Jerusalem

Feel my warm stones. The sun makes them sparkle like gold. I sit on a big, tall hill, and I can see everything from up here. Shhh, can you hear that? It is the sound of happy songs and quiet prayers. Little bells ring, ding-dong-ding. People walk on my smooth paths and touch my warm walls. I have been here for a very, very long time, watching the sun rise and set every day. I am a city of golden stone. I am Jerusalem.

For a long, long, long time, people have come to visit me. They say I am a special place. A very kind king named David made me his home. This was a very long time ago, in a time we call 1000 BCE. King David loved me very much and filled my streets with happy songs. After him, so many other people came here. They built me beautiful things with love. They put shiny, golden domes on my rooftops that sparkle like big, bright bubbles. They made my paths twist and turn, like a fun game to play. They stacked my stones carefully, one by one, like building with blocks. They did all this because I am a very important place for their families and their stories. Everyone wanted to add something beautiful to me.

Today, people still come from all over the world to visit me. They speak different languages and sing different kinds of songs. They come to sing, to be with their family, and to feel happy and peaceful inside. I love to feel their happy footsteps on my stone paths. I am a city of light, and I hold the hopes and happiness of many people in my heart. I am here to remind you that love and stories make a place special.