Runaway Torch

• Chloe Christie, Grade 4, Ocean Grove Primary School
• Short Story
• 2011

Excellence Award in the 'Step Write Up 2011' competition

“Beth!” cried Amber nudging me and waking me up from my day dreaming about our new job as secret agents, we were just told our first mission.
All I heard from headquarters was “your first mission is…………….” And then I blacked out into a day dream. Luckily Amber listened to every word and explained the whole mission to me.
When I finally got to hear about our first mission I was too excited to hear Amber say “it is only a minor mission.” She had to repeat herself 3 times before I listened, but I was still really excited. We were going to find the torch the Statue of Liberty holds!
Looking for clues around the Statue of Liberty was hard until we found footprints with a magnifying glass leading from the concrete stand down to the ground it was easy following them at first until all the footprints stopped at the start of one of the streets. As I read what the street was called I felt as though I was being watched.
I looked around but there was no one except Amber and I. I didn’t like how I felt in this street, it felt strange for some reason.
Then I got it! “Amber,” I whispered confidently, “I have a feeling this is where the torch was taken after it was stolen!”
“Yes” answered Amber, “but which house?” And that was the question that hung around ‘which house?’
Every house we checked didn’t have any Statue of Liberty torches, but when we got to the end of the street, one house looked suspicious. Number 13 looked very suspicious, and it was the only one on the street we hadn’t checked. Discreetly we walked up to the front door but the first time we knocked there was a disturbing cry of “GO AWAY!” Amber spotted the back gate was left open.
Quietly we got through the gate, but it was just one trap after another. First there was a ten metre deep hole to jump over and then a pack of blood thirsty pit-bull terriers to get past, except they weren’t so blood thirsty after we found out their weakness.
Chew toys! After the pit-bull terriers we had to jump logs, swing on ropes, somersault past lasers all just to get to the backyard!
At the back of the house there were 3 windows, on either side of each window there were fire torches, but I knew which one was the Statue of Liberty’s. It was the 4th one because it was made of concrete just like the statue. As soon as we found the torch we phoned the police and found out who stole it.
It was someone called Mr Butler who stole it. Mr Butler was arrested and the pit-bull terriers were given good homes. As for the Statue of Liberty torch, it was put back in its rightful place … the Statue of Liberty’s hand, and we … we were secret agents for life!