The true story inspired one author to conclude the fictional short story, in the online writing competition from scriblist.com in 2007. The winning competition entries have just been released in a book. The Kabul Case, the fictional story, is one of five short stories from ‘Five Green Bananas', Book One from scriblist.com. ‘Five Green Bananas’ was written in competition by thirteen different authors aged between 14 and 64. They live on different continents and have never met. The Kabul Case is the longest story in the collection of five, coming in at almost 14,500 words. It begins in 2002 simultaneously set in London, England and in Kabul, Afghanistan.
In London, a mysterious man known as “Harrods” sits waiting in a darkened room. In Kabul, two young brothers, Rahin and Jamil are the breadwinners for the large family, whilst their landmine-injured father keeps to his bare room, taking care of his sole possessions, a thin metallic bookmark in a shabbily bound book. At the same time, an Irish mercenary in Kabul plans a delivery with military precision. What happens when their normal day is interrupted by the unexpected? When the brothers steal a case from a taxi during a street riot, after an attempted hijack, they cannot foresee what impacts it will have on them, their family and a much wider circle beyond the challenges of day-to-day survival. The adventure that follows finds the boys pursued by the owners of the case, whose contents remain unknown until the final chapter of the story. The affects of the theft touch them all and bring the unlikely figures together in a fast-paced adventure and dramatic close.
Jenny Persson (33, living in Munich Germany), who wrote the ending to ‘the Kabul Case’ says she introduced the Bactrian gold facts into the fictitious short story because, ‘it is such a wonderful tale. I also wanted to consider the impact on a single, local family, and on a country’s education and its culture rather than the aspects of war that we see in the news. I have always been fascinated by art history and the Bactrian Gold is unique.”
"The five stories broad range of themes has impressed us, " says Patrick Horne, Scriblist co-founder. "Young people have written about issues they feel important to them - from adoption and autism, to the impact of our carbon footprint on the future and global climate change."
About Scriblist Book One : Five Green Bananas
Five Green Bananas consists of five short stories. The other four stories are called; ‘The Witness’, ‘How do you solve a problem like Maria?’, ‘Under the Acacia Tree’ and ‘2050’. The book title ‘Five Green Bananas’ refers to the five stories and the amateur nature of the authors.
The collection addresses classic themes of love and death, friendship and family, social injustice and violence, but also talks to contemporary subjects such as autism, adoption and the impact of today’s carbon footprint on the future. The book title refers to the five different stories and the amateur nature of the authors at the start of the project. Five Green Bananas is available for purchase at scriblist.com and from other leading retailers ISBN: 978-0-9558725-
Further information available:
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Audio Extracts from Book One, media coverage and web trailer can be found at: http://fivegreenbananasnews.blogspot.com
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