Written by Ali Akbar Irandoost
English text by Yuko Saito and Marianne Mitchell
zadeh stood at the window of the living room, looking at the schoolyard across the street. She envied the children who looked so happy running around and playing. The school bell rang. All the children disappeared into the schoolhouse.Azadeh turned to her father and asked, "Daddy, when will I go to school?"
"Soon, my dear," he answered. "One of these days when the clock strikes seven in the morning."
zadeh looked up at the big clock on the wall. The hands were moving so slowly that she couldn't see them moving. She wished to turn them faster, but the clock was too high up on the wall for her to reach. Above the face of the clock, there was a tiny window. On the hour, it would fling open and two white pigeons would come out one after the other to tell the hour. Fastened to an iron bar, the pigeons seemed to be turning the hands of the clock by pulling the bar. They looked tired with the hard labor. One of them had a broken wing.
zadeh opened her drawing book on the table and began sketching the clock and the two pigeons. Beside the clock, she also drew children playing in the schoolyard.Pushing the pigeons in the picture with her fingers, Azadeh whispered:
"Faster, pigeons, faster! I want to go to school soon."
But the pigeons remained silent and did not move. They looked unhappy, not being able to move.
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