Young Entrepreneur

Member Story
 "Ring! Ring! Ring!"

"Huh?" Jennah opened her eye a crack. Bright warm sunlight filtered into her room, lighting up her pale pink walls, leaving her room bright and cheery. Brightly colored birds chirped a musical tune that made Jennah smile. Lifting up her head, she turned off her alarm clock. She stretched, then tossed up her covers, thanking Allah for a good night's sleep. She quickly changed into a pair of jeans and a warm sweater, then bounded out of her room. Feeling rather energetic, she slid down the stairs on a big metal disk (a method her brother had taught her) to get a head start on her day. Having being the first one up, she didn't have to worry about thinking up an excuse for skipping breakfast. Of course, she grabbed an apple and slipped an energy bar into her pocket for later but, other then that, she didn't eat anything. Jennah dashed out the door and hopped onto her bike. In seconds, she was pedaling down the sidewalk briskly, heading towards Spring Garden Park.

When she arrived, she noticed that the parking lot was full. She hoped it wouldn't have any affect on her day. She turned onto a gravel road and passed the park quickly.  She headed off onto a fairly wide path that gradually narrowed to nothing. But this didn't fool Jennah. Past this supposedly "end of the road," there was a small trail of pebbles Jennah had left while exploring. She carefully steered her bike along the pebble trail until she reached her Hidden Grove.

The Hidden Grove was a large pond surrounded by leafy green trees casting shade along its shimmering edges. Deer occasionally stopped by to sip some crystal-clear water, while birds bathed in the shallow waters of its corners. As she parked her bike along a tall birch tree, she couldn't help feeling...well...magical! All of a sudden, she felt like she had to sketch the glorious scene.
Subhanallah! What a marvelous creation, she thought.  She reached into the pocket of her jeans and pulled out a small sketchpad and a pencil stub. She scribbled out the outline, then gave faint smudged details. Then she crammed it back in her pocket and got to work doing her normal routine. First, she pulled out some bird seed from the bag tied to her bike. She filled up the large bird feeder hanging from a low branch in a nearby pine tree. She grabbed the bag, then climbed up to the middle branch, then lay down and relaxed up in the tree. A woodpecker hopped about the branch, darting away into the next tree when she lifted her head. 
Smiling, she crawled along the broad branch she was on and closed her eyes. Suddenly, her phone rang. Startled, Jennah toppled off the branch and fell down to the far away ground! She opened her mouth to scream but nothing came out. She realized that she was no longer falling. Glancing up, she noticed that her shirt was caught on a protruding limb. Gratefully, she made a du'a to Allah, thanking him for saving her. She climbed down and pedaled away on her bike, anxious to get home before her mother threw a fit. 

The next day, Jennah sat in bed staring at her sketch that she had drawn the day before. Then, it had looked crummy compared to the real thing. But, now, it was a true wonder. A real work of art. However, the one thing that set it apart from the real thing was its lack of color. She realized that it would look better in paint. That's when an idea hit her! She could paint the Hidden Grove! She quickly grabbed her paint set and ran downstairs. Once she was outside, she stuffed her paints into her bag on her bike and took off. 

Once she arrived at Hidden Grove, she wasted no time setting up her easel and paints. She adjusted her easel to fit the canvas she had picked out, then squeezed paint onto her pallet. She got a pencil and quickly sketched an outline.  At first, she scribbled out the outlines, but then she perfected the lines until they were smooth as a pebble in a stream. She sketched the long leaves of the tree, adding every last detail of its stem, then kissed the page. The next step was adding color. She dipped her paintbrush in the blue paint and filled out the pond. She added some white to the blue to lighten it then faintly went over the parts where the sun would have hit it. However, for there to be the suns light, there must be a sun. She quickly painted that with a few strokes of vivid yellow. Then she moved onto the trees. Each one, she noticed, had it's own unique green so she painted them all with different shades of vibrant green, varying in lightness and darkness. After she had finished up with her painting, she was so impressed she could have hugged it. And in fact, she would, if it wasn't covered in wet paint, of course! She set it out in the sun to dry while she lay sun-bathing in the sun's warmth. After the painting was dry, she packed up her things and hit the road, or in this case, a path of pebbles. 

Soon she was pulling into her driveway and wheeling her bike into the garage. As she opened up the door, she found herself facing her angry mother.

"DID YOU GO OUT WITHOUT PERMISSION AGAIN?" she raged. 

"Mother...I went to the park. That's all," Jennah whimpered. Jennah's mother sighed. 

"Ok. I just don't want you going there without one of us. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes, mother," Jennah sighed in defeat. 

"Wait! Jennah!" 

"Yes?"

"What is that behind you?"

"Oh. That? It's my....painting," Jennah admitted. Jennah's mom reached out and grabbed her painting of Hidden Grove.

"Masha Allah! Oh Jennah, did you paint this?"

"Yes, Mother." 

"Jennah, this is beautiful! Wait. Jennah, you did such a good job that you had to have seen it in real life. Is this real?" Jennah's mom inquired eagerly.
Jennah wanted to keep Hidden Grove a secret but she couldn't tell a lie.

"Well....," Jennah started.

"Hi Jennah!" her dad called. Jennah let out a sigh of relief.

"Hi, Dad!"

"Did you have a good day? It sure looks like it!" he said staring at his paint-splattered daughter.

"It looks like you've been painting. What did you paint? Can I see it?" he asked her. Jennah handed her father her painting of Hidden Grove anxiously. Once again, Jennah had to see her father go through all the oohs and ahhs as he marveled at her painting. Silently, she tried to slip away, but was too slow.

"Jennah, you never answered my question," her mom called. Jennah whimpered.

"Well," she began.

"You see, it's kind of a secret."

"A secret? Why keep such a beautiful place like this a secret?" Jennah's dad exclaimed, still staring at the painting.

"It's obviously a cool place!" Jennah 's mom chipped in dreamily. Jennah could tell her mother was thinking of a bunch of lawn chairs around the pond and the pond set up like a pool. All chlorine smelling and— No! Jennah interrupted her own thoughts. No one, NO ONE, was going to change Hidden Grove.

"Mom, if I show you, you must promise never to show ANYBODY. Got it?" Jennah said firmly.

"Why?"

"Because if people come to see it they'll turn the pond into a pool and cut down the trees and leave the animals homeless and set up chairs and maybe even put sand on the ground!" By now, Jennah was out of breath.

"Oh. I see," her mother said. Jennah's dad nodded. Suddenly, Jennah's mom's eyes lit up.

"Jennah! You could sell this!" Jennah felt excited, almost about to burst! 

"Mom, that's a great idea! Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you!" Then Jennah frowned. 

"But how do we make more to sell?" Jennah's mom smiled. I think I know!" she said mysteriously.

The next day, Jennah was sitting on a chair on her lawn smiling and showing everyone who walked by paintings, all displayed on a table in front of her. She grinned as she accepted money from a 12-year-old boy who was interested in a painting of raccoon that she had painted yesterday.  In fact, ALL the 25 paintings in front of her had been painted yesterday at Hidden Grove. She handed him back some change and watched him walk away. 

"Wow," she said out loud. All because of one little painting, she now had a small, money-making business that she called Nature's Nook. Proudly she collected the money she had made that day and a huge smile spread across her face. So wide that her mouth hurt. So wide that her lips cracked! The reason of her too-good-to-be-true smile was the amount of money she had made. And that lucky number of her happy day was $50! Not able to contain her wild excitement, she fled to her house, bursting with pride and cheeriness.

"MOM! DAD! COME HERE! NOW!" She hollered, jumping up and down. Her parents hurried to the living room, excited.

"Mom! Dad! Guess how much I made!" she said, hopping on her couch.

"How much?" they said in unison.

"$50 DOLLARS!" she screamed at the top of her lungs. Her parents half-flinched at the noise, half-grinned at her money.

"Wow!" her mom cheered, wrapping Jennah into a giant bear hug. 

"Cool," her dad said, smiling at Jennah and clapping her on the back.

"You know...when I was your age I made—"

"Dad, please don't start with the stories again!" Jennah groaned. He grinned and hugged Jennah also.

"You really make me proud, you know that?" he said releasing a squirming Jennah.