In the cloudy, dim and gloomy winter night, together with my cousin who was staying at my house for the night, I decided to write a storybook — a book that we had always dreamt of, a book that would have all the fantasies we wished were true, a book that was pure magic.

We were about 12 at the time. I’d never had good command of writing and had struggled for years, so I was a little sceptical, but I was still very excited about writing a storybook.

To begin with, we wrote the names of all genres on one sheet of paper. After going back and forth, we both agreed on fantasy fiction. After dinner, we started writing the story. I got my new writing journal, some paints, colours, pencils and markers.

After that we started brainstorming. We discussed the whole story and wrote suggestions on another sheet. It was then time to create the cover design and, since our story was about magic, fantasies, fairies, prince and princess, we wanted the cover to be as magical as possible.

For the cover, I drew a princess and a prince, both draped in glitter, thanks to glitter glue. The princess wore a long floral maxi with puff sleeves and gold jewellery with glass slippers. Her hair was super long which was half braided and curled at the end.

The story began with a girl named Stella, who was on an excursion with her friends. They were having a bonfire and were playing around. After that, all of the friends went to their own tents while Stella stumbled upon a small box that she picked up and decided to take with her to her tent, Stella fell down on her way back to the tent.

The box slipped out of her hand and fell, opening up and a bright light came out of the box. Stella, being in utter surprise and wonder, took the box with her into the tent. She looked inside the box and saw a bottle and a letter in that box. She opened the letter and began to read.

The letter explained what was in the bottle and how Stella would get three wishes fulfilled. After reading the letter, Stella was stunned and in disbelief. She thought that it was some sort of prank and did not open the bottle. She quickly kept the box aside and fell asleep.

The next morning, she woke up on hearing a loud banging noise. It took her a minute to figure out where these sounds were coming from. After realising that it was coming from inside the box, she looked inside. The bottle was still there. Stella decided to read the letter once more. It still said that she could get three wishes fulfilled due to the magical content in the bottle. There were actually three little fairies in the bottle who were there to grant Stella’s wishes.

When she opened the bottle, a bright beam of light came out along with some sparkles. The light was so bright that Stella found it hard to look through it. After a while, the light became dim and then Stella was amazed to see the sparkling little creatures flying in front of her, looking absolutely adorable.

Stella excitedly said, “I had always thought that fairies weren’t real!”

The fairies told Stella that each one of them can fulfil one of Stella’s wish, but, after fulfilment of the wish, she will never see them again. Stella went back home after the trip and took this box with her. She decided not to use her wishes and to have the fairies by herself for the rest of her life.

After a few days, Eid arrived. It was the night before the Eid. Her tailor had messed up her dress and she was so sad and worried about what she would wear the next day on Eid. Stella wished she had the most beautiful dress for the Eid.

After hardly five minutes, there was a knock on the main door of her house. When Stella opened the door, there was a box outside the house with the fairy sticker on it. Taking the box, Stella went to her room and quickly checked the magic bottle inside the box she had found on her trip.

Stella only found two fairies inside. To confirm that this wish was fulfilled by the magic of the fairies, Stella made another wish, this time for a diamond ring. Within moments, there appeared a ring box on her side table with a fairy sticker on it. Sure enough, there as a diamond ring inside.

Now Stella firmly believed in the letter and didn’t want to waste her last wish on something small, so she wished to marry a prince. Eventually, Stella married a prince and lived happily ever after.

We wrote this story on my journal and added visuals along the story on every page. We didn’t even notice the time and by the time we finished the story, it was already a bright, cloudy and cold morning. We made everyone read our story and I remember our parents were so proud. To date, I think it was one of my best works.

I just want to say that you should never underestimate yourself, you can do far more than you think you are capable of. If I had never tried to write this story, I don’t think I would be writing anything today.

Published in Dawn, Young World, October 15th, 2022