala the clue, saying, “You will find a door between highest and lights, the key is always in the hearts, the mountain is called the fright”.
Hala and Mr. Woodensmith thanked the grandmother and went to the fright. The fright had small old forts, so they decided to search there, but they could not find anything that would lead them to the magical life-changing door. It was dark at night, so they decided to start searching deeply the next day. During the dark night, Hala woke up to a shining bright light. She woke Mr. Woodensmith and they followed the light, suddenly they saw a bright door...
8. Happy Place
“The happier the better”
They were so sleepy, but on the other hand so excited and happy. They didn’t know whether they should go now or wait until the morning, but they realized that they had not seen this door earlier that day. They thought it might disappear the next morning and that it was a sign to go right now. Hala decided that she had to go first because the door fits only one person. Hala entered, she then looked Mr. Woodensmith in the eyes and told him that it was time for him to enter. However, slowly Mr. Woodensmith walked away.
Hala was tearing up and confused, but she suddenly felt something strange in her body and she noticed that she was flying up so high to a mysterious place. She went there and saw a grown-up woman, all dressed up with nice flowy hair that was flying around her. The woman told her, “This is the part where it all goes, this is the part where lives are changed. For you, my darling, life will be a surprise.”
Hala smiled, she was so ready to start a new beginning. The women held her hand and, with a finger snap, Hala found herself back in the village.
Hala started walking, suspiciously she looked around and she saw that nothing had changed. But, suddenly, she saw everyone smiling and helping each other. She saw people walking together, happily, as if it had always been this way. Hala smiled because she realized that, not only did she make her life good, but everyone else’s around her.
9. Far Goodbyes
“MY lovely goodbyes”
Hala ran to her parents’ house, she was smiling all the way. She didn't realize that she had walked hundreds of miles. She opened the door, smiling all happy, and then she saw her family sitting as usual. She thought that nothing had changed with her family, just with the village. She got really upset. She asked her mom if anything had changed after she left for a magical door. Her mother seemed confused and said, “What magical door sweetie?”
Hala answered, “The trip that me and Mr. Woodensmith took, for a couple of days, that was meant to change our lives forever.”
The mom said, “Who is Mr. Woodensmith?”
She added, “Honey, why do we need a change in our lives? We are happy, we always were.”
Hala then realized that the only change that was needed was her village and not her family, they had always been happy together.
Hala missed Mr. Woodensmith and she wanted to ask about him, but she could not. No one knew him, they would’t remember, because everyone’s memory about that depressing old village life had vanished. Hala was sad, even though her life was completely changed. She still loved Mr. Woodensmith because he had supported her all the way.
Hala was about to fall asleep when she suddenly heard something strange. She saw Mr. Woodensmith, her grandmother and the band smiling together with another mysterious patterned bow. Hala smiled, knowing that they were in it together the whole time and that it was time for them to change other people’s lives. She then saw a little wave from Mr. Woodensmith, saying his goodbyes.
The end.
About the Author
Ghala Hamid Alzaabi, the writer of this book, was born in 2006. She grew in a safe country where she feels free to do whatever she desires. Writing is one of her passions, if she had not written this book, then she wouldn’t know how creative or what a good author she is...
This book took me days and hard work to do it, I hope you like it. Rise up, and grow up.
This story is also written to tell you that if you need a change in life, take action and risk for that, everyone deserves a better change and the new, better them.
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