In a dark street lived a stray cat named Cadensa. She had no home except an old carton, which was surprisingly cosy. During the winter, she gave birth to three kittens and named them Lily, Chubby and Mittens.

All three were very playful. However, as time passed, Lily and Chubby got lost. Mittens felt lonely and spent most of her time with her mother because she did not want to be apart from her. Soon summer arrived, and Mittens was now six months old.

Sometimes Mittens would go and play in the wide, open fields. Her mother, however, had grown old and sick. Mittens was deeply worried because she did not want to lose her. But destiny had other plans, and one day her mother, Cadensa, died.

By then, Mittens had become experienced. She had learnt all the hunting skills from her mother. Life continued with hunting, playing and sleeping. However, she was always scared of humans. Every night she feared that someone might harm her. Yet her mother had taught her to face her fears and never hide.

One day, the street was cleared of all the trash, and the box she lived in was also taken away. Mittens decided to leave the area. It was painful, but she had no other choice.

As she walked along the street, a little girl came out of a nearby house. The girl immediately fell in love with Mittens and gave her some food. Mittens was surprised. For the first time, she realised that humans were not always bad.

She continued wandering from place to place. One day, in an abandoned corner of a street, she saw a sad little kitten. When she asked about her, Mittens learnt that the kitten’s name was Lily and that her entire family had died. Mittens felt sorry for her.

Then she had an idea.

“Do you want to come with me on a journey?” asked Mittens.

“Yes,” Lily replied.

“Then let’s go,” Mittens said, and together they began their adventure.

During their uncertain journey, another kitten named Chubby and a puppy also joined them. Soon the four of them became good friends. They cared for one another and protected each other, because they had all lost their families and had now become each other’s family.

One day they wandered into a forest. The forest was dense, but they enjoyed playing there. Suddenly, they saw a lion lying beside a bush. It seemed to be in great pain.

Mittens slowly walked closer. The lion only groaned weakly. She realised something was wrong. After carefully inspecting its paw, she saw a large spike stuck in it, causing it to swell badly.

Without wasting time, Mittens used her sharp teeth and strong grip to carefully pull the spike out.

From that day onwards, Mittens became known around the forest as a courageous young cat. She spent her days protecting the weak, helping the helpless and proving that even a small and ordinary cat can be brave.

Published in Dawn, Young World, March 14th, 2026

Have you ever noticed that when you play with shapes and colours, even simple things can turn into something you didn’t expect?

This week, I thought, why not make something with shapes and give your wall a fresh new look? Let’s create this bright sunburst art using just a few items that you can easily find around the house.

Things you need:

1. One black chart paper, or black A-4-sized paper

2. Red or (colour of your choice) glitter sheet

3. 6 Bar-b-cue skewers or sticks

4. One circle mould (you can use any bowl)

5. Scissors

6. Ruler

7. Pencil

8. Hot glue or glue stick

Directions:

1. Draw a circle on the glitter sheet with the help of a mould and cut it out. The circumference of the circle should be about four inches or smaller, depending on the size of the background sheet you are using; picture 2.

2. Cut this circle in half; picture 3.

3. On the remaining glitter sheet, draw and cut teardrop shapes in different sizes. Each teardrop should be no bigger than one inch; pictures 4 and 5.

4. If the barbecue skewers or sticks are too long, break or cut them into smaller pieces, such as 1 inch, 2 inches and 3 inches. Then paste one teardrop shape on the end of each stick piece; pictures 6 and 7.

5. Take one long skewer/stick, place and paste it in the middle of the black sheet. Now, paste the two half-circles on the right and left sides of the stick, leaving about 1 centimetre of space at the top and bottom of the stick, as shown in Picture 8.

6. Start pasting the teardrop sticks around the circle, beginning with the short stick. You don’t have to follow the order; just paste random-sized sticks so they resemble sun rays, pictures 9 and 10.

7. Once one side is complete, repeat the same steps on the other side; picture 11.

8. Your sunburst wall art is ready! You can make a border with sticks around it or leave it as it is. Either way, it will look beautiful once you hang or stick it on the wall.

The writer can be contacted at ithecraftman@gmail.com

Published in Dawn, Young World, March 14th, 2026

Cafés have bloomed on every other corner of the city and are considered small, warm islands of light where the youth gather almost all day, their eyes half open and hands gripping coffee cups like lifelines.

And Talha was one of them.

At 18, he believed that his day couldn’t start until the first sip of coffee slid down his throat — bitter, hot and reassuring.

He didn’t remember when this routine started, but it was sometime during the exam season, when late nights and early mornings were unavoidable. That was when he brewed his first cup and stayed up late studying. As a result, good grades were earned, along with trust in coffee. One cup became two, and two became three, and soon it was a ritual, a sign of productivity and proof that he was hustling.

“Sleep is for later,” his classmates would joke, posting pictures of foamy lattes and dark mugs on their social media, with captions like “Powered by caffeine.” Cafés had become their second classrooms, places to study, complain, dream and, of course, scroll endlessly. They were places where tiredness looked fashionable and stress felt productive.

Talha’s fourth cup came by the evening. And by then, his hands trembled as he wrote notes he didn’t remember. His heart thudded and his thoughts jumped. Talha felt exhausted, but unable to rest. Nights stretched longer and sleep grew lighter. Yet the answer was the same in the morning. Another cup of coffee.

One evening, as Talha was waiting for his usual order, he saw an old man sitting alone, sipping his small cup of black coffee with no rush or haste.

“You drink a lot,” the old man said, nodding towards Talha’s stack of cups.

“Yeah, it keeps me going,” Talha replied. He felt a little guilty. But why? He didn’t know. Talha knew that he drank quite a lot of coffee, but it had now become a habit and he couldn’t resist it.

“Coffee is meant to wake you up, not keep you going. That’s on you, young man!”

The words stayed. That night, Talha took his coffee and looked at it for some time. He remembered the words and asked the mug, “Can I live without you?”

“Why am I so dependent on coffee… why? What if I don’t drink it and see what happens?” he muttered to himself. He put down the mug and lay down on his bed, still thinking about the craving he was having.

After a lot of tossing and turning, he finally slept. In the morning, he had breakfast and took just one cup of coffee. For the rest of the day, he resisted the urge.

He kept this routine for a week, and after that, he felt different, really different. He felt energetic and hungry. He ate properly and realised he was sleeping on time and waking up fresh, not tired.

Talha didn’t quit drinking coffee instantly; instead, he stopped letting it control him.

Published in Dawn, Young World, March 14th, 2026