SHOELACES FOR CHRISTMAS

This is a story of a little girl who was living in a shelter home with her mother, and was quite.
She didn’t speak until she met a teenager girl Jennifer. Jennifer was a teenager, irresponsible and arrogant girl, who wants to achieve whatever she desires at any cost. She was planning for a Christmas party when her dad told her that her mother is suffering from a cancer. She didn’t
feel the pain but feeling bad about her Christmas party and thought her party is spoiled now and she couldn’t go to Paris even.
Her mother went for surgery and her father asked her and her brother to stay with their mother until she recovered but Jennifer got angry. When her father saw her reaction and felt that Jennifer didn’t care about anybody except herself, he decided to send her to any place for
volunteer work so that she might learn some humanity and become responsible.
Her father talked with her and said her ‘’I will send you to Paris if you do all the home chores and after school go to shelter house and work as a volunteer there”. Jennifer astonished to hear that and didn’t agree to work for somebody, but when she saw her father is determined to not send her to Paris if she didn’t obey him, she agreed. Next day, she went to shelter home
after her school and saw many homeless people there but she was so angry that she didn’t feel their pain.
Angrily, she worked at home and in shelter home just because of Paris. After sometimes, she started enjoying work as volunteer and helping her mother at home. She met Colly, a silent girl and felt pain for her. She tried to talk with her but she never respond. One day she told a story
to all the little kids of shelter home about a princess who didn’t talk. Slowly and gradually Colly started intimate with her. One day Jennifer invited her to her house for dinner. Colly went with her at her house for dinner when Jennifer’s mother asked Colly what did she want for Christmas gift, Colly spoke and said “SHOELACES” Jennifer and her mother surprised when they heard
Colly’s talking. At that time Jennifer realized that she was wondering for Paris trip and best Christmas party but there are some poor people who need nothing but SHOELACES.
This story has a great moral. We all are leaving in our own world without knowing how one is suffering in his/her life. We desire more and more but there are some poor people who don’t meet even their necessities. We should minimize our lust and should think about them and help
them in meeting their needs.

Sehar Shoukat, Pakistan
Senior Assistant Administrator at the
California Institute of Behavioral Neurosciences
and Psychology