Writing
“As a writer, you should not judge, you should understand.” ― Ernest Hemingway​
I have just moved to Dubai and am eagerly waiting to move into our new home.
Unfortunately, this means, most of my Writing is in storage. I will update this page soon.
Lapland – December 2023
Intricate snowflakes drifted against the cold, frosty wind of Lapland. As they fell, they delicately added to the huge mass of freezing snow, piling up in heaps on the ice-covered ground. This was Finland in winter; very cold but very beautiful. The air was so thick with frost that I could taste the tiny, glacial flakes hovering in the atmosphere. I could smell the tantalizing aroma of delicious meat and mouth-watering fruits and berries, just waiting to be eaten as they filled the breeze with their scent. The feeling of crisp snow dropping on me was enjoyable, and I pushed through the snowdrift, hearing the satisfying crack of the small pieces of ice beneath me. I took off one of my gloves, feeling the sharp, ice-cold wind flow over my naked hand like a lake of water filled with ice, and reached out to touch the fallen powder snow. It felt as soft as a cloud and I couldn’t possibly let go of the feathery frost. Pine trees, laden with snow, broke through the pure white sea of frost and ice. Their emerald and auburn colour added vibrancy to the bleak floor and the gale carried the smell of leafy nature. I curiously looked above my head to see something so stunning my mouth fell open in awe. Silhouetted against the dark night sky were the northern lights, full of colour and moving gracefully through countless, bright stars. I watched as they changed from a blazing aquamarine to a shining navy. The environment buzzed with happiness as the people got about their lives. A bark sounded behind me and I turned to see adorable huskies pulling a sled with people smiling with exhilaration on their faces. Huge reindeer trudged through the snow, their beige, neat coats rippling as they too pulled along a sleigh. The wind may have been cold, but my heart was full of energy and happiness as I looked around at the icy Country. I loved Lapland!
Lapland – December 2023
Intricate snowflakes drifted against the cold, frosty wind of Lapland. As they fell, they delicately added to the huge mass of freezing snow, piling up in heaps on the ice-covered ground. This was Finland in winter; very cold but very beautiful. The air was so thick with frost that I could taste the tiny, glacial flakes hovering in the atmosphere. I could smell the tantalizing aroma of delicious meat and mouth-watering fruits and berries, just waiting to be eaten as they filled the breeze with their scent. The feeling of crisp snow dropping on me was enjoyable, and I pushed through the snowdrift, hearing the satisfying crack of the small pieces of ice beneath me. I took off one of my gloves, feeling the sharp, ice-cold wind flow over my naked hand like a lake of water filled with ice, and reached out to touch the fallen powder snow. It felt as soft as a cloud and I couldn’t possibly let go of the feathery frost. Pine trees, laden with snow, broke through the pure white sea of frost and ice. Their emerald and auburn colour added vibrancy to the bleak floor and the gale carried the smell of leafy nature. I curiously looked above my head to see something so stunning my mouth fell open in awe. Silhouetted against the dark night sky were the northern lights, full of colour and moving gracefully through countless, bright stars. I watched as they changed from a blazing aquamarine to a shining navy. The environment buzzed with happiness as the people got about their lives. A bark sounded behind me and I turned to see adorable huskies pulling a sled with people smiling with exhilaration on their faces. Huge reindeer trudged through the snow, their beige, neat coats rippling as they too pulled along a sleigh. The wind may have been cold, but my heart was full of energy and happiness as I looked around at the icy Country. I loved Lapland!
Cookie's Adventure
Cookie opened her eyes to the sound of her owner making her breakfast downstairs. She happily trotted downstairs where her delicious food was waiting for her. Cookie gobbled it up excitedly and sprinted to the door, waiting for her morning walk. Cookie was a Golden Retriever Saluki mix with a soft, chestnut coat and shining brown eyes. She was a rescue dog, and was thriving with her family. Cookie sat patiently as one of her owners skipped downstairs to take her on her walk. The companion taking her on the walk was a sensible, kind lady who was mother to two girls and now Cookie. Her owner carefully opened the big door and Cookie impatiently pulled on her annoying leash to keep going, only to be held back by her owner. A few minutes later, they set off to embark on their nice walk.
On the way, she smelled 7 butterflies, 3 other dogs and 2 cats. Walking was so fun! Suddenly a huge, black car whizzed past just centimeters from her nose and she jumped back in alarm. She and her owner had reached the road and needed to be very careful when crossing. She tentatively placed a small, white paw on the big stretch of tarmac only to instinctively withdraw it as a car which was even bigger than the first one sped past her. Cookie took a shuddering deep breath as her owner pulled on the leash as a signal to Cookie to cross the road. However, just as they were crossing the road, a bus hurtled toward them and Cookie fled the road in her fear. She heard her owner screaming behind her as she skillfully dodged past the colossal vehicles and finally found a patch of soft grass, only a few inches away from the busy road, where she caught her breath, relieved. But then the horrible realization came to her; her owner was gone and she didn’t know the way back home!
Cookie gazed around in pure fear and panic. Her head spun as large, multicoloured cars flew right in front of her as fast as lightning! She scanned the scene in front of her, hopefully thinking that her owner had just disappeared for a short time and was coming back. However, as much as she willed herself to, she couldn’t see her guardian anywhere in sight. Had her owner willingly left her and gone back home? No! she thought determinedly, resolution flooding over her like a tidal wave. I WILL find my family again! I just have to keep looking. Then, she set off on her adventure!
Four exhausting hours later, Cookie was even more lost than she had been before. Her small paw pads were moist with sweat and her long tongue lolled out of her mouth, begging for water. It was midday, and the boiling Dubai sun was scorching her pelt off. In the distance, she spied two happy pups, one a neatly groomed, white Labrador and the other a tiny, black and brown German Shepherd puppy, frolicking about in a nearby clearing. Cookie wished with all her heart that she could be like that again, playing with her compassionate owner. Suddenly, the Labrador saw Cookie and started barking noisily and soon the puppy joined in with a flurry of high-pitched yaps. Their owner, a tall, teenage girl, was too engrossed in some cash she was staring at on the ground. All of a sudden,the white labrador yapped loudly and the two dogs sprinted towards Cookie!
Cookie fearfully bared her teeth and growled at the two dogs, fleetingly calculating what to do next in her mind as she defensively curled her lip. The dogs halted in front of her, making dusty, dirty sand shoot up from beneath them into Cookie’s eyes, mouth and nose and also making her mouth dry as a desert. “Listen, we just want to talk to you!” The milky white labrador woofed calmly. “My name is Cooper, and this is Pepper.” he said, gesturing to the little, dark-coloured puppy.
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“Um.. my name is Cookie and I’m really lost!” Cookie whined in reply. “Hey, where do you live? I’m very smart and I could tell you where your home is!” Pepper squeaked as Cooper rolled his deep, ice-blue eyes. “Really!? I live in Omanian Branches, number three I think ...”
Pepper instantly responded excitedly, her fluffy, black ears pricking up. “I know where that is! Me and Cooper can take you there!” All three dogs yipped with excitement and a few minutes later, set off on their exhilarating journey, leaving their owner still examining the 20 Dirham bill on the floor.
Cookie, Cooper and Pepper decided to rest for the night and settled down in a grassy, comfortable area and then laid to rest. The night sky was a silhouette with a million shining stars ablaze inside it. The three peaceful dogs talked through the hours. “Do you like chicken more or fish? Ugh, I hate fish!” Pepper yapped. “Once, my owner accidentally gave me a second dinner” Cooper chatted happily.
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Soon, they fell asleep, and Cookie dreamed that she was in a whimsical, colourful meadow, full of hyacinths and roses and many other beautiful flowers that she didn’t recognise. She was playing with her owners and Pepper and Cooper were playing with her too! Abruptly, her joyful dream distorted into a mass of whirling black as a furry paw nudged her awake.
“Come on, Cookie! We have to get going!” Pepper woofed enthusiastically. Cookie got up to her paws sluggishly and arched her back in a long, luxurious stretch. Yawn! In no time, she was racing swiftly through trees with Cooper behind her and Pepper in front. Pepper was astonishingly fast for a five-month old puppy. Cookie pushed harder on her paws, tireless energy to find her family making her fearless! After a while, she and her friends came to a big compound radiating happiness. This was where she lived!
Cookie crouched on her stomach, her soft belly hairs brushing the warm, concrete ground and her ears as pricked as a needle, alert for any security. She could feel Cooper’s breath on her hindquarters and she stealthily crept under the gatekeeper’s watchful eye, slinking into the shadows. The hot summer sun bore into her neck as she hid near a bush and intensely stared at the random people passing by. “Okay, this is where I live, I’m sure of it!” Cookie whispered, her tail thumping up and down on the burning floor in delightedness. “When I say go, make a run for it! I’ll lead you to my home, just follow me.” Cookie started counting down from 3 (she actually counted down from seven as dogs can’t count). “ 7, 5, 9, 3, 2,-” Cookie woofed. Before she could bark ‘one’, a little girl with a huge yellow bow on her head let out an ear-piercing scream while pointing at the bush where the dogs were hiding! She had seen Cookie’s fuzzy tail!
Just at that moment, the trio of pups shot forward like bullets as security guards chased them. Cookie turned a corner, fear making her run faster. This couldn’t go wrong! She had come so far for this! She leaped over a bike, soaring high into the crystal clear sky and buying her a few seconds as the guards stumbled and fell behind her. Pepper overtook her, the puppy’s wood-coloured fur whizzing past as Pepper deliberately kicked over a small bin. Satisfaction washed over Cookie as she heard the groan of the two people behind her and fleetingly turned her head to see the two men sprawled on the ground over the bin, the shining, orange rays of sun turning their black uniforms to a silvery gray. But Cookie sadly didn’t see the guards in front of her! She was going to be captured and would never see her lovely family again! No!
“Stop!” Cookie heard a voice yelling behind her as she crashed into a bulky guard and toppled over him, falling safely on his soft cashmere blazer. She hesitantly looked around to see who had shouted. What she saw made her heart lift like a speeding elevator. Her owners ! Cookie yelped in delight and sprinted as fast as she could over to her four owners, her tail wagging so much it felt like it was going to fall off. Her owners had seen her! At that second, the glowing sun shined brighter, a beautiful yellow-orange vibrancy to the dull blue sky. The embarrassed security guards casually walked away like nothing had happened, clearly realizing that Cookie was somebody’s dog. But Cookie didn’t care. Her tiny heart felt like it was about to burst! Cookie was truly overjoyed, but she realized that she would have to say goodbye to her friends Cooper and Pepper!
“Bye Cookie!” Cooper and Pepper said in unison, sadness glittering in their eyes. “Bye Pepper! Bye Cooper! I’ll visit you soon!” Cookie replied as the two dogs woofed their agreement.
“I bet our owner is still looking at that money on the ground! Haha…!” Pepper joked as she said her last farewell to Cookie and her black furry shape blurred and disappeared into the distance as she left with Cooper.
Cookie missed them, but she knew deep down that she was going to see them again. She looked up at the sky, which was glistening with the sun like a huge, luminous jewel in the middle. It was a charming day... perfect for a nice walk!
THE END