“Little Miss Sunshine, what are your plans for the holidays?” Dado tenderly asked Kubra, her 15-year-old granddaughter.
“I have decided, Dado, I will learn how to play the violin and start playing more basketball so I can beat your least favourite athlete,” Kubra said, gazing towards her brother.
“Okay, let’s have a quick match,” the 13-year-old Hassan said.
“No, Hassan, I am so tired,” Kubra replied calmly.
A playful commotion followed as the siblings argued over various things while their grandparents took sides. The room was filled with laughter.
The summer vacation had just begun. Kubra had given her last CAIE exam and felt relieved and happy to finally spend more time with her family and hobbies.
The next day, after breakfast, Kubra decided to help her mum in the kitchen, but realised she wasn’t there. She looked everywhere and finally found her in the storeroom upstairs.
“What’s happening, Mum? What are you doing here?” Kubra asked.
“I just thought this room needs a bit of cleaning.”
“No, Mum, not a bit, it needs a lot of cleaning.”
Together, they began sorting things, placing unnecessary items in one pile and useful ones in another.
While they were busy, her mum’s phone rang and she stepped away to answer it. In the meantime, Kubra’s eyes fell on a dull yellowish-brown box. It didn’t look very old, but it seemed forgotten. After a little struggle, she finally opened it.
What she found was completely unexpected, her long-forgotten collection of short storybooks, Montessori postcards and autographs from friends she barely remembered. She sat there for a while, unable to recall the names of teachers she once thought were a big part of her life. Nostalgia filled her and she was mesmerised by this treasure of memories and knowledge.
Ever since she was little, her parents had read her a story every night. That was how her love for reading began, a love now slowly replaced by screens.
Kubra carried the heavy box downstairs, left it in her room and rushed back. After cleaning the storeroom, the day went on as usual, but Kubra eagerly waited for the night.
After dinner, she said goodnight and began taking out the books. She already had a bookshelf in her study corner, so she had never really thought about these old stories.
The books reminded her of something her history teacher once said — knowledge becomes valuable when it is shared. Kubra decided to sell them and went to sleep.
The next morning, she showed the books to her dad and told him her plan. He disagreed. He said selling them didn’t make sense; instead, she should donate them to those who needed them more.
Kubra, however, felt selling them would give her some business experience.
That evening, when her dad returned, he asked if she had changed her mind.
“Yes, Dad. I was being silly. They are old, but still useful. I will gift them to children who love to read,” she said.
“Let’s place them outside Rahim Chacha’s bookstore, opposite The Book Bank. I am sure he’ll let you. Any child can pick a book for free,” Hassan suggested.
“You’ve got brains, Hassan!” Kubra exclaimed.
Rahim Chacha’s bookstore was on the main boulevard behind their house, surrounded by gift shops and flower stores. They had been going there since they were very young.
The next morning, the siblings took the box to Rahim Chacha and asked if they could place the books outside his shop.
Being kind and considerate, he agreed. They made a banner that read, “Gifts for the intellectually curious!”
They arranged the books neatly on a stand, giving the place an old-world charm. They also placed a small money box for anyone who wished to contribute.
The children sat there for a couple of hours, then returned home. They visited every day, and within a week, the stand was empty.
“Well done, kids! You’ll be amazed, not just children, but parents and even grandparents picked up books and left money in the box,” Rahim Chacha said.
“Congratulations, Kubee! Your collection finally served a good purpose,” Hassan added.
That day, Kubra went home truly happy. It was then she decided that when she grew up, she would open a bookstore of her own — “Kubra and Company”.
Published in Dawn, Young World, April 11th, 2026
