Oh My Gills!

• Megen Anderson, Grade 7
• Short Story
• 2010

‘ ‘Ma, Ma,’ cried the fat little boy as he waved the piece of paper in the air, ‘look at the pretty squiggles mummy!’
His mother took the piece of paper off him. ‘My gosh, George, you’ll have to listen to this, this boy lived in this house back when Australia was a smaller country! Go fetch your father please.’
The boy ran away, and returned in the arms of an older man.
‘Dear, listen to this, It’s great, great, great, great grandad Troy,’ said the mother, she started reading ‘Hello, my name is Troy, and I want to tell you an amazing story of how I got to be, well, the world’s best long distance swimmer.
I am putting this letter in the time capsule because no one in my time (1967) believes me, and I am hoping someone in the future will; if you don’t believe me please return this letter to wherever you found it.
Anyway, it all started last summer . . .
It was a really hot day and, seeing as we live one or two blocks from the beach I had decided to go for a surf, not meaning to brag, but I was a excellent surfer, I had never, ever fallen off my board ONCE! My instructor said I was a natural! But that was the day everything changed . . .
It was all going normally until I saw a shark, I screamed, as anyone would, and lost my balance, with my arms flailing I tumbled into the salty sea foamy water . . . and I landed on the shark!
I have no idea what type of shark it was, but it turned around and seemed to kiss me at the base of my neck. It shook its head back and forward as if to say ‘no’ but its lips still kept contact with my neck. I suddenly had the most peculiar feeling, I went from felling I was about to drown to feeling like I was in the air, nice and warm.
I felt my neck, I had gills!
I swam to the surface of the sea; I could still breathe above water too! This was brilliant; I did a victory back flip.
No one can know about this, I thought to myself, and then I can enter competitions and be famous!
I f you have read to here and believe me I want you to have . . .’ The mother trailed off, ‘just gotta unfold it . . . ah here we go, this, it is all three million dollars that I won.
Sorry you have to be related to me,
Toby’
‘What’s that you got there Gorge?’ the father asked the boy.
‘Pink paper,’ the boy replied dismally, throwing the money on the floor.
The mother picked it up, ‘my gosh dear, three million dollars!’
‘In current money!’ the father gaped!
They were rich! Well they will be until they find the curse!’ I finished my story, proudly.