📖 Story
Ziad was ten years old, fast as the wind. He loved races and competitions and didn't like anyone getting ahead of him at anything. At school he was the first to finish his homework, on the playground he was the first to reach the finish line, and at home he was the first to sit at the table. He always told his friends, "What matters is being first. Nothing else counts." His cousin Noor, who was the same age, was completely different: calm, fond of looking closely at things, noticing what others didn't, and filling her notebook with drawings of flowers and birds.
At the start of summer, the Young Adventurers Club announced a trip to Eagle Mountain, a tall mountain whose peak is covered in snow even in summer, where big eagles live on the rocks. Coach Hassan told the children, "We'll walk the long trail until we reach the high plateau near the summit, where we can see the eagles' nests from afar. The trail is beautiful, but it takes patience and attention. And remember: we are one team. We go up together and we come down together." But Ziad heard only the word "summit," and he whispered to Noor, "I'll be the first one there, you'll see!"
On the morning of the trip, the children put on sturdy hiking boots and carried colorful backpacks with water, food, hats, and warm jackets. The sun shone on the white peaks, the air was clean and cold, and yellow and purple wildflowers filled the sides of the trail. Coach Hassan stood at the front, his assistant Rana stood at the back, and the team set off in a long line between tall pine trees.
Before they set off, the coach gathered the children in a circle, showed them the trail map, pointed to the yellow marks painted on the rocks, and explained that halfway along there was a big fork where they must always take the right-hand path. Then he gave each child a small whistle and said, "If any of you gets lost, blow three times and stay where you are." Noor carefully drew the map in her notebook, but Ziad was looking at the summit and not listening.
It wasn't long before Ziad began walking faster, passing the children one after another until he was right behind the coach. Now and then he looked back and told himself, "Excellent, nobody's close to me." Noor walked in the middle of the line, stopping sometimes to look at an unusual flower or a colorful butterfly and sketch it quickly in her notebook, then carrying on with her little friend Haya, the youngest member of the team, who was only eight.
After two hours of climbing, the trail became steeper and rockier. The coach stopped at a big flat rock and said, "We'll rest here for ten minutes. Drink water and eat something." Ziad sat impatiently on the edge of the rock. "Ten minutes? That's so long! I'm not tired." Then he looked at the trail climbing ahead and saw a yellow mark on a rock. "The way is clear," he told himself. "I'll get a little ahead of everyone and wait for them at the top." And while the coach was busy helping a child tie his boot, Ziad slipped away and climbed alone.
Ziad walked quickly, feeling proud, his chest filling with cold air. But soon he reached a place where the trail split into two paths, and he couldn't see any yellow mark. He stood there confused, looking right and left, then looked back and saw no one. His heart began to pound, and he said out loud, "Which is the right way?" Only the sound of the wind between the rocks answered him. At that moment, he remembered the coach's rule that he had heard at the meeting and not cared about: "If you get separated from the team, stop where you are, don't move, and wait."
Ziad sat on a rock and felt, for the first time, that being first didn't matter anymore. He only wished he could see his friends' faces. Down below, the coach had noticed he was missing. He gathered the team and said calmly, "Ziad went up alone. We'll catch up with him together, and we'll stay close to each other." Noor said, "Coach Hassan, Ziad loves speed. He must have followed the yellow marks to the big fork. I drew the map in my notebook when you explained it to us!" Noor opened her notebook, and there was a careful drawing of the trail, the fork, and the marks. The coach smiled. "Well done, Noor. Your notebook will help us a lot."
The team climbed together with steady steps, Noor walking beside the coach showing him the way and holding the hand of little Haya, who was starting to get tired. When they reached the fork, they saw Ziad sitting on the rock, his face a little pale. Ziad jumped up, ran toward them, and said in a shaky voice, "I'm sorry, Coach… I thought I knew the way." The coach put his hand on his shoulder. "Thank goodness you're all right, and well done for stopping and waiting. That was a wise decision. But remember, Ziad: on the mountain, the team matters more than speed."
The team kept climbing, but this time Ziad walked in the middle of the line beside Noor and Haya. After a while, Haya tripped on a small rock and sat down. "My legs are tired. I can't keep going." Ziad looked at her, then at the faraway summit, and thought for a moment. In the past, he would have left her and hurried ahead. But this time he sat beside her and said, "You know, Haya? I got tired a little while ago too. Let's count a hundred steps together, then rest, then count another hundred." Ziad carried her heavy water bottle for her, Noor held her other hand, and the three of them began counting steps and laughing.
After a long climb, the whole team reached the high plateau together. The view was amazing: white peaks glittering in the sun, deep green valleys, and little clouds floating below them as if they were above the sky. Suddenly Noor shouted, "Look! An eagle!" Everyone looked up and saw a huge eagle spreading its wide wings and circling calmly above the peaks. Then another eagle joined it, and they flew together side by side. "Eagles fly in pairs," said the coach, "and take turns guarding their nests. Even the strongest birds need a companion."
The children sat eating their sandwiches and gazing at the view. Ziad said quietly to Noor, "Noor, I used to think getting there first was what mattered most. But today, when I was alone at the fork, the summit meant nothing. The best moment was when we all arrived together." Noor smiled and showed him a new drawing in her notebook: three children holding hands on a mountain trail, with two eagles flying above them. "I'll call this drawing 'The Eagles' Trail,'" she said, and wrote their three names underneath.
Back at the club, the coach asked each child to write the most important thing they had learned on the trip. Ziad wrote in big letters: "The real first is not the one who arrives before others, but the one who helps others arrive." On the trips that followed, Ziad walked at the back of the line with the assistant Rana, cheering on the tired children and carrying their things, and everyone loved climbing with him.
Ziad, Noor, and the whole team learned that a real adventure is not a race we win alone, but a journey we share with the people we love. Cooperation, patience, and listening to the advice of grown-ups protect us on hard paths, and the joy we share with our friends is far bigger than any victory we win on our own.
At the start of summer, the Young Adventurers Club announced a trip to Eagle Mountain, a tall mountain whose peak is covered in snow even in summer, where big eagles live on the rocks. Coach Hassan told the children, "We'll walk the long trail until we reach the high plateau near the summit, where we can see the eagles' nests from afar. The trail is beautiful, but it takes patience and attention. And remember: we are one team. We go up together and we come down together." But Ziad heard only the word "summit," and he whispered to Noor, "I'll be the first one there, you'll see!"
On the morning of the trip, the children put on sturdy hiking boots and carried colorful backpacks with water, food, hats, and warm jackets. The sun shone on the white peaks, the air was clean and cold, and yellow and purple wildflowers filled the sides of the trail. Coach Hassan stood at the front, his assistant Rana stood at the back, and the team set off in a long line between tall pine trees.
Before they set off, the coach gathered the children in a circle, showed them the trail map, pointed to the yellow marks painted on the rocks, and explained that halfway along there was a big fork where they must always take the right-hand path. Then he gave each child a small whistle and said, "If any of you gets lost, blow three times and stay where you are." Noor carefully drew the map in her notebook, but Ziad was looking at the summit and not listening.
It wasn't long before Ziad began walking faster, passing the children one after another until he was right behind the coach. Now and then he looked back and told himself, "Excellent, nobody's close to me." Noor walked in the middle of the line, stopping sometimes to look at an unusual flower or a colorful butterfly and sketch it quickly in her notebook, then carrying on with her little friend Haya, the youngest member of the team, who was only eight.
After two hours of climbing, the trail became steeper and rockier. The coach stopped at a big flat rock and said, "We'll rest here for ten minutes. Drink water and eat something." Ziad sat impatiently on the edge of the rock. "Ten minutes? That's so long! I'm not tired." Then he looked at the trail climbing ahead and saw a yellow mark on a rock. "The way is clear," he told himself. "I'll get a little ahead of everyone and wait for them at the top." And while the coach was busy helping a child tie his boot, Ziad slipped away and climbed alone.
Ziad walked quickly, feeling proud, his chest filling with cold air. But soon he reached a place where the trail split into two paths, and he couldn't see any yellow mark. He stood there confused, looking right and left, then looked back and saw no one. His heart began to pound, and he said out loud, "Which is the right way?" Only the sound of the wind between the rocks answered him. At that moment, he remembered the coach's rule that he had heard at the meeting and not cared about: "If you get separated from the team, stop where you are, don't move, and wait."
Ziad sat on a rock and felt, for the first time, that being first didn't matter anymore. He only wished he could see his friends' faces. Down below, the coach had noticed he was missing. He gathered the team and said calmly, "Ziad went up alone. We'll catch up with him together, and we'll stay close to each other." Noor said, "Coach Hassan, Ziad loves speed. He must have followed the yellow marks to the big fork. I drew the map in my notebook when you explained it to us!" Noor opened her notebook, and there was a careful drawing of the trail, the fork, and the marks. The coach smiled. "Well done, Noor. Your notebook will help us a lot."
The team climbed together with steady steps, Noor walking beside the coach showing him the way and holding the hand of little Haya, who was starting to get tired. When they reached the fork, they saw Ziad sitting on the rock, his face a little pale. Ziad jumped up, ran toward them, and said in a shaky voice, "I'm sorry, Coach… I thought I knew the way." The coach put his hand on his shoulder. "Thank goodness you're all right, and well done for stopping and waiting. That was a wise decision. But remember, Ziad: on the mountain, the team matters more than speed."
The team kept climbing, but this time Ziad walked in the middle of the line beside Noor and Haya. After a while, Haya tripped on a small rock and sat down. "My legs are tired. I can't keep going." Ziad looked at her, then at the faraway summit, and thought for a moment. In the past, he would have left her and hurried ahead. But this time he sat beside her and said, "You know, Haya? I got tired a little while ago too. Let's count a hundred steps together, then rest, then count another hundred." Ziad carried her heavy water bottle for her, Noor held her other hand, and the three of them began counting steps and laughing.
After a long climb, the whole team reached the high plateau together. The view was amazing: white peaks glittering in the sun, deep green valleys, and little clouds floating below them as if they were above the sky. Suddenly Noor shouted, "Look! An eagle!" Everyone looked up and saw a huge eagle spreading its wide wings and circling calmly above the peaks. Then another eagle joined it, and they flew together side by side. "Eagles fly in pairs," said the coach, "and take turns guarding their nests. Even the strongest birds need a companion."
The children sat eating their sandwiches and gazing at the view. Ziad said quietly to Noor, "Noor, I used to think getting there first was what mattered most. But today, when I was alone at the fork, the summit meant nothing. The best moment was when we all arrived together." Noor smiled and showed him a new drawing in her notebook: three children holding hands on a mountain trail, with two eagles flying above them. "I'll call this drawing 'The Eagles' Trail,'" she said, and wrote their three names underneath.
Back at the club, the coach asked each child to write the most important thing they had learned on the trip. Ziad wrote in big letters: "The real first is not the one who arrives before others, but the one who helps others arrive." On the trips that followed, Ziad walked at the back of the line with the assistant Rana, cheering on the tired children and carrying their things, and everyone loved climbing with him.
Ziad, Noor, and the whole team learned that a real adventure is not a race we win alone, but a journey we share with the people we love. Cooperation, patience, and listening to the advice of grown-ups protect us on hard paths, and the joy we share with our friends is far bigger than any victory we win on our own.
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