One afternoon, I came home from school and decided to go horseback riding. It was such a beautiful day and I knew that Gem would be happy to get out for some exercise. I went to the stable, got her ready and set off. I chose to travel along some quiet country roads.

     After we had been walking for a while, we turned a sharp corner in the road. All along one side there were trees. They were tall with thick leaves and many branches. Something moved very slightly in the branches of one tree and it caught my eye. I pulled Gem to a stop so that I could listen and watch. 

     The afternoon was coming to an end and the sounds of birds finding a resting place for the night filled the air. The sun was sending a warm, golden glow through the branches and leaves; making them look like they were on fire. As my eyes got used to the strange light I suddenly saw what had moved. It was a magnificent barn owl.

     I’d only ever seen a barn owl in a picture before and I was amazed at how beautiful it was. Its feathers shone in the light from the setting sun. It sat so still, its body didn’t move even though all the other small birds were still flying around and arguing about the best sleeping spots.

     All of a sudden, it turned its head and looked straight at me. I think it knew that I didn’t want to hurt it because it just sat there with its eyes fixed on us. I didn’t want to move, I wanted to remember every detail of this stunning creature.

     As I sat there a cool breeze blew gently across my cheeks. I realized that it was growing dark and I needed to get back home. Gently, I squeezed my legs and Gem obeyed, moving slowly forward. The owl stayed perched on its branch, waiting for dusk to become night.

My Greatest Experience

One Sunday lunchtime, my family and I went to the restaurant in the Mövenpick with another family. They had two children, one is ten and one is eleven. We picked our table and seat then we started taking a plate and choosing food. I picked 35 pieces of sushi: 10 salmon, 3 spicy, and 22 crab. I also picked a crab and a lobster. My mom peeled it for me. It was delicious!

Later it was time for dessert. I picked 30 pieces of marshmallows. I took a bowl and put it inside the chocolate fountain because I loved it. Then I had a bowl with chocolate in. I didn’t dip my marshmallows in it, I drank it.

When we finished eating, we did an experiment. There was this empty cup on the table and lots of ingredients. We mixed together sugar, salt, pepper, oregano, chocolate grapes, chocolate sushi, and some of the chocolate fountain. It looked disgusting! I was on guard to check if the parents were coming. They started coming so I shouted out, “Beep, beep! Quick, the parents are coming!” They quickly hid the experiment behind the lamp just before their mom came. That was close!

We were bored waiting for our parents so we played with the elevator. It was so much fun but we got lost. I was in one of the elevators on my own. I looked out through the glass side. I was going up and I saw them all going down. I was very happy and laughed. It was now time to go.

One special day it was my 8th birthday. That afternoon, it was time to celebrate. My dad told me that we were going to his friend’s shop to get Wii games.

When we went inside I was so surprised because there was a whole big bag of Wii games to choose from. I looked in the bag and immediately saw the one I wanted. Super Mario Galaxy 2! I felt a big grin come over my face. My sister and I found 3 or 4 more games. I felt very happy and hugged my dad. He hugged me back.

We went back home in the car. I was looking at the back cover of the games, at the pictures. I was feeling excited to start playing them. I played until 12:30 at night. I went to bed with a big smile on my face. It was the best day in the year.

My Brother Fell Off the Bed

By YC

One day, when the air was hot and damp, my baby brother was sleeping at my grandmother’s house. She locked the room to keep him safe. Two hours later, my mom heard him cry. When she finally found the key, she rushed and opened the door.

My brother was on the floor. There were spots of blood all around the floor, and one place had a lot of blood. She checked everywhere to see where the blood was coming from… Then she noticed that his mouth was bleeding. My mom carried him out and washed his mouth with a cloth. Dad came and asked mom, “What happened? “ Mom answered, “We need to go to the doctor, QUICK!!” They ran to the car and drove very fast, to the emergency room .They waited for a long time before the doctor came to see them. Mom asked, “Is he O.K? “ She was panicking and scared at the same time.

I didn’t know that my brother had fallen off the bed, as I was helping my cousins and aunt clean the pigs. My nanny came and told me what had happened. I was shocked when I heard what she said. I froze like a statue, I felt so worried. I was super scared! My heart was beating so fast that I felt like it was going to explode out of my chest. I started wondering, “What if he has to stay at the hospital because of his injury?”

When I saw them in the living room, I ran to my baby brother and held him really tight as I was feeling glad that he was back home safe. He laughed when he saw me, and I started laughing, too. I was so excited to see him. It started as a bad day, but after knowing that my brother was fine, it ended really nicely.

The Diving Board

By Salim

One hot sunny day, I went to the pool with my cousin Chafic. We went to the Golf Club and I was really excited. Then, when we started walking towards the pool I saw a diving board that was really high up. I wanted to go but I was scared at the same time. It was very high.

Chafic went up and did lots of amazing things like front and back flips. While I was watching him I was thinking, “How can he do that?” I was wondering, “How doesn’t it hurt his stomach when he splashes into the water?” When he came back I asked him and he told me that it really does hurt but he doesn’t want to shout out so he just closes his eyes.

I decided to go up. As I was walking up the steps I was thinking that I was going to fall. My legs were shaking a bit. When I got to the top I looked at the height and was so scared. I was going to jump but then Chafic started shouting, “Go, go, go!” and I felt embarrassed. I told him to stop. He said, “OK, but you have to jump first.”

I looked down and decided to jump. I was thinking to myself, “If I jump I won’t die.” Chafic came and pushed me and I went off the side of the board. I landed feet first into the water. It was so high that when I landed my feet were burning.

I felt so happy that I’d done it and wanted to do it again, but when I got up the top I was too scared and I climbed back down.

Scary Cat!

By YG

On one hot summer Sunday morning, I went to the beach with my family. When we got there, I dipped my toe into the pool and the water was cool. Then I tried the sea, but it was also cool, like the pool. I decided to go back to the pool and swim. That’s where I saw my friend, Noor. I joined her. We swam and played together.

There was a chair next to the pool and underneath it there was a cat. I knew this cat from before because it had scratched and bitten my friends. We were so scared that we went under the water to hide. Noor told me I should go out of the water and put a little water on the cat. I got out of the pool but I was scared that it might jump on me. So, I thought for a minute and decided to jump back into the water. Nothing happened! The cat did not wake up.

“What should I do, Noor?” I asked

“I don’t know what you should do to make the cat go away.” She answered.

I tried jumping in the water again and it woke up and ran away. We both got out of the water to follow it. I ran really fast and we were about to slip. Suddenly, it turned and came behind us. We jumped in the water shouting, “MAMA MIA!” We hid again in the water.

It was a happy, scary, then funny day.

From 3C Personal Narratives

Fishing with My Dad  

By Randa

When I was 7 years old I went fishing with my dad. I put my favorite dangly, shiny fishing hat and clothes. I put on my favorite boots and walked out the door. We went to buy a fishing net, slimy worms, and two fishing rods.

 We drove to a huge lake. It was quiet and relaxing. There were no other people there so that made it very special. We dipped our fishing rods into the water and waited patiently until something under my rod started to move. I pulled and pulled, then it came out…

It was a red fish. It looked like a scary devil. Then I put it in my bucket. My dad was asleep so I rowed the boat back to the car. When I got home, me and my mom fried the fish and had it for supper.

The Cookie Problem

By Jana

One weekend, my mom and I were bored so we decided to make cookies. I helped my mom put the ingredients to make the dough. Soon enough it was time to put the cookies into the oven.

After a while, the house started to smell like the most delicious chocolate chip cookies ever. It made me feel like I wanted to open the oven and begin eating right away.

My mom and I were so happy decorating the cookies. Then, we heard my brother’s footsteps coming down the hallway. We gave each other a worried look. I thought, “Oh, oh! My brother’s coming.” My mom tried to open the window so the smell would go out, but she was too late. He had seen and smelled the cookies already.

As soon as he came into the room I knew he was angry by the big frown on his face. He shouted, “Why didn’t you tell me you were making cookies?” I could see that he was grabbing the ingredients to try and make some cookies himself. I was worried that he might burn his hands. I was also feeling guilty because we had done this without him. Mom explained that she knew he was watching his favorite T.V. show. “I didn’t want to spoil your show but we did make your favorites, vanilla and strawberry.” Mom said calmly. Hadi smiled.

The Soccer Game

By Hassan

Last year my brother, his friends, and I played soccer at Hoops. I was feeling a bit nervous about playing with his friends. I was going to be goalie on his team and I thought if I let a goal in he would shout at me.

I thought they were going to make unfair teams, but they didn’t. There was a referee and he picked fair teams. My mom spoke to him and told him to put me on the same team as Mohammed. It was six on six. I started off being the goal keeper then they scored a goal and I was switched. My brother shouted at me and I felt embarrassed and angry with him. When I’m angry I play better. I scored a goal in the last 10 minutes. We had rented Hoops for 2 hours. I was very happy because it was 1-1 and now it was 2-1 so we won. They all jumped on me. I told my mom I scored because she was eating somewhere.

From 3C Personal Narratives

Universal Studios

By Talia

 I was so excited that we were going to Universal Studios. When we got there my tummy was hurting because we woke up so early that I didn’t eat.

We started to go to The Mummy Ride because the day before we rode other rides. My brother and I really wanted to go on it, we didn’t want to waste our time going on other rides. When we were in line I was nervous and a bit scared. It was dark inside and really crowded. It took a long while for it to be our turn. There were 4 seats and mom and I sat together, my brother and aunt were in another car. When we started on the ride I was closing my eyes. We went fast in the dark. There was a scary guy who had fire inside his mouth. The car went inside his mouth. I thought it was real fire because my brother kept on scaring me. I was holding onto the bar and squeezing really tightly. My aunt started to scream loudly because she has back problems.

The ride lasted for about 5 or 10 minutes, but it felt quick. When we got off, there was a store for the mummy ride. There were shiny rocks and gold there. We didn’t buy anything. It was a nice, scary ride but the Simpsons and Jaws were better.

The Car Crash

By Max

One summer day, my family and I were going to El Rancho. Suddenly, my mum hit the brake pedal and a van went straight into our back light. It shattered. Ronan and Dougal were sitting in the very back. As the van hit us, they jerked forward and hit the seats in front of them. It wasn’t hard enough to be dangerous so they thought it was fun.

We all got out of the car. It was broad daylight and boiling hot. We walked to the shade. My brother, Jack, hadn’t been feeling well. He went very pale. Then, because of the bump, he then threw up on the ground. My mother and father shouted at each other after the crash. I don’t know why, because it didn’t make any difference. The way the van was driving we couldn’t avoid the accident. I began to wonder if we would ever get back home! I’ve had lots of unpleasant experiences, but this one was still scary.

We waited for ages until the insurance company finally came. They took pictures. We had only braked because there was another car in front of us. Well, at least it wasn’t our fault. Anyway, why didn’t the van driver pay attention to the brake lights? Blame him!

After the insurance man left, we got back into the car and drove off. I was relieved!

My Big Brother’s Three Girlfriends

By JK

Once in the summer holidays, I was in my old house. I was relaxing on the floor with some cushions reading Harry Potter. Suddenly, the telephone rang very loudly. I was so startled that I jumped and my book fell. Luckily, it fell without losing my place. I answered the phone and said, “Hello, who is it?”

“It’s your brother, Jaddo.” He said.

“What’s up dude?” I replied.

“I’m great. Can you come down, please?” he answered.

“Fine.” I grumbled, because I’d just reached the part in my book where Harry Potter was about to meet Voldemort.

So, I walked slowly down the stairs. Then I saw him with his girlfriends and his beautiful car. “WOW!” I said. “I want you to meet my girlfriends.” He said. Then, out of nowhere, the girls KISSED me! At first, I really didn’t want them kissing me. I thought it was very yucky. Then I hugged them, because I was pretending that I really liked them. I didn’t want to hurt their feelings.

I ran to wash my face. The good news was I luckily survived. The bad news was that there was still lipstick showing all over my cheeks. I tried everything, rubbing the soap all over and putting my face in the sink. I felt like even trying putting my face down the toilet and flushing it. But still the lipstick showed. I gave up until I remembered my hand sanitizer. “Thank God!” I said. It saved my life. I finally got it off.

 Yellow Team versus Red Team

By Marwan

It was my team versus Michael’s team. It was Tuesday afternoon and we were having a soccer match. Jawad, Daniel, Aya, Rami, Karim, and Yousef were with me.

The match started with a center. They came close to the goal. I was a defender. I was thinking to myself, “Oh my gosh, maybe they’re going to score!” I was really nervous, I didn’t want to lose. So my decision was to slide tackle Michael. It was a good tackle. I got the ball and it went out.

They had a throw in. He threw the ball in and I was still nervous because it was close to the goal. Jawad was like a hero. As Michael threw the ball in, he ran in front of the person waiting and got the ball. He ran with the ball. Joseph was goalie. He was like a giant in front of the goal! Jawad went with the ball and tricked Joseph. Joseph sat on his bottom to try and save the ball but Jawad shot it to the side. It touched the post and went into the goal.

We were all cheering for him and I went and hugged him.

My New Cat Cuty

By YM

One Spring day after school, I was sitting watching television in the sitting room. I was sitting right next to the phone when it suddenly rang. I picked it up and said, “Hello.”

“Hello.” A voice came back.

“Oh, Hi dad! How are you?”

My dad replied, “Fine. I am at the office, do you want to come?”

I asked mom if I could go with Annabelle and she said yes. We arrived at the first floor of Marrouche Restaurant. “Hi Bobs.” I sat down and started drawing. I drew different animals, one of them was a cat. Then I wrote a message for my dad. The message said, “Can we buy a new cat?” I showed it to him and he promised that when he finished his work he would take me to the pet store. I begged him, “Please, don’t tell mom!”

We went in the car to the pet shop. When we got inside we saw hairy cats, beautiful cats, skinny cats, small cats, big cats, and fat cats. There were stairs going down with more cats, but I didn’t go down because I saw the exact cat I wanted. He was sitting in a cage. His fur was fluffy, white, and soft. His eyes were like a mixture of colors together, green, brown, and olive colors. He was the most beautiful cat I’d ever seen.

My dad paid for him and we left the store. I was holding him tightly against my t-shirt. A dog walked by and he dug his claws into my t-shirt. My dad told me, “Hold on to him, don’t let him go down in the car.” I was really happy, but at the same time I was really worried that my mom wouldn’t like him.

Going to America

By Yousef

I was going in an airplane to America. I was going to see my three cousins. I was feeling excited because I hadn’t seen them for a long time. I was also excited because we were going to Orange County and I like the places there.

I was bored because I was tired of watching T.V. After a few minutes I chose to go to sleep. When I woke up we were landing in America. First, I looked out the window and I saw that we’d landed. My mom was sleeping so I woke her up. I wanted to get out of the plane but it took a long time for the plane to stop. I was feeling cold, but also excited and happy. I could barely budge and I didn’t even want to wait! Finally we were able to move. I felt really happy because I was going to see my cousins very soon. And that’s how I got to America!

My Dad and I at the Beach

By Aya

The weather was hot, so my dad and I went swimming. When we got to Oceana, we swam in the pool and had a race against each other.

Then he said, “Let’s go down to the beach.”

I said, “But, I don’t want to go to the beach.”

My dad said, “Aya, we are going to the beach.”

The waves were very high. My dad and I ran into the sea and went deeper and deeper until we came to the high waves. Then I got scared. I was thinking, “What’s going to happen to me?” I was worried and starting to cry because it was the first time I’d been in the sea. My heart was beating quickly and I was breathing fast.

I was next to my dad and starting to get used to it. Then a huge wave came and knocked me over. It hit me two times and the second time it hit me was when I was already down. My dad came to me as fast as he could. He held me and said, “It’s OK, go and play in the sand.”

From 3C Personal Narratives2

Tree House Wolves

By Noor

On day in the forest, my brother, sister and I made a tree house. It was so much fun. Then, in the night I went to the tree house. I was so scared. I was thinking that there were wolves and I went quickly up the stairs.

I fell down. I couldn’t move, I was so scared! I thought someone could catch me. I was thinking I will die and mom and dad will never find me. My heart was beating so fast I thought it was going to explode. I was sitting on the wet floor and I was crying. It was cold and raining. I was all wet.

Everyone was worried about me. My mom said to my sister, “Maybe she’s in the tree house.” My sister came to find me and helped me get back home.

Stitches

By OS

One hot day, Ilo and I were playing outside at a restaurant. Ilo sat on the chain that closes the car park and started swinging. CRASH! He fell backwards and hit his head on the hard, wet floor just where there was a broken metal piece. He started screaming and kicking his legs. I saw blood coming out from the back of his head and there was a small puddle on the floor.

I rushed to my mum, speedy quick! My heart was racing, I was shocked and scared. I looked behind me to see Ilo crying and before I knew it I was running faster than I had ever run before. I was thinking, “Oh my goodness! What am I going to do?” My knees were tingling, my throat was hurting, my hands were sweating. Mum rushed to pick him up and then we slid into a big, black taxi. I was worried.

When we reached the hospital we went into the doctor’s office, his name was Dr. Mohammad. He said that Ilo was going to have stitches. And then the stitching began. They wrapped him up like a mummy in a yellow blanket so he couldn’t move. Dr. Mohammad asked us to leave the room.

I heard Ilo crying inside the room. I was standing at the entrance of the door and when he came out he was still crying. I saw four blue strings coming out from the back of his head. At first I thought that they weren’t connected to his head but when I looked at him I saw that those were the stitches.

The Big Water Flight

By Jawad

One day in the summer, I went to my summer camp at Hoops. My brother and cousin were waiting with me along with all the other kids and some of the workers. We were waiting for the manager and he was taking a long time to come.

The day before we had been playing with water guns and water balloons. Now we found the leftovers. We went to the bathroom and started filling the balloons and the guns. We split into teams and started trying to shoot each other, it was like a war. One person was being a moving target. He was running and we had to try and hit him with the balloons.

The manager came! We heard his footsteps coming around the corner. We quickly threw the balloons and guns into the garbage and all sat on the chairs normally. He asked, “Why are you all wet?” We told him that we’d been playing soccer while we were waiting for him. It was a lot of fun.

From 3C Personal Narratives