It was a cold, dark morning, like every other winter day in Vermont. My grandfather was waiting outside with the car, beckoning for me to join him and my mother and brother. I got into the car, and we drove. I drifted in and out of sleep, and remember drinking something sweet after a while. I dreamed of the home I was leaving, and of the home I was going to. I was just about to see where I was going to live, when I heard a screeching of tires, and heard my mother yelp. We had narrowly avoided hitting a motorcycle. He was being very vocal about how that made him feel. I tried to get back to sleep, but couldn’t. I was in a bad mood, and was anxious to get to Newton. I just hoped we weren’t far.

After what seemed like days, we arrived at my grandparent’s house, in Boston. We ate lunch, and talked about the imminent snow storm. My brother and I said we had “things to do”, so we left the dining room. I wandered aimlessly around the house, thinking about warm, windy places. I eventually found myself in the living room, and played a great game of Boggle™ with my brother and grandparents. I went to bed that night feeling happy, and exited about my family’s adventure.

I awoke at dawn, ate breakfast, and rushed to pack everything for the airport. When we were finally ready, I fell down the stairs on the way to the front door. The bruises were painful, but nothing could get in my way that day. I was unstoppable! We loaded everything into the car, and set off. I had never flown overseas before, and was very excited about landing in France, for our connecting flight. My mom, brother, and I checked in, and walked to security. I somehow managed to pinch my finger on one of the bags, and got a very painful bruise. We went through security fairly quick, and walked to our gate.

I was already feeling exited, and fantasized about the plane, and our France layover. We waited, and waited, and waited. Then we waited some more. By the time our flight was finally boarding, I was running up and down the terminal, out of pure boredom. Then the loudspeaker called “Flight 210, Air France now boarding!” We boarded, and I found my seat. The stewardess asked if I wanted a drink, so I got some rich, thick, purple berry juice. It was delicious! The captain told us the usual, the weather in Paris, the length of the flight, the turbulence we may experience, and on, and on, and on…

I was jolted awake by the sudden movement of the plane. Finally, we were taking off. I looked out the window, and saw a frozen Boston, and thought of my grandparents. I watched as we slowly, then quickly, accelerated and left the ground. I watched until Boston’s people were just tinny specks. I looked for a movie, and decided to watch the A-Team. The movie was good, and kept me occupied. I was watching the most intense action scene, when I decided to glance out the window, to see where we were. I was about to look, when I noticed a lump under my shirt. I pulled up my sleeve, and saw a huge, swelling bump, about the size of the palm of my hand. It had swelled up about an inch, and was turning a nasty red color. I got up, and showed it to my mom. She took me straight away to the back of the plane, where she promptly asked the crew whether they had any bugs on the plane. The crew said, “Of Course not! Who do you think we are?!?!?” So she said, “Well, look at this” and she showed them my arm. One of the stewardesses screamed, and the others took a step back. They said they had nothing they could put on it, so I would just have to let it be, and hope for the best. I went back to my seat, and tried to sleep.

I must have drifted off, because when I awoke, we were landing. I looked out the window to see a sleeping Paris, lit up with a warm glow from street lights. We landed smoothly, and got off the plane right on schedule. I awaited our next flight in the lounge, eating a croissant and drinking Chocó le Cho! I got on our flight to Lebanon feeling well fed, and relaxed. Our flight was very short, so I just read my book. We arrived, and went to get our luggage. We were greeted by my father, and my sister’s nanny. We all embraced, and told each other how happy we were to see each other. We joked, about how it was -5 degrees in Boston, and 20 degrees here! I felt at peace. I was finally reunited with my family! I thought about how great our new life was going to be as I took my first step on Lebanese soil.