“Mum, I’m going to school. Goodbye!” Rania said loudly to her mother while quickly checking her bag for her pencil. A sigh of relief washed over her as she saw it inside her pencil pouch, and she whispered to herself, “I’ll top the class because I have my magical pencil with me.”

“Oh my God, when will she get rid of this?” said Somia, her sister, in an irritated tone as she overheard her. Rania didn’t pay attention and went out to wait for her school van.

At lunchtime, Rania’s dad called home and talked to their mother about Rania’s changing behaviour.

“Last night, she was talking to me about her magical pencil. What’s this? I thought it was some kind of story, but Somia is also worried about her growing obsession with a pencil,” Dad said in a worried tone.

“You’re right; we should talk to her about this,” Mum replied.

Just then, Somia entered. “Mum, I want to talk about Rania…” she said while putting her bag down.

When their mother heard this, she understood everything before Somia could say it. They talked for a few minutes. The bell rang and it was Rania at the door, just dropped by her school van. She ran towards her mum and cheerfully hugged her.

“Mum, I got full marks in my test today! You know why? Because of this magical pencil,” Rania said.

“Rania, come on, it happened because of your hard work, not because of your magic pencil!” Somia said angrily.

“She’s right, dear. Magic doesn’t exist in the world,” their mother agreed.

“I don’t know why you both never understand me. I have this magical pencil, so I’m lucky and successful,” Rania said and stomped out of the lounge.

Somia and their mother said nothing and got busy with their errands. Night came and at dinner, Rania didn’t join everyone at the table. She quietly took her plate and ate in her room. A part of her felt hurt, but she still held on to her belief in the pencil. Deep down, she wanted to prove everyone wrong and show that her “magic” was real.

Later, her father went to her room.

“Rania, do you trust your magical pencil a lot?” asked her father.

“Yes,” said Rania in a soft voice.

“Okay, do as I say. Check if your magical pencil is really magical!”

“But how?”

“Where did you first get the idea that your pencil was magical?”

“I don’t know, Dad. All I know is that when I started writing with this pencil, my teacher appreciated my writing, and then whatever I wrote in any test was appreciated and liked,” Rania replied.

“Hmm… trust yourself, my dear, but not your pencil. You will find more courage,” Dad tried to convince her, but it seemed she was firm in her beliefs.

Her exams were next month. The days passed and she became more confident and dependent on her magical pencil. As a result, her focus shifted and she didn’t study at all. Mum noticed everything, but stayed quiet. Finally, it was the night before her first paper. She spent the evening scrolling through her phone and hugging her magical pencil.

The next morning, she woke up still full of confidence. She packed her stationery, held her magical pencil tightly in her palm, ate her breakfast quickly and left home smiling.

When the exam started, she whispered to her pencil, “My magical pencil, fill my paper.”

But the magical pencil did nothing. Rania began to cry and threw the pencil on the floor. She hadn’t studied. When the exam ended, her paper was completely blank. That’s when she realised there was no magic — it had always been her hard work. But this time, she had wasted her chance.

She came home crying badly. Her mum hugged her tightly and said, “Don’t cry, my dear, don’t cry.”

“Mum, my pencil didn’t work. There wasn’t any magic,” Rania sobbed.

Somia sighed, “Did we ever say it had any magic?”

Rania said nothing and kept crying.

Mum then said to Rania, “Now that you have understood, you must promise me that you will work hard and trust yourself, not your pencil or eraser…”

Rania nodded. Their mum talked to the school principal and requested that Rania be given another chance. The principal agreed and gave her the chance to retake the first paper, with a different set of questions, after all other subjects were done. This time, Rania studied hard and secured good grades because of her hard work.

Published in Dawn, Young World, November 29th, 2025