Mystery Land

• Jorja Smith, Grade 5
• Short Story
• 2016

“Blah Blah BIah” went the people outside on the street, as they talked over the top of one another, discussing what the grey fog was. “I wish I could go and see what it is out there” said Tiarna.
Tiarna woke up thinking this would be the best day ever, then two hours later, all her friends woke up too. “Where are you going Tiarna” said Milly. “I’ve got a plan to get outside and see what the grey fog is” said Tiarna.
The girls were all orphans and weren’t allowed to go outside as Mrs Harold, their carer, was very strict and sometimes mean to them.
Tiarna hatched a plan for Milly to distract Mrs Harold while she snuck outside through a window. As soon as Tiarna got outside, she was surrounded by the thick grey fog.The fog smelt like smoke and was really hot. Tiarna was having second thoughts about going into the fog. She should have listened to Milly, who thought it wasn’t a good idea. The smoke started to suck Tiarna further in to it and before she knew it, she was in another world.
“What are you doing here” said a little voice. “Who said that?” whispered Tiarna. A gingerbread man crept out from the darkness. Tiarna could see he was harmless and went for a walk with him to look around.
They walked to the top of a mountain called ice-cream mountain but then a strawberry ice-cream monster appeared. “Raaaarrrr” yelled the ice-cream monster. He had chocolate eyes and tried to attack the gingerbread man. Tiarna thought quickly! She could eat him because he was made from ice-cream and chocolate and Tiarna loves ice-cream and chocolate. She quickly ate the monster and stopped the gingerbread man from getting eaten by him.
After looking around this new world, surrounded by desserts, Tiarna made her way back to the grey fog and was sucked back into it and transported back to her world. Tiarna soon realised she was back on the front step of the orphanage. She sat down for a second but was soon dragged inside by Mrs Harold, who didn’t look very happy but then, she never did look happy or even smile.
“Where did you get to?” said Mrs Harold to Tiarna. “I.. .um” stuttered Tiarna, twisting her skirt in many different ways. “I.. ..went to get some more milk from the dairy” said Tiarna. “Where’s the milk then?” said Mrs Harold in a very stern voice. “I got thirsty on the way back, wondered where I could get something to drink and ended up drinking all the milk” Tiarna mumbled. Mrs Harold had heard enough of Tiarna’s excuses and ordered her to go straight to bed without any dinner.
That night, Tiarna thought that maybe someone had told Mrs Harold that she’d gone outside. She couldn’t be sure but was determined to find out if this was true. The next morning Tiarna asked Milly if she told Mrs Harold where she went. “I did tell her because when you disappeared, I was really worried about what happened to you” said Milly. When Tiarna heard this she was relieved to know she had such a caring friend in Milly. She held no grudges towards Milly and the two of them enjoyed their breakfast, while planning to visit the mystery land together, the next time the grey fog appeared.
THE END