Scary Days In The Life Of Dana

Dana is a 6-year-old, slim, dark-skinned girl with curly black hair, black eyes, and a beautiful dimple on her left cheek. She lives with her parents and seven brothers and sisters. Dana is the youngest of her sisters and loves to play with her two brothers who are two years younger than her and the second is smarter in years. Dana is a quiet but very affectionate girl and loves to make friends with the girls in the neighborhood or from school. One day, Dana's mother asked if she would like to go with her to the fruit market. Dana agreed immediately because she loves shopping and also because she loves fruits. Before they went to the market, Dana's mother said: "Listen to what I am going to tell you and you must pay attention to what I say, "In the market there are a lot of people so you must hold on to my clothes very tightly so that I do not get lost among the people and thus it will be difficult for me to find you." Dana nodded in agreement. She said to her, "I will keep holding on to your clothes until we leave the market." Dana and her mother walked to the market. On the way, Dana saw the buildings, the streets, the traffic jam, and a lot of people. When they arrived at the market, there were a lot of women wearing black abayas and black veils. At first, Dana kept holding on to her mother's abayas, and she was looking right and left, looking at the fruits and their beautiful colors that were formed into different and beautiful shapes and decorated to attract buyers. After ten minutes, Dana realized that she had left her mother. Anxiety and tension began, then Dana thought that her mother was wearing a black veil, but she noticed that all the women were wearing the same color. Dana felt lost and free, and her fear began to increase. Dana thought that If she called out loud, her mother might hear her and come to her, so she started calling and calling but her mother didn't hear her. Dana felt sad and asked the women if they had seen her mother, but they shook their heads. Dana stayed like this for half an hour and then decided that she would go home by herself. Dana gathered her courage and started walking home. The market was half an hour away from home. When Dana started walking alone, her fear decreased and began to fade little by little and then disappeared completely. She walked steadily and confidently because she knew the way back. There were many cars driving on the side of the road and some passersby, men and women. While she was walking home, she passed by a very old house whose door was open and at the door sat an old woman who looked strange and scary. She was gesturing to Dana with her hand to come to her, but Dana was smarter, she didn't listen to her and started running away from her because she felt scared. After that, Dana arrived home and asked her brothers if their mother had arrived home or not. No? They said no and started asking why she came back home alone? How did you get separated from our mother? Our mother must be worried now and searching everywhere in the market. While they were talking and asking Dana, there was a knock on the door. When they opened the door, their mother was standing there, panting, with fear, worry and tension on her face and tears filling her eyes. But when she saw Dana standing at the entrance of the house, she hugged her tightly and started crying with joy because she thought she had lost her. Then she said to her while crying, "I'm sorry, that was wrong. I should have held your hand tightly. You must have been terrified being alone among people, but I promise you that this will not happen again." Dana told her mother how she searched and called her in the market and how she got back, and what the old woman did at the old house. Her mother was happy that Dana returned home safely and praised her for being brave and smart for not listening to the old woman when she called her. In the evening, when it was time to sleep, Dana wondered what would have happened if she had gone to the old woman. Would she be okay? Should we trust strangers? What should we do when a stranger approaches us? Dana felt happy that she was home with her loving family and that she would meet her best friend, Mina, tomorrow.