About the Author

                                   Gabriel Gougenheim

Gabriel Gougenheim is a 13 year old student at Raha International School. He enjoys traveling, lived in the Untied States and France before, and dreams of going to Japan.

As the city’s highest buildings pierced the clouds in the clear blue sky, a plane arrived in Tokyo on a bright spring morning. It carried a class of 20 children coming from the United States for their Grade 6 field trip. Among them was a group of five friends, named Max, Liam, Noah, Jen and Charlotte. They were all excited to visit the new city.

As they arrived  in the airport, their teacher, Mrs. Garcia, said “Well class, should we visit a landmark today?” “YES” yelled the class. “Which one?” asked Mrs. Garcia. Max, who had researched landmarks in anticipation for the trip, said that he wanted to visit the Tokyo Tower first. So the class hopped into the bus and drove towards the tower. 

During the drive, the kids stared in awe at the huge skyscrapers all around them. “Look at that!” said one. “It’s so tall!” said another. They looked at the signs on buildings. “What does it say?” said Noah. “That’s Japanese,” responded Mrs. Garcia. 

Soon after, the bus arrived. The students stared at the huge tower and the big crowds. Some were excited, some were intimidated. Noah was ready to explore; but Max would have preferred to stay back because he felt overwhelmed.

As they got down from the bus, the children walked towards the tower. Mrs. Garcia led them through the crowd. Suddenly, Noah spotted a cat. “Let’s go see it!” he exclaimed.

“We should probably stay with the group” said Max uncertainly. “That’s a good idea,” agreed Liam. “Come onnn,” responded Noah, “It’ll be quick, we’ll come back right away.” So the rest of the group agreed to go with Noah. 

As the group of friends approached, the cat turned around and ran into the street. “Let’s follow it” said Noah. He ran after the cat, and his friends followed.

They ran and ran and ran, through the city streets.