Miles To Go Before I Sleep Read Online Free PDF Page A

tournament. The girls must be playing by now…. I wondered how they were doing….
    My irritation at the two Greek men soon faded as I settled in a long line waiting to board the plane. As I looked around, I noticed a group of beautiful Arab children laughing and playing in the terminal. This group of eight to ten year olds was a joy to behold. Their little faces and dark shining eyes were glowing with positive, hopeful energy. Their proud parents stood close by, talking with one another while keeping a watchful eye on the kids.
    My love for children is what led me into teaching. In Cairo, I taught special education classes for children this same age. One of the kids in this group reminded me of a little girl I taught at CAC. She had the same wonderful, infectious smile and the same glowing tan skin as my student Alysha.
    â€œPassengers on EgyptAir Flight 648 nonstop service to Cairo may now begin boarding,” a Greek man’s voice crackled over the loudspeaker. Finally, the line was moving. I began talking to a Canadian woman who was traveling with her baby. I helped her carry the baby carriage down the stairs to where the plane was waiting.
    I shivered slightly in the blowing wind as we climbed up the stairs leading to the front door of the plane.
    After stepping into the plane, I quickly found my third row aisle seat. I liked being near the front of the plane, closer to the center of action.
    I reached up to stow my carry-on bag in the overhead bin. As I turned back to sit down, my gaze fixed on a passenger sitting across the aisle.
    I found myself staring into the piercing blue eyes of a young, curly-haired man. He wore a well-tailored sport coat and tie, and looked like a businessman. He was attractive, solidly built, with finely chiseled Semitic features. A good-looking man.
    Two very attractive, refined, well-dressed women were sitting next to the handsome stranger. The women both had dark hair and dark eyes. One of them looked at the man with a little extra interest.
    But something was wrong. The curly-haired man seemed agitated or upset. He didn’t talk to the two women. Instead, he clutched his briefcase tightly and was dripping with sweat. He looked very controlled, as if he was determined to do something and nothing was going to stop him. He kept shifting his eyes from the front to the rear of the plane. I felt the fear in his eyes, and thought maybe it was his first time flying.
    A flight attendant approached our seats and then stopped. She looked down at the floor and pointed to a black briefcase blocking the aisle. “Whose briefcase is this?” she asked a male passenger.
    â€œIt’s not his! Leave it alone!” the curly-haired man yelled back at her and snatched the briefcase.
    It seemed odd. Was he on drugs? I quickly dismissed the thought and settled back in my seat.
    As I flipped through the pages of my magazine, flight attendants at the front of the plane demonstrated how to use the life jackets under our seats in case we had to make an emergency landing. They also showed us how to fasten our seatbelts and use the oxygen masks, should the cabin suddenly depressurize.
    I looked up briefly, then returned to my reading. What’s the big deal? I thought. How hard can it be to use one of these things? You just stick it over your mouth and breathe.
    My mind was already back in Cairo as we taxied for takeoff. I was glad to be going home. I was thinking about my students and classes the next day and the Thanksgiving dinner that friends were preparing for my arrival. I felt so grown up and “civilized.” Here I was, Jackie Nink Pflug, from Pasadena, Texas, jetting back and forth between two of the world’s most ancient civilizations—the center of so much culture, philosophy, art, and science. What a trip! My dreams were coming true.
    We were cleared for takeoff shortly after 9 P.M . As the engines roared, I plopped the new Springsteen cassette into my Sony