Jamie lived in the glen with his mum and dad and baby sister, Catriona. Jamie spent his days chasing rabbits and butterflies and taking Catriona for walks. He'd show her flowers and take her to the stream to see the fish swim by. It was always very quiet and peaceful.

One day Jamie's mum told him that they were going on holiday to a big city to visit their grandma and grandpa. Jamie was excited. He'd never been to a big city before. At night he'd lie in bed and wonder what it was like. His mum told him about the tall buildings and busy streets and all the people that lived there. Jamie was most excited about going to see the Statue of Liberty. His dad said it was a huge statue and you could climb to the top and see all the tall buildings in the city. Jamie looked forward to climbing to the top.

They boarded an airplane and flew all day across the ocean. Jamie looked out the window and saw clouds and ships on the water. When they landed, he heard a lot of noise. Cars honked and people shouted. Jamie put his hands over his ears. "Mum, it's noisy here. I'm glad we don't have noise like this at home." Catriona cried. She didn't like the noise either.

After a good night's sleep, the family woke up and had breakfast. They took a taxi cab and then a boat and arrived at the Statue of Liberty. Mum didn't want to climb all the stairs with Catriona, so she stayed down on the grass and let Catriona watch all the people. Jamie and his dad climbed. It was tiring. Jamie had to stop and rest and so did his father. They climbed and climbed and climbed. When they reached the top Jamie looked out the window. "Wow! Look at all the big buildings. I see the water and all the people look like ants. I see Mum and Catriona. They're so tiny."

There were a lot of other people who wanted to look out of the window, but Jamie didn't move. He loved seeing the buildings. "Those are called skyscrapers," his dad said.

"Why do they call them that?" Jamie looked up at the sky. "Do they scrape the sky?"

"No, Jamie. But they're so tall that they look like they might."

"Dad, I like our glen better. This is fun seeing all the tall buildings and people in New York City, but I miss the rabbits and chasing butterflies," Jamie said.

"Me too," Dad said.

They spent a few days visiting. They went to the top of another tall building called the Empire State Building, went to Central Park and then went shopping. Finally they left the big city and drove to Jamie's grandma and grandpa's house. Jamie was happy when he saw that they lived in the country. Grandpa had rabbits and he let Jamie and Catriona pet them. Grandma had a flower garden with a lot of butterflies. Jamie and Catriona would sit with her and watch them. "You're a country boy, aren't you, Jamie," Grandma said. He didn't say anything, but laid his head on his grandma's lap and smiled.