The Misplaced Book

Before writing the story I would like to quote “Books are the best companion in our life”

The topic of my story is “The Misplaced Book”

The father was ready for office, mother called the children to come down and have breakfast. She did not want the boys to be late for school. She saw Ali climbing down the stairs, his school bag on his shoulder. Ali struggled and looked at his breakfast. “Oh, no, not milk again. Mother called Imran you are getting late for school , so hurry up.
The mother asked Ali, are you feeling all right. Ali came near and glanced up, Mother saw his red swollen eyes. He had been crying “What is the matter?” she cried out . “Why have you been crying?”. Mother could not understand. The father also looked at Ali worriedly. Mother enquiringly at Imran , then he told that Ali could not find the library book and today is his library period , which was issued last week.

I have not lost it, sobbed Ali. “ I finished reading it and then Bilal borrowed it from me. He did not return it and when I asked him for the book he said he had given it back to me. He is lying . I know he is lying , now Miss Sana will be annoyed with me for losing the book. But it is not my fault.
The father was listening quietly to what Ali was saying . He put his arm around Ali shoulder. Don’t be so upset. Let’s try to sort out the matter. You know when you borrow a book from the library , you are the one who is responsible for it. You should not have lent it to anyone else. Now it is lost, you should be ready to take the responsibility. “ You mean I should get it all the scolding for losing the book that Bilal has lost? Ali looked at father with surprise. “That is not fair”.
Bilal did not borrow the book from the library. You did , father smilied at Ali. “If you go and tell Miss Sana the whole thing , I am sure she will understand and will not be annoyed with you. You can ask her how much the book costs and pay for it from your pocket money.

Ali nodded. He wiped the tears trickling down his cheeks. “Now have your breakfast and run off to school, “said mother lovingly. You do not want to stand in the ‘late line’ , do you?.
In the third period , Miss Iram lined up class five to go to the library. Ali looked nervously at the children around him. Everyone was holding the books they had to return. Even Bilal had a book in his hand. But it was not the one he had borrowed from the Ali.

Ali felt scared and uneasy as he entered the library. He brushed up his courage and walked up to Miss Sana’s desk. The librarian smiled at him. She always like this quiet little boy who was fond of reading. Ali stopped in front of her table, with butterflies in his stomach. He took a deep breath and told her whole story about lending the book to Bilal and not getting it back. He said he was willing to pay for the book if she would tell him how much it costs.
Miss Sana smiled at him again. She had a feeling the truth . then she opened the drawer in her desk and took out a book. She held it up for Ali to look at the cover. “ Are you talking about this book, by any chance?” she asked. Ali glanced t the title Robinson Cruse. “ Why yes” he exclaimed with amazement. This is the book I am talking about. He looked puzzled.

Where did you get it from? “Miss Sana then told him that she had found this book on a bench in the school play ground a few days ago. When she checked her register , she found out that it was issued to Ali. She was waiting for him to come to library so she could tell him about it.

Ali was sad and scared when he entered the library this morning but he walked out looking much happier and thanking God for his help. Now he could go home and ply without any worries.
At the end of my story I would like to say “ Books are everlasting friends so always handle them with care”
Written by: Abdul Jabbar Minhas
Pakistan