Highly Commended Story - The Power of Unity

“The Power of Unity” by Nour Ahmed Mohamed, Al Mahd Day Boarding School, East Riffa Branch, Bahrain, is the Highly Commended story in the sub-junior category of the second biannual Short Story Contest 2019.

Nour Ahmed is a great student who works hard and sets a good example for others. She knows the meaning of effort, responsibility, and integrity, which will take her far in life. She actively participates in class and is always eager to learn more. Nour is full of enthusiasm for everything she does and always has a super positive attitude. Not only that, she does extremely well in each of the classes and in extra-curricular activities. Her hobbies are drawing, and painting and she excels in whatever task she undertakes. She also has a kind and respectful attitude and is always willing to help others. Her quiet demeanour and sweet disposition is a great example to her peers.

The Power of Unity

Long time ago in a jungle lived four friends, a turtle, a crow, a deer and a rat. They were very good friends and always helped each other.

Every day each one of them went in different direction to look for food. By evening they used to meet at the same place. Everything continued the same way, until one day the turtle did not return in the evening as usual.

Due to this all the other friends became worried.

The deer said, "The sun is set and our friend turtle has not yet come back. I think we must go and look for him."

The rat agreed, "Yes, yes, we will go and search for him."

The crow said, "No, no, not you, I will go... I can fly and so I will have a wider view and will be able to search for him quickly."

The crow flew out and started to search for the turtle. After a while the crow heard a voice and looked down and saw the turtle trapped in a hunter's sack.

Without wasting the time, the crow flew back to his friends to where waiting for him. The crow told them what he saw and added that he has a trick to save their friend, the turtle.

From the corner of her suitcase, a large spider crawled out and admired its new home!

The rat wondered, "How?"

The crow said, "The hunter is one and we are three, and here is the plan." The crow explained the plan to all.

The deer said, "It seems to be a good idea, let go fast."

When the three friends reached the place, according to the idea, the deer pretended to be dead and the crow pretended to peck on the closed eyes of the deer. The rat was waiting for the right moment.

The hunter came and saw the deer lying dead and thought of catching it. As soon as the hunter was away from the sack, the rat ran and started to cut the sack with his teeth.

As the hunter came closer to the deer, the crow flew away and the deer got up and ran away. The hunter failed to understand what was happening. By then the rat had freed the turtle from the sack and they also ran away to safety.

The hunter came back to see the empty sack and was very unhappy. All the four friends, on the other hand were very happy as they once again became united.

The moral of the story is "Unity is Strength".