Flying To Neverland…

Hi guys! Sorry I haven’t been updating for a while. I’ve been flying off to the wonderful world of Neverland…

…or so I wish! In actual fact, I’ve been unbelievably busy since school started – I’ve had a lot on my schedule in such a short amount of time! But finally, I’ve found one of those rare moments of quiet that school life gives me, and so I think it’s time I told you guys a bit about what’s been going on now that I’m back in the busy flow of school life…

The biggest thing that’s happened this year so far would probably be getting a place in this year’s JUNIOR PRODUCTION! As I’ve said in my previous vlog, I auditioned for a role in the production, and for at least a week, I was waiting nervously. Then finally, the cast list was released, and I must have spent at least 5 minutes carefully reading each row – frankly, I was a little bit scared about the result! Then my eyes fell upon my name, and I was over the moon!

So now I’m involved in more than weekly rehearsals at lunch and after-school too, which is one of the main reasons why I haven’t been able to post anything for so long, alongside my many homeworks. I’m not sure if you guys remember, but I was also in last year’s production of ‘Around The World In 80 Days’. I played the Indian merchant and the dancing octopus – both roles I am very proud of!

This year’s production is called ‘An Awfully Big Adventure’, and it’s quite different than last year. It’s kind of a cross between Peter Pan and Mary Poppins, and it explains the origins of the world-famous children’s tale. It seems like a very good watch! This year, I’ll be playing the role of one of the grumpy Park Keepers that turn in to PIRATES when the park is transformed into Neverland through magical stories (see? I wasn’t completely lying about flying off to Neverland)! We’re basically the comedy of the show! So far, it’s been a really interesting acting experience – I can’t wait for what else this year’s Junior Production has in store for me!

But the Junior Production is only the icing on the cake…I’ve yet to get to the cherry on top! Less than a week ago, our English teacher set us a homework task of writing a revenge story. At first, I was struggling a lot to think of something to write about, but then a light bulb went off in my head, and after writing it, I handed it in more confidently than I had started off writing it! And guess what? I ended up getting my first GOLDEN BOOK of the year for it! Alhamdulillah, it’s truly a blessing from Allah, but also a sign that I should take this as motivation to carry on working hard!

So all in all, this first half-term has proved to be a very enriching and fruitful one…I can only think of what lies in wait for the rest of the school year!

Blessed,

Omar Mukhtar

World Book Day

Today is World Book Day! As I see Mr Dad busy preparing costumes for Fatimah and Ali, I can’t help but miss those days in primary school when I dressed up myself. The most memorable costume would have to be the one for World Book Day 2017! I always preferred to be different from other people. I hated those ready-made shop-bought costumes because most of them were Disney cartoon characters. So in 2017, instead of dressing up as a character from a book, I came as…an author! Yes, that’s right, an author! I always believed that I had an author in me somewhere, screaming to get out!

As a big fan of Charles Dickens, I chose to dress up as him during his childhood, the darkest hours of his life, when his family was in debt and his father was sent to prison. He was only 12 years old but he was forced to take up a job in a shoe-shine factory to earn money for his family at this time of his life.

I can clearly remember the night before the big day…

Mrs Mom was really ill at the time, and Mr Dad had his hands full not only looking after her, but Fatimah and Ali too. So there I was, still no costume ready – but I guess I was lucky! If Cinderella has her own fairy godmother to prepare her outfit to the ball, then I too have a fairy god-uncle who came to the rescue! My Mamajee was the one who saved World Book Day! He searched through my wardrobe, looking for something he could work his magic on. He stayed up all night preparing the costume. He even went as far as cutting up gloves and sewing on patches for my trousers one by one!

So here it is, my costume for World Book Day 2017, handmade specially by my PAWSOME uncle! And it’s not just handmade, but handmade with love. It may seem like a normal costume, but really, the love, care, time and effort that has gone into it is what makes it so valuable and heartfelt! And that’s what made this World Book Day one of the most memorable ones!

Sentimental mode on,

Omar Mukhtar a.k.a. The Pawsome Lion

#The12YearOldAuthor

#BornToWrite

#WorldBookDay

p/s: Since it’s World Book Day, I can’t help but think that if Mamajee was a book character, he would definitely be Gandalf from ‘Lord Of The Rings’ because he is kind, wise and he always has magic up his sleeves! What about you? If you were a book character, who would you choose to be?

ROOM

It is dark. It is cold. I am scared.

I can’t remember anything but it all seems familiar. The grey stone walls, the weird mossy smell, the chains. The chains on my stomach. Why are they there? I can’t get out. There are no windows. The only light comes from the few cracks in the wall. There is a rectangular outline in the wall. A door? Yes, a door! I get up and walk towards it. I grab the handle. It’s locked. I shake and pull, but still it doesn’t budge. I huff and stomp my feet in frustration.

Clank! There is a noise behind me. I whip around. Nothing is there except for the chains. The chains. They’ve moved. They’re right at my feet. I kick them away and turn back to the door. I am about to drive my foot into it when something drags me from behind into the darkness of the corner of the room.

I wake up. It is dark. It is cold. I am scared.

The chains are there in front of me. I get up and go to the door. I try the handle again. Still nothing. I push and pull. Then I have an idea. I grab the chains of the floor. They are cold. And heavy. Very heavy. I whip them against the door. The sound of the metal against the wood is eerie, like fingernails on a chalkboard.

Cracks are starting to appear in the door. I raise my hands above my head for one last effort. I throw the chains against the door. I miss. Somehow. The chains wrap around me and knock me off my feet. I fall through the stone floor into the darkness.

I wake up. It is dark. It is cold. But I am not scared. I am angry. Angry at the chains. Angry at the door. Angry at myself. I’m going crazy. The chains are not there anymore. But the door is. I stand up and make my way towards it. Then I punch it. I punch and punch until my fists go red and my knuckles bleed. Then I scream. My throat is raw, but I keep on screaming. Then I drop to the floor, out of breath. If the door won’t give way, then I shall start on the wall. I’ll claw my way out through the cracks.

No. That won’t work. Wow. I am going crazy. I laugh. I laugh at how stupid I am. Soon the laughter turns into crying. Crying into screaming. Screaming into anger. Anger into one final push.

I grit my teeth and press my hands up against the door. The cracks in the wood grow, until at last, it shatters, like glass. I lose my balance and fall into the nothingness beyond.

Thud! I land on my feet. There is a slight pain in my legs. I can’t see anything. Everything is pitch black. The only sound that can be heard is my heavy breathing. But then there’s a thump. It comes from behind me. What is it? Whatever it is, I’m not going to wait for it to come get me. I start to edge away, trying my best to be silent. But that thing in the darkness pushes me to the floor. I have no other choice. I run. I run as fast as my legs can carry me. But I’m not fast enough. I feel it dragging me back by the collar. My strain to get away. But my efforts don’t work. It picks me up then throws me to the floor. My whole body throbs with pain. Quietly sobbing, I drag myself across the ground. I am desperate to get away.

The thing hisses threateningly behind me. It sounds demonic, deathly. I just know it wants to kill me. But why? No time to find out.

Crawling, crawling, crawling. Like a worthless little bug. I have never had to crawl for my life before, but I had never imagined it could be so terrifying. Gradually, I slow down. I am running out of breath. This is hopeless. I might as well die. I lie on the floor, waiting for the beast to take me and kill me. But then I see a glint of light. Daylight. A doorway. Hope.

Groaning, I pull myself onto my knees and drag myself closer to the heavenly light. I want to escape, but at the same time, I want to die from the pain. It’s just too much. But no. I can’t give up. Crawl, crawl, crawl. Crawl to safety, I hope. I hope. Just hope.

I am nearly there. Just a little more. But I don’t make it. My legs buckle. I drop to the floor and lie there, sobbing. It hurts so, so much. Soon, the deathly hissing surrounds me. It’s so loud it’s like it’s like is coming from my own mouth. The light fades. My limbs go numb. The hissing grows quieter. Then, emptiness.

I wake up. It is bright. It is warm. I’m in bed.

I look around. Everything seems normal. Just a bad dream. But where am I? How did I get here? I look down at my legs. They’re in thick layers of bandages. Did I have an accident? Am I in some kind of nursing home?

I get out of bed to investigate, but I can’t even walk to the door. My hands are chained to the bed. Those chains look familiar. I know them. I’ve seen them. But where? Then I remember, and a pang of fear hits me. These are the chains that I used to escape that dreary grey room. These are the chains that hunted me down. These are the chains that I dreamed of, but was it even a dream?

It is no longer bright, but grey and insipid. I take a look around the room. My eyes rest on the wooden desk in front of me. Piles upon piles of documents are stacked on top of each other. I read through them. I see my name at the top of one. They’re about me. I read on.

PATIENT SHOWS SIGNS OF SLIGHT DISORIENTATION. UNFOCUSSED, FREQUENTLY FORGETS CURRENT SITUATION. SCHEDULED FOR MORE APPOINTMENTS, WILL RECORD PROGRESS THROUGHOUT THE COURSE OF THE WEEKS.

Strange. I look to the other pieces of paper.

DAY 1:

PATIENT IS STILL DISORIENTED, DOES NOT RESPOND WHEN CALLED. EXPRESSIONLESS. MINIMAL SPEECH.

DAY 2:

PATIENT CANNOT RECALL BASIC FACTS ABOUT SELF, DOES NOT KNOW CURRENT SITUATION HE IS IN. SEEMS WARY OF OTHER PEOPLE. RECLUSIVE.

DAY 5:

DELUSIONAL. CALLS OTHERS BY MADE-UP NAMES. IS UNSURE OF OWN IDENTITY. HALLUCINATIONS OF INTRUDERS. PILLS PRESCRIBED.

DAY 10:

PATIENT HAS REFUSED TO TAKE PILLS. FREQUENT MOOD SWINGS. CLAIMS THAT HE IS BEING HUNTED DOWN BY “IT”, AN IMAGINARY BEING WITH CHAINS. ENJOYS VIOLENT ACTIVITY. TALKS ABOUT SUICIDE.

DAY 25:

PATIENT MUMBLES INCOHERENT WORDS. REACTS VIOLENTLY WHEN INTERRUPTED. ATTEMPTED ESCAPE. INJURED SEVERAL PEOPLE. HE MUST BE RESTRAINED.

DIAGNOSIS: PATIENT IS SCHIZOPHRENIC – LEVEL: DANGEROUS

I pull away from the desk. My head is spinning. I’m confused. Can I even trust myself? My inner voices become real, and they taunt me, tell me to get out. I’m not the person I know anymore. I don’t think I ever really knew myself before. I look at the chains and think, I’ve done this to myself. I look up to the mirror hanging on the wall, and my heart nearly stops. My reflection doesn’t look like the me I know. It hisses back at me, but this time in despair. The story is clear. I am my own victim. I am the beast.

Written by O. Mukhtar O. Mukhlis

26th October 2018

National Writing Day 2018

I feel most free when…I am writing. Like now. It feels fantastic! Writing is a time when you can let loose and get caught up in what you love most. It’s almost like magic! You put pen to paper and then suddenly…you’re sitting in another world altogether! There’s enchantment in the air, impossible becomes possible, you can do anything you want! But the best part is that the subjects aren’t limited: you can write about anything! Football, flowers, the great outdoors, magic – anything you can think of can be turned into a brilliant piece of writing! You could even write about writing, like I am right now! The possibilities are endless! So that’s what I think. I feel most free when I am writing! What about you?

p/s: Happy National Writing Day 2018!

#nationalwritingday #writeaway

123 Countries…And Counting!

Did you know that my blog has been read by 123 countries and counting till date? Unbelievable, right? There are a total of 195 countries in the whole world, and 123 of them have read my humble blog!

I started blogging way back in 2015 at the age of 9. I’ve been through such a long journey since I started, and learnt so much along the way! For as long as I can remember, I have always loved to write. I recall writing from as young as the age of 4! And before I could even write, I expressed my passion of writing through drawing! From there, I built up my skill in writing. I can see now why Mrs Mom says I was ‘BORN TO WRITE!’

The main purpose of me launching this blog was to encourage more people to read and write. Reading and writing open up the imagination and increase creativity, which is why I think it is very vital in today’s modern society. It’s important to challenge ourselves to read every day, however much you do, because reading leads to writing. Whether you read one page a day or one chapter, you just need to remember to keep it consistent, the same way with writing too.

I Thank God for blessing me with my greatest skill, writing, because without it, I wouldn’t be who I am today! Also, I want to take the opportunity to THANK all the people who have been reading my blog and showing me immense support! I mean, 123 countries? I couldn’t ask for more! I can still remember when I went for my interview at King Edward’s School, the interviewers were surprised to find out that an 11-year old boy could attract readers from all over the world! To be able to write is one thing, to get people from over 100 countries to read your work is a completely different story!

Without my family, teachers, friends, and of course, you PAWSOME readers, I wouldn’t be where I am today! I really appreciate all your kindness and PAWSOME support. Keep calm and carry on reading so that TOGETHER WE CAN CHANGE THE WORLD!

Lemony Snicket’s ‘A Series Of Unfortunate Events’

Many people have requested me to share what books I like to read. Well, over a period of time, I will be posting my favourite books on my blog. I’ll start off today with something written by one of my favourite authors.

‘A Series Of Unfortunate Events’ is written by Daniel Handler under his pen name ‘Lemony Snicket’. It is one of the best fictional works I’ve ever read! Mystery is one of my favourite genres, and here, Snicket has really pulled it off.

There’s just the right amount of action, suspense and humour, making it an enjoyable experience to read. There’s clear distinction between the characters, so you’ll know who’s like what without having to struggle. ‘A Series Of Unfortunate Events’ also contains surprising plot twists, guaranteed to make the story even more interesting! It’s also similar to a dictionary because of its high vocabulary, and it will enrich your word bank! Here’s part of one of Snicket’s books:

“My, my, my, my, my,” said a voice from behind them, and the Baudelaire orphans turned to find Stephano standing there, the black suitcase with the shiny silver padlock in his hands and a look of brummagem surprise on his face. “Brummagem” is such a rare word for “fake” that even Klaus didn’t know what it meant[…].

-The Reptile Room (2 of 13 books)

Chapter 7

You can see an example of his use of rare words in this part of a book. So if you haven’t heard of ‘brummagem’ before, you’ll find it in ‘A Series Of Unfortunate Events’! Another impressive aspect of Snicket’s writing is the figurative language. This feature really paints a clear image in the reader’s head, adding to the brilliance of the story.

The illustrator Lemony Snicket worked with, Brett Helquist, also produced stunning drawings, so we have a better understanding of what things look like in the story. The pair make a story that is truly unforgettable!

Other than reading the books, I have also watched both the movie and the TV series adaptions. However, I prefer the books over the movies as they have much more detail. It’s easier to understand what the characters are thinking and better to incorporate suspense as it is told from certain characters’ perspective. In the movie, you would be able to know what was happening as you could see all around. There are also more ways that humour can be incorporated in through the narration, not just the action of the characters.

Overall, ‘A Series Of Unfortunate Events’ is a great collection of books and if you’re looking for something adventurous to read, it is definitely the best to start with. It’s not too fast, not too slow, and there are some brilliant writing ideas to find! Lemony Snicket has nailed mystery and dark comedy with this story – out of 5, I would rate it 5 stars! Watch out for my next posts: I’ll be sharing more on what books I’ve read!

“There are those who say that life is like a book, with chapters for each event in your life and a limited amount of pages on which you can spend your time. But I prefer to think that a book is like a life, particularly a good one, which is well worth staying up all night to finish.”

-Lemony Snicket

*Media Source: Google Images*

Under The Lake

Every day is just about the same for me. Wake up, brush my teeth, wash my face, grab an apple and walk straight into that 300-foot deep lake outside.

I work under the surface – well, when I say under, I mean on the other side. There’s plenty of other people that come too, it’s part of life for us. We work for Death, writing reports on certain people that are assigned to us, then calculating their life expectancy. Death has less on his plate because of us, so all he needs to do is fix his schedule.

Everything we do, think and feel is written on our bodies as soon as we pass through the portal. When we resurface, the writing disappears. Death pays us quite a fair salary each week, so life is sweet. There’s just one catch: whenever I start work, my skin is empty.

Death doesn’t favour me as much as the others, even though my wages are the same. There was another one like me, but she died sometime before I started. They call us Outsiders, which is pretty rude, but I don’t care.

I was always empty-skinned until that one day when my life seemed to change forever. I went through the same morning routine: brush teeth, wash face, eat apple, walk into lake. I just didn’t know that under the lake, it would be different.

The first few steps in are through the water barrier, then we should arrive on the other side. This time around, though, the journey seemed longer, and as I delved deeper and deeper, I could make out the distinctive shape of a person in the distance, a man, tall and skinny. He gradually came closer and closer, until I could see his face. It was Death himself, and he had grabbed hold of my hand. Before he pushed me up to the surface, he uttered four words: “You, master of me.”

And suddenly I was floating back up, and I flew out of the lake, landing on my feet. I wasn’t the slightest bit wet, as always. There was a piece of paper in my hand, reading:

Take my place under the lake.

Yours,

D.

And on my hand was a single word, as if written in black ink. ‘No need to ask for wages anymore.’ I thought to myself as I walked back to my cosy little home, smiling at my own hand, reading over and over again ‘Death’.

You Cannot Tell

I first saw him in the window of my living room. He was wearing a worn out, black bowler hat and a brown leather coat. His eyes were illuminated on his dark, shadowy face. He was carrying what seemed to be a blade. Other people would have been terrified but I just stood there, sort of transfixed by his appearance. He came the next night, this time looking into the kitchen. A red rose replaced the knife in his hand. I wondered why he was coming to my house. Perhaps he was homeless. It was 7 days later when I started to become worried, though. He had been coming to my house and looking through the windows for a whole week and on Monday he had come with a knife again – it had blood stains on the tip. I thought about calling the police, but would that make me his next victim? I shuddered. I decided to stay put in my bedroom, lock all the doors and shut all the curtains. I soon dozed off.

The next morning, I was no longer in my bedroom. I was on the floor of my living room. A chalk outline surrounded me. Nobody else was there. I was very confused. Then, out of the corner of my eye, I saw something come out of the wall. It was shadowy, scruffy, a tall figure looming like a tower. I turned around and saw that it was the man that I had seen in the window, pale-faced and untidy. He was holding the same blood-stained knife; it glinted faintly in the dim light. He gave me an icy stare, then leapt at me. His knife jutted out and he cried out in rage. I screamed and rolled over to dodge him, the knife swishing past and narrowly missing my head. He dived through the floor, like it was some kind of eerie wooden swimming pool. I crawled backwards to the sofa, bewildered as to where he was. Suddenly, he sprang out, shouting in anger. His face was nearly scarlet, his scruffy eyebrows highly slanted. I flinched as he flew through the air towards me. His coat was splattered with flecks of blood. I wanted to move but it seemed like I was glued to where I was. He brushed my shoulder, but as soon as he laid his hand on me, a bright white light lit up the room. The man howled as his hand glowed red. It must have burned, seared, split his palm open. Slowly, he started to disappear, like smoke wafting away from its chimney. Oh, how he shrieked! The sound echoed around the room. It rang inside my ears, it slowly mauled my brain. I closed my eyes tightly, nearly gluing them shut. When I reopened them, I was alone in the room. Everything was silent. No blood. No knife. No hat. No man. Just me, in the room of the house. I could hear police sirens wailing outside. They reminded me of banshees, sobbing in mourning. Apparently, my neighbour had heard the screaming and shouting.

From then on, I was alone in my house. No one came to visit, no one stood outside the windows. But one day, the doorbell rang, and outside was a black bowler hat, a rose, a knife and a note:

‘You cannot tell.’

Create A Story – 11 Reasons Why I Love It

As a writer, I’m always looking for ways to improve, however I need to. Then I came across Create A Story, a children’s creative writing book in the making, and guess what? They asked me to review their early preview of the book! It was an honour to be offered something such as this! I agreed and tried it out, and let me tell you this: it was PAWSOME! Create A Story is definitely the go-to book for children between 7-11 who are new to the world of writing, but even kids who have been writing stories for a long time will benefit from it! I must admit, even I did! And, as promised, I am sharing my thoughts on the early preview book. Below are the 11 reasons why I love Create A Story!

1. A writing topic is given and clearly explained so you have a better image in your head of what you are going to be writing about.
2. The story is split into sections, making it easier for you to plan each part.
3. Examples of main characters, villains and optional pets are shown so you have more ideas about your own characters.
4. Once you choose a main character, you analyse them step by step, from their personality to the items that they are carrying. Very helpful so you know what your character is going to do in the story.
5. Powerful vocabulary is used in the explanations to enrich knowledge and tricky words are underlined with meanings given beside them.
6. To prompt setting descriptions, small spaces for the five senses are used so you can note down what you see, smell, taste, feel and hear.
7. A space for drawing the setting can be used so that you have a clearer image of it in your head.
8. The book gives examples of high-level grammar features that could be used in the story. These features are practised in short learning activities.
9. At the end of the planning, a tick list is shown for you to be able to check that you have everything for your story.
10. Before beginning writing, fun facts about the writing topic are given so that they can be used in the story, bringing it more to life.
11. And most importantly, it makes writing fun!

Once again, I would like to say that I definitely recommend Create A Story to children writer wannabes and those who want to improve their writing! Parents can buy this book for their children as its features are hugely beneficial , and I have enjoyed writing with it! Keep an eye out for its launch very soon!

p/s: Special thanks to Andrew Massingham for honouring me with the early preview of the book!

Create A Story

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Website: http://www.createastorybook.co.uk

11 Things To Do in a Tech-free World…

Technology is a wonderful thing and is probably the vital core of today’s society. It has many great features and has helped innovate scientific progress; Thomas Alva Edison couldn’t have invented the light bulb without a little (or maybe a lot) of knowledge in this great scientific study! But tonight, Mrs Mom asked me an unexpected question:

“What would you do if you woke up one day and technology was gone?”

Now this was a very interesting question, and I replied, “For this, I will give you not one, but 11 answers!”, and so here they are!

1. Convince my friends that they are not living in a nightmare
2. Run for Prime Minister
3.  If I do become Prime Minister, create a new law that states:     “Subjects are required to partake in a daily writing session of 5 minutes (or, in some cases, less) in length. If the subject is unable to write, they may read as another option, or vice versa.” ———–Gov. Law Act No. 105
4. Interview Raymond Briggs
5. Vote for free Harry Potter books
6. Cross-breed an apple with a peach
7. Adopt a pet panda and name him Noodles
8. Sleep with a book in my bed
9. Mail my friends a book each month
10. Add an extra September to the calendar
11. Devote a room to stationery

These are the 11 things I would do if there was no technology in this world. What about you? Share your 11 things and don’t forget to use the hashtag #my11things .