More than 100 passengers got on the plane. It was a winter day. It was January. The weather was very cold. It was snowing. Ice was on the roads. But the airport was open. The big jets were flying. A little snow never stopped a big jet. Big jets fly all the time. They rarely crash in bad weather. They rarely crash in good weather. Big jets are very safe. The passengers got on the plane. It was 7 a.m. The plane was supposed to take off at 7:30 a.m. It did not take off at 7:30 a.m. It did not take off all morning.

v

Part One: A Journey to LilliputChapter OneI Come to Lilliput 

          My father lived in the north of England, but he was not very rich. I was the youngest of five brothers. I left school when I was seventeen years old. My father could not pay for me after that. I travelled on the ship Antelope to the South Seas. We left Bristol in May, 1699.

          I will not write down everything about our journey on those seas. But I will tell you this. On our way to the East Indies, a great wind carried us the wrong way.

vv CHAPTER ONE Journey to Istanbul It is early morning on a sunny spring day in April. Heathrow Airport, London, is busy, as usual. Hundreds of people are arriving, leaving, or waiting for planes. In the Departure Lounge of Terminal One, a man is sitting reading a newspaper. He does not like airports. There are too many people, and he is always nervous when he flies. He looks at his watch impatiently. Then he hears the announcement over the loudspeakers. 'British Airways announce the departure of Flight BE570 for Istanbul.

CHAPTER 5 – ELEPHANTS

It is six years after my meeting with the little prince. When I think about him, I am sad. But I write about the little prince, because I don’t want to forget him. It is sad when you forget a friend. Not everybody has a friend.

This is the reason why I have paper and colours in my hands now. It is difficult to draw for me when I am old. But I want to do it.

I want to make my pictures very good. But I am not sure if I can do it. One picture is OK, but another picture is not very good.