But once, she had a strange adventure. She had NEVER experienced anything like it before.

Once upon a time, there was a girl who loved reading books. Her name was Aisha. She was a ten year old girl. She always had a nice smile on her face no matter what.

That day, she wore a short pink cape hijab, a yellow cap beneath it, a lilac gown that reached to her mid-leg, a purple skirt and a matching yellow shoe. Then she slipped her Qur’an into her favourite black and orange backpack just in case she didn't want to read any book at the library.

New Books

When she got to the library, she searched through a shelf that was tagged "NEWBOOKS". She found a book titled “All About Africa”. It looked interesting, so she took it and went to her seat. It was so interesting that she didn't realize that everyone had left! The librarian didn't even check to see if anyone was still in the library: he just locked it and left.

All About Africa

Lost in her book, Aisha didn't know that she had been locked in. She just kept reading. By the time she had finished reading, she realized that the library was locked! She tried opening the door but she couldn’t. She looked around for any extra keys the librarian might have left behind, but she didn't find any. Her heart began to race and she trembled in fear.

“Ya Allah, help me!” she prayed.

 The door was even smaller than Aisha herself, so she would have to bend a little if she were to enter through. 

Suddenly, she saw a line of black ants marching to a tiny hole. Beside the hole was an empty shelf and behind the shelf was a small door.

Aisha moved the shelf to the side and tried to open the door, but it was also locked. She needed to find a way to get it open. This door seemed to be her only next option to getting out. Otherwise, she would be trapped in the library until the next week. Her parents would be so worried about her.

Then, her eyes caught on something shiny on a tall black shelf, but she couldn't reach it. She found a long stick and tried to move the shining object towards her. After some struggle, it fell right in front of her. It was a golden key!

"AlhamduliLlah!" She exclaimed. "Now I can get out of the library!".

She used it to unlock the main door of the library but it wasn't the right key. She then used it on the small door and, after a while, it opened.

"Alhamdulillah!" Aisha said again.

It was very dark inside, so she slipped the key into the back pocket of her trousers, took a torch from her backpack, turned it on, and went inside.

There was a stair leading downwards to a storeroom. Carefully, she traced her steps down. It was very dark - not a single peek of light - except for her not-so-bright torch.

In the storeroom, there were loads of books that used to be in the library. Aisha moved her torch closer to the huge stack and found something shiny. At a closer look, it was a strange golden key. She took it and kept it in her backpack. Who knew what could come handy?

Suddenly, she heard a strange noise, then something tiny ran past her very fast! It was so fast that she was only able to catch its tail with her torch. Feeling goosebumps all over her skin, she walked gently towards it.

Well, it was a fat, dark-brown rat.

"Phew!" Aisha sighed in relief.

The rat just looked at her and said, "What are you doing here?"

Aisha was so scared and shocked that she stammered, "You sp…sp…speak?!"

The rat replied, "Yes! I do. What are you doing here?" he asked again.

"I was in the library reading such an interesting book that I didn't notice that the library was locked. I came through a small door next to a staircase and now I am here trying to figure out what to do next."

"Oh I see," said the rat. "I can show you the way out of here." 

"Really?!" Aisha exclaimed. Aisha had said really as if someone were going to give her a  job and she would get paid a million dollars.

"Yes," the rat replied.