"Have you prayed today yet,'' Mrs. Ali said, as she removed her headdress from her head. "No, I was just about to do my homework,'' Zayna was getting tired of being nagged to pray, its not like she didn't want to, but she wanted to be a doctor and Allah wasn't going to get her an A on her Biology test.

"Prayer comes first, I've always told you that,'' Zayna's Mother had always taught her that studying would do her no good unless she had asked Allah to give her the ability to master the subject. This made no sense to Zayna since she had prayed that she would get an A on a Math test (without studying), and needless to say, she had failed.

"I'm going for a walk,'' Zayna called behind her as she ran out of the door.

As she walked down T-Street towards Lindo's, she saw people's houses decorated for the Christmas holidays, and that feeling of being left out crept up on her. As she walked Zayna thought about all the times that she had felt this way, the time when mini-skirts were hip, and pum-pum shorts were the rave.

Being a Muslim made her different, and now, at 15 Zayna didn't like it. Even in the dead of summer, she was forced to wear long pants and dresses. Zayna felt discouraged, as she made her way back to her house on Leeson Lane.

"Beeeeep, Beeeep,'' Oh, shutup Zayna moaned, as she rolled over and switched off the clock. Her head was spinning as she walked down the hall to the bathroom. It was Tuesday, and last night's storm was still raging. Zayna thought about what her Mother had said the night before about how important it was to read the Koran, and abide by its teachings. She didn't know just how hard it is, when you're a fifteen year old teenager and couldn't do half the things your friends did because of your religion, Zayna thought as she got out of the shower. I could really do without wearing these awful pants and stupid headdress, Zayna moaned as she dressed for school, today's going to be a long day.

"Look, its Zayna, and what is she wearing today? A lovely checkered ensemble with a headdress motif,'' Zayna heard the voice of the most obnoxious, most annoying little snit at school, Jennifer Smith. Zayna could feel the hairs on her neck rising as Jennifer began to laugh hideously, but she kept her head in the air as she want to her first class.

The day dragged on, and things only got worse. At lunch, Jennifer snatched Zayna's headdress and proceeded to throw it around the lunch room. Zayna knew that it was against the Koran's teachings to fight, but Zayna found herself punching Jennifer hard in the nose. The principle had to be called to restore order. The rest of the day, she was threatened by many people, and was forced to call her Mom to pick her up. She now knew that if she was going to respect herself she would have to stand up to them, she suddenly knew what she had to do.

The next day, Zayna went to see Mrs. Redwood, her school's Dean of Students.

She told Mrs. Redwood, that she wanted to start a club. It would be called TRTC, The Religious Tolerence Club. It would consist of at least one representative from each religious background at school. Mrs. Redwood loved the idea, but doubted its success. As it turned out, many of the students had suffered the same pressure and abuse as Zayna and felt that an organisation like this was long overdo.

The club launched its opening with an assembly. They had speakers from organisations like the Jewish Community of Bermuda, and a teacher from Masjid Muhammad, as well as the Muslim school in Bermuda. They all made very good speeches that day, but the most touching came from Zayna herself.

"We don't do Christmas,'' she said in a clear voice,"or Easter, or Lent, or even Ash Wednesday, but what we do celebrate, we celebrate well, because we are proud of our Muslim culture. Just because I can't wear all the things others do, or I don't believe in the same things as you, doesn't make me less of a person, or you more. All people are created equal, and that may be a belief shared by all. I hope that by starting this club, people will open their eyes and see that there are other ways of doing things, and that just because I do things differently, doesn't mean that it's wrong. There are some people in this school that will have a harder time grasping this concept than others,'' Zayna looked right at Jennifer when she said this, "but I hope that with time it will make sense. I part in saying, we must come together, because together we rise, and divided we fall. Thank you.'' Zayna left the stage to thundering applause, and a standing ovation. She had never felt so proud to be a Muslim, as she did now. As she left the hall, she could see her mother in the very back row of seats. She smiled as her mother mouthed, "have you prayed today, yet?'' CHRISTMAS SHORT STORY CONTEST CPN