Elif’s Birthday Present

Elif was very curious about what her father would give her on her birthday. He had always got her wonderful birthday presents. When she woke up in the morning, her heart was pounding with excitement. She ran to the kitchen, and his father gave her a big red gift box. Elif opened her birthday present immediately. It was a musical instrument shaped like a flute. His father said that the musical instrument was called "Ney".

Her father had always wanted to get Elif to play a musical instrument. Elif was actually not very enthusiastic about this, but in order not to upset her father, she did not say this and she was pretending to be interested. She thanked her father for the present; however, she couldn't help imagining herself getting a beautiful brand new dress instead of that musical instrument.

One week later, Elif started to take lessons to learn to play the "Ney". She attended classes for a while, but she did not enjoy them very much. One day, after the Ney lesson, she hurriedly left the music class, took the bus and went back home. When she got home, she realized that she had left the Ney somewhere. She was really upset, where had she left it? Moreover, how would she explain this to her father?

In the evening, Elif told her father that she lost her "Ney". Her father comforted her saying:

• Don't worry, I'll go to the school and the bus station tomorrow and ask about it. They may have found and kept it for you.

The next day, her father came home with the Ney, which he had found at the bus station. He gave it to Elif and told her to be more careful with it. Elif decided to be honest with her father about her feelings, and she said:

• Daddy, I am very happy that you found my Ney, but would you be upset if I told you that I don't really want to play the Ney?

Her father patted her gently on her head and said that he would not be upset because he wanted Elif to take up hobbies of her choice.

But what would they do with this Ney now? Elif came up with an idea. There must be many children who want to play a musical instrument but whose parents cannot afford to buy an instrument for them. The best thing would be to find such a child and give this Ney to her. Her father loved the idea. In this case, the Ney was not going to be one of those musical instruments that are bought with great enthusiasm but later put aside on dusty shelves.