Today, Muhammad asked me if he could post. Of course I was surprised. Normally he is the one who likes to critique my writing, but gripes about any actual writing that he may have to do for school etc. So, without any further ado, here is his first solo masterpiece.
Travels With Baba. A Narrative by Muhammad Gunter Mrs. Brown's class GVA
It had been three weeks since we had last seen Baba. He called us every day but I still missed him a lot. It seemed like he had been gone for most of the summer, but today he was coming home!
“Asalam Aleikom he said with his deep middle eastern accent. “I hope you were good for your mom while I was away, so we can have some fun when I get home.”
I hurried to finish my schoolwork and chores quietly, but quickly. The rest of the house was jumping up and down like monkeys especially my two stepbrothers.
When Baba got home, he hugged us all. Then he unloaded his bags full of dirty laundry for my mother and took a shower. After he had eaten dinner, he sat down with a big smile and said, “Pack your bags boys, we are going on a trip.” Inside I was so happy, but instead of going crazy and wild, I just smiled and wondered where we were going. My mother gave us each a backpack, two changes of clothes, and some snacks. That night I couldn’t sleep. I kept dreaming of all the places we might go. We were leaving tomorrow night. I couldn’t wait!
When we got to the truck, my two stepbrothers immediately started arguing over who would sit in the front seat. I thought to myself, “This is going to be a long trip”. I rolled my eyes but didn’t say anything. Baba just winked at me. I knew he understood.
“Stop that fighting”, he said to them. “Neither one of you will be sitting there. Muhammad gets to sit up front first, because he is the oldest and isn’t fighting.” They both gave me dirty looks, but I didn’t care. It was nighttime and I knew the other boys would go to sleep. Then, Baba and I could spend the quiet time talking, without the noise. We talked a little about school but mostly we enjoyed the fresh summer air and the beautiful night sky. The stars looked like a billion fireflies floating above us. I didn’t notice when I fell asleep.
I woke up early in the morning to one stepbrother screaming in my face. “IT’S MY TURN IN THE FRONT!” he screamed in my ear. “How, rude is that?” I thought. We were at a rest area. The sign said, “Welcome to Mississippi”.
“Time for some exercise Baba said. We all got out of the truck, and walked over to a picnic table. We did some sit ups and some pushups. Baba did pull ups on the beams above the picnic cover too. He has really strong muscles. Not like me, and my skinny arms. Baba said that if I keep exercising I will get big muscles too.
After exercising we got back into the truck. I saw lots of beautiful trees and scenery. Baba still hadn’t told us where we were going. I thought to myself that we were going to my uncle’s house. “Are we going to my uncle’s house?” I asked him. “No. he said, Wait and see.” The day was hot, and we drove for hours. We passed the ocean in Louisiana, and then crossed into Texas. I didn’t really like Texas. It was dry, hot and dusty. There were a lot of cattle. Some of them had really big horns. Instead of trees, there were oil pumps and the tumbleweeds. The road seemed that it would go on forever. Then, suddenly, we stopped.
“Everybody out, Baba said. We all got out and saw a huge sign. It said, “Welcome to the Road Side Zoo”. A Zoo! I couldn’t believe it. How was there a zoo in the middle of nowhere? We saw all sorts of unusual animals. We saw mountain lions, ostriches, capuchin monkeys, llamas, a ram, and a deer. There were buffalos, a wallaby, goats, peacocks and many other animals. We had a great time reading about each animal. My stepbrothers kept trying to feed the animals even though the sign said “Do Not Feed”. Luckily, Baba stopped them. He told them that the animals have to eat food that is especially for them. It was hot, but it was a great day.
After the zoo, we got into the truck so Baba could make his delivery. We traveled back home and talked about the fun we had. I felt sorry that my brother Hussam and my sisters did not get to see the zoo. I knew that Baba would plan something nice for them another time. When we got home we told everyone about our trip. I can’t wait until next summer, maybe we will go on another trip, all together.
