It was a beautiful day. The sun was shining,
butterflies were fluttering about, the birds were
twittering in the trees, and bees were humming among
the flowers in the fields.
It was a pleasant enough walk, but not really very
exciting.
The boys were just about to turn back home when
they saw something strange. They quickened their
steps, almost running, as they approached the dark
place ahead of them.
It was a forest.
Inside the forest, it was much cooler than in the
fields they’d just left. The trees were very high and hid
most of the sunlight. Here and there strange shapes
appeared ahead, which on closer inspection turned out to
be shadows. As they
progressed through
the forest, it became
darker and darker.
Suddenly, Chaim
and Motty said to
each other at the very
same moment, “Do
you see something
red and sparkling
over there?”
They began
to run toward the
glinting, glowing
object. Faster and
faster they went. It
was as if something
was drawing
them forward with great speed. They were moving
so quickly that they could hear their hearts beating.
Their breathing became heavy, but they couldn’t stop
running. They were too excited.
As they ran, the sparkling object became larger and
larger. They were almost there...
They stopped.
“Am I imagining this, Motty?” Chaim wondered
out loud. “Do you see what I see?”
“It’s an airplane. A little sparkling airplane!“ Motty
cried.
“Come on! Let’s go see if it’s real,” Chaim said.
They walked over mossy ground and through
bushes and over rocks until at last they reached it.
Chaim laughed. ”Hey, Motty, it must be a Jewish
plane. Its name is painted on it. See? It’s called
ELIAL.”
“Very funny,” answered Motty. “Look, the door is
open. Do you think we could go inside and explore?”
Before he’d finished his sentence, Chaim had
disappeared through the doorway of the plane. Motty
followed him, wondering if this was really such a good
idea.
The sight that greeted them was beyond anything
they could have imagined. “Is this real or am I
dreaming?” Chaim wondered as he gently stroked
the interior of the plane. It was amazing, so shiny and
colorful.
The two pilot seats were gleaming silver. The roof
and sides of the plane had enormous clear windows so
that you could see the trees at either side of the plane
and the blue sky above. The pilot’s instruments seemed
very simple, but so enticing. There was a large square
panel and many smaller square buttons mounted in it,
each one a different color. It reminded the boys of a set
of paints in a box.
Chaim and Motty began to behave as Goldilocks
had in the house of the three bears. First they tried the
seats. They felt very comfortable. Then Chaim pressed
a button. It was a lovely metallic yellow. Immediately,
a gentle buzz sounded and the door closed.
Chaim was enjoying himself. He stretched out his
arm to press the next attractively colored button -
purple this time. Just as his finger reached the button,
the boys heard a familiar voice cry out, “Chaim, I’m
scared! Open the door. I want to get out.”
Both boys looked around in disbelief. It was
Chaim’s sister, standing behind the pilot’s chair!
Where had she come from?
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