Mr. Ted is the key, from Farahnaz A.

Hi, Mr. Ted:

Hope everything is going well and you’re taking care of your health and having lots of joy with your family. I hope you take my email with a good health and I also wish you a very, very happy birthday. At SOLA we all miss you so much and we all work hard, as much as we can. I also send a short story as a gift for you. I hope that you like it.

Read a book... or go to jail!

Stan Rosene lived in New Bedford, Massachusetts. He stole cars and bicycles from people. One day, the police saw him and sent him to jail. The next year, Stan was out of jail. He told some people his name was Jim Rosene. He got money from them for a business. Then he ran away with the money. The police got him again and sent him to jail. The year after that, Stan was home again, and the police got him. But this time, they sent him to Judge Kane.

Judge Kane asked Stan, "Do you want to go jail again or do you want to read books?"

Stan did not understand.

"This time," said the judge, "you can read books with Professor Waxler at the New Bedford High School. Or you go to jail."

Stan was 27 years old. He did not have high school degree. Ge did not often read books, and he did not like reading! But he did not want to go to jail again. So he decided to read books in Professor Waxler's class.

"You must go to every class," said Judge Kane. "And you must read all the books."

One evening, Stan went to the first class. There were ten men in the class they read a short story. Professor Waxler asked, "What did you think about it?"

The men said nothing. They did not know how to talk about stories. Stan wanted to answer the question, but he was afraid to talk. He did not want the other men to hear him.

"Did you like the story?" Professor Waxler asked him. "No” said Stan. "Why not?" asked Professor Waxler. "Because the end was happy, but life is not happy," said Stan.

"That's not true," said another man. "Life is happy for some people."

Then other men started talking about the story and life. They talked for two hours. Professor Waxler told them to read a book for the next class. It was a book about a young man with many problems.

Again, Professor Waxler asked, "What did you think?"

This time the men were not afraid to answer. They had lots of ideas about the book, and they talked a lot about their lives.

For 12 weeks Stan read books and talked about them. Then he had to decide again: go to class or go to jail. He decided to go to class again.

After that, Stan took evening classes at the high school. He went to work in the daytime. The next year, he started evening classes at the university. Now Stan is a good student—and a good man. No more police or jail in Stan's life! Thanks to Judge Kane and Professor Waxler—and some books.

In conclusion I want to say thanks for Mr. Ted who helped me a lot. He helped not just me; he also helped all SOLA members and created such a great opportunity for Afghan girls to get a better education. SOLA is a secret door which is full of success. Mr. Ted is the key to that — thanks a lot, Mr. Ted!

Farahnaz A.

SOLA Afghanistan