that they had just left. The ship slowly approached the dock. The ramp was lowered as soon as the ship arrived so that the crew could get back on the water as quickly as possible. The boys hurried down the ramp to the dock when Mohamar announced that he would be reboarding the merchant ship. He was handing over responsibility for them to Qadim who was waiting for them dockside. The boys tentatively said goodbye to Mohamar and observed Qadim. He was the gruff looking burly man standing next to the ramp looking impatient. Mohamar waved to the boys and waved to Qadim as he walked back up the ramp and onto the deck of the ship. As soon as Mohamar disappeared from view, Qadim waved the boys forward to his waiting truck. He told them that they had about a five hour drive to the airport in Amman so they needed to quickly get on the road.
The boys threw their bags in the back of the truck and climbed in. Qadim turned on the engine and began to drive. Out of a feeling of necessity the boys had become friends during their short time on the merchant ship. Perhaps they felt that they needed one another for support in their still long journey. Finally Qadim asked if they could keep the noise down because he needed to concentrate on his driving. “It is a straight relatively untraveled road from Haql until shortly before we arrive in Amman,” he explained. “I need to have my focus on the road.”
The boys laughed among themselves, but did keep their voices to a loud whisper. “We don’t need to arrive in Amman until tomorrow,” Qadim said. “I think we will stop in a short while for the evening - what do you boys think of that plan?”
They pulled off the road and drove behind some large rocks that were a short distance away. The boys got out of the truck and began to look around. Qadim told them to stay close to the truck so they wouldn’t get injured or lost. Qadim pulled sleeping bags and food from the rear of the truck, while the boys relieved themselves near another large rock not too far away from the truck. They ate their meal while sitting on the sleeping bags that had been arranged in a circle on the ground. The truck served as protection for them against intruders and the elements. When the sun went down, Qadim suggested that they make it an early evening, so they could arise in the morning and get an early start on the day to avoid the heat. The boys readily agreed, since they had awakened early that day as well.
Qadim woke them at sunrise to start their last day on the road before getting to the airport. They took a small meal and excitedly got back in the truck. Qadim began the drive, and as they were approaching the border of Jordan, he told them not to speak unless spoken to until after they left the border station. He would do all the talking. There was something in his voice that frightened them. They were stopped at the border and the border guard spoke to Qadim. He responded and then they were waved onward by the guard. Qadim kept on driving without another word.
As they approached Amman, the traffic on the road got heavier. Qadim explained that Amman is a big city and that Queen Alia International Airport is on the southeastern side of the city. They turned off the road when Qadim saw the sign for the airport. His friend Mohammad was supposed to meet them at a specific location within the airport, because Mohammad was planning on taking Qadim’s truck back. Qadim drove to the drop off area for Qatar Airways. The boys each got their own bag from the back of the truck while Qadim found Mohammad. By the time boys had unloaded their belongings, Qadim was back with Mohammad, and he unloaded his bag as well. Mohamad drove off in the truck, and Qadim, with the boys at his side, walked into the terminal. Qadim told them to carry their bags with them on the airplane so they would able to go straight to the gate. He had their tickets in his hand.
Amad and the other boys were all from well-to-do families yet none of them had ever been to an airport. In fact they had never seen such a modern building or so many people. They didn’t know what to look at first, but they knew that they had to follow Qadim closely because they didn’t want to lose him in the crowds of people. They looked up and saw the high arched ceilings then they looked out the large windows and saw what looked like giant birds sitting on the ground. They must be the airplanes that they had only seen flying high in the sky looking very small indeed. Many people were standing in long lines, but Qadim took them up a moving staircase to the second floor. As they were moving they looked behind them back down to the first floor. It felt like they were already flying away as the people seemed to shrink in size. The ceiling still seemed to be high above them, but the second floor was approaching quickly. Amad almost fell as he stepped off the moving stairs. Qadim told them that they were leaving from a gate at the far end on the right. They were to keep walking, passing restaurants and shops, until they arrived at the gate. They saw large seating areas facing more large windows where people were looking down at the giant birds on the ground below. Finally Qadim turned right into one of these seating areas. He sat the boys in some seats close to a check-in area against the wall. They were told to stay in their seats until he returned from getting their boarding passes. The boys watched as Qadim stood in a short line. They observed the giant bird below them that said “Qatar Airways” on its back.
“Do you think that is our airplane?” One of the boys asked Amad. Without saying a word, Amad just shrugged his shoulders.
“Look at the giant bird slowly moving farther from the window,” said another boy. Amad watched a different giant bird moving on the ground in the distance and very slowly the front lifted off the ground and the rear slowly lifted behind it until the entire giant bird was in the air. It definitely looked like a larger version of the high flying airplanes that he had seen in the sky at home. Amad was in deep thought when Qadim returned. “I will hold your boarding passes for you. We can board the airplane in about fifteen minutes,” he said. Qadim let them go to the giant window to see the airplane. The boys observed a large tunnel move toward the airplane and fasten to its side. They saw some small windows at the front of the airplane and even smaller windows dotting each side. There were men in uniforms behind the windows in the front of the airplane.
Soon Qadim called them away from the window. “It is time. Take your bags and follow me,” Qadim said as they moved into a line that was forming in front of an open door behind the check-in area. Shortly afterward the line began to move. Qadim told the boys to stay close behind him. Amad realized that they were walking into the tunnel that he had observed through the window. When they got to the end of the tunnel they took a step upward and onto the airplane. They walked down a narrow aisle between seats until Qadim stopped. He ushered three boys into the seats to the left. He told them to put their bags under the seats in front of them. One boy he steered into the window seat behind the other boys, and Amad and Qadim sat in the seats next to him completing the row.
All the boys were very excited about flying for the first time. They leaned over one another to look out the small window on the side of the airplane. They looked at the tarmac below the airplane and were amazed at how high they were off the ground when they were still at the gate. They watched as the ramp was pulled away from the airplane and moved back toward the gate. They listened to a crew member talk about safety through the speaker system in the aircraft. Qadim made sure that each of them fastened their seatbelts. The aircraft lurched as it backed away from gate and turned toward the runway. They taxied for a short distance and stopped. “Why have we stopped?” Amad asked Qadim.
Qadim explained that “some airplanes must take off and some airplanes must land, and that they didn’t want to crash into each other. Therefore the pilots of all airplanes must talk to special people on the ground who tell them when it is their turn to take off or land.” Amad nodded. He understood that their airplane was in line waiting for its turn to take off. He heard a shuddering sound and felt a vibration in the aircraft. He looked out the window and observed small pieces of metal moving up and down on the wing. Suddenly the airplane began to move very quickly and the vibrations and the sounds increased. As he watched he felt the front of the airplane rise off the ground and the rest of the airplane followed. The ground seemed to fall away beneath them and all he could see was the blue sky and the puffy clouds. Finally they must be flying!
After about two hours, a crew member said through the speaker system that everyone should prepare to land. Amad began to watch again through the window. The front of the airplane seemed to tilt downward and as they traveled through the clouds, he could suddenly see land below them. He felt the airplane turn slightly, and he watched the ground seemingly move beneath them. He felt a slight vibration as the aircraft slowly lowered itself in the sky. Soon he could see large