A Perfect Day at the Park

Yusuf, a boy with a blue cap and a striped t-shirt, ran happily toward the park holding his mom's hand. "Bismillah!" said Yusuf before climbing onto the first swing. The sun was shining and the park was full of laughter.

There was Omar, his best friend, a boy with curly hair and a green T-shirt, waiting for him by the slide. "Yusuf, come and play!" shouted Omar, waving his hand. The two friends hugged with big smiles on their faces.

Yusuf and Omar raced each other, went down the slide again and again, and swung so high that their laughter could be heard all over the park. "Alhamdulillah for days like this!" said Yusuf, breathless from laughing so much.

Suddenly, they heard quiet crying. Behind a bush they found a little girl with pigtails and a yellow dress, sitting alone on the ground. She had fallen and scraped her knee.

"Are you okay?" asked Yusuf, crouching down beside her. The little girl, whose name was Sara, shook her head and kept crying. Omar said, "Don't cry, we'll help you."

Yusuf remembered what his mama always taught him: "Helping those who need it is something Allah loves very much." Carefully, Yusuf and Omar walked Sara over to where Yusuf's mama was, who had band-aids in her bag.

Yusuf's mama cleaned Sara's knee and put a bandage with little stars on it. Sara smiled for the first time. "SubhanAllah, it doesn't hurt so much anymore," she said, wiping away her tears.

Sara joined Yusuf and Omar's games, and the three of them ran together through the park until the sky turned orange. Yusuf thought that helping someone had made his day even more perfect. "InshaAllah we'll see each other again," said Sara, waving goodbye with a big smile.