A Long Way Gone Ch. 8-9

Ishmael is now all alone, lost in a forest. In the forest, there is only him and his thoughts. The days are long for Ishmael because he has nothing to do. He tries to avoid thinking. But that is impossible. Ishmael doesn't want to let his mind wander, because he is afraid that he will start thinking about the past which will remind him of his family. He can't bear to think about them and what might have happened to them. So he tries to clear his mind of all thoughts.
One day when Ishmael is walking in the forest, he comes across six boys. At first he is terrified because he has not seen any other humans for a long time. But luckily he knew three of the boys and continued on with them.
At one point when the boys are walking together, they hear a strange noise. They "started hearing something like the roar of big engines, the rolling of metal drums on a tar road, a thunder exploding, roll after roll" (p. 58). When I read this chapter I was so scared for Ishmael and the others. I thought that the noise was coming from rebels. I thought that the boys were going to be captured and maybe even killed. My eyes were running across the page. I wanted to know what would happen. but when I got to the passage about the ocean, I was relieved. Beah did such a wonderful job writing this novel. It really grabs the reader's attention. I felt like I was really there.