Is This Me?

Chapter Three - Saturday

"Wow!" Papa exclaimed. "I am super proud of you children. Straight A's in all report cards!"

The children beamed with joy.

"Yes Papa. We made sure we studied hard for these exams to make you and Mama proud" Emily said.

"And we are!" Mama exclaimed, hugging them tightly.

"But you haven't told us where we are going for summer, Papa" David reminded.

After a short silence, Papa said

"Well, let's go and make the decision. I don't want tickets to be sold out before we are able to book a flight"

The family marched downstairs from the room and settled down on the large carpet of the living room.

After they had settled down, Papa asked

"So, who has any suggestions?"

The children thought for a moment.

"We already thought about going to Egypt, Papa" Emily reminded.

"Oh right!" Papa exclaimed. "Is everyone okay with going to Egypt this year?"

"Yes, Papa" they chorused

"Good. It's settled then!" he beamed.

Josh spoke next.

"We can stay with Mammy (Grandmother) and Pappy (Grandfather) and visit Aunt Inaya and our cousins!"

"That sounds like such fun! And it saves us money from staying in a hotel, don't you think?" Mama looked at Papa with a smile.

"That's right!" he beamed, glad that everything was going as planned. He had been worried about the cost of travel this year due to a bad financial year. "Egypt it is then!"

"Yes!" Anne exclaimed.

The children started murmuring among themselves with joy.

"But, we don't have much time, children. I will book our flight for Friday and we can leave as early as 6:00 a.m on Saturday. So, we need to march upstairs and start packing our boxes. Saturday is three days from today".

"Yes Papa. We will do that immediately" David managed to speak for them as they raced upstairs to their rooms.

The day ended quicker than expected.

* * *
Saturday.

'BEEP, BEEP, BEEP' sounded Anne's alarm clock. 5:00 a.m was written boldly on it. The frame was decorated with flowers of different colours and sizes. What a beautiful Christmas gift from Pappy. Anne woke up almost immediately. The clock was so loud, it woke the boys up from the opposite room. Anne and Emily jumped up in excitement and started getting ready.

No staying in bed today when Egypt is calling!

It was a beautiful Saturday morning, and very cold indeed. The family got ready, ate breakfast and made last minute checks to their boxes to make sure their toiletries were all packed.

By 6:05 a.m, the family drove to the airport. It was a very long ride. The children slept most of the way, which was no surprise, seeing that they hardly slept the night before due to their excitement. Anne woke up just in time to see LONDON HEATHWAY AIRPORT boldly written on top of the big building. She nudged her siblings awake.

They alighted from the car and headed towards the waiting area. It was already very busy at the airport. It was well lit and bubbling with life, almost as though they never went to sleep. Anne tried to keep up with the others and not to bump into people. When it was their turn, Papa got everything covered and soon, it was time to board the plane.