Like any book with various authors and many short stories, not all of them will necessarily be right for you. My Pen is the Wing of a Bird is no exception to this. Some of these shorts I blanked while reading and couldn't tell you a single thing about them. Others, however, were stunning works that I couldn't pull away from. A few (most) made me angry and frustrated, and a few of them left me sobbing. Others made me smile at the beauty portrayed. Each entry was a necessary voice, a powerful message, and clearly crafted and structured in an order that followed from one story to the next.

To give a special note to the following entries that took my breath away either, my literal breath from crying or due to the unexpected gasp caused by a twist that I did not see coming and was so grateful to have read it.

D for Daud by Anahita Gharib Nawaz is one story that triggered every emotion from heartbreak to love. This is a story I will never forget.

Blossom by Zainab Akhlaqi draws on the real-life bombing of the Sayed ul-Shuhada high school in Kabul

I Don’t Have the Flying Wings by Batool Haidari an entry I did not see coming