Land Of The Seagulls

• Sarah Young, Grade 6
• Short Story
• 2011

I stood on the front porch, staring into the cold night. The wind tore through the trees and made them rock back and forth as though they were being shook by a young toddler from the nursery. Clouds filled the dark, stormy skies and struck down lightning from time to time. As I watched, one of them let out a huge, menacing lightning bolt, striking the farm a few kilometers away.
And that’s when it happened.
There was a loud growling sound, followed by a crack of thunder.
Then silence. The wind stopped howling. The lightning stopped flashing. The rain stopped falling.
As I stared in awe, a hole appeared through the clouds. Bright white light poured from the gap, filling the whole countryside with its warm, bright, essence. I breathed in deeply through my nostrils, and was surprised to find that the air smelt suspiciously of salt water.
And then, out of the now widening hole, came a beautiful, feathered seagull. It was followed by two more. They landed gently beside me, and squawked loudly. Amazed, I stretched out one shaking hand to touch them. They stared at me for a moment, as if considering wha?t I looked like. Then, they lifted me into the air, and flew back towards the gap in the clouds. Terrified, I yelled out to everyone I could see. Farmers, citizens, and many more. I even yelled out to a passing dog. Of course, It did nothing but prick its ears.
Desperate now, I flung my arms around one of the seagulls and heaved. The seagull squawked in protest, and nipped my finger. I yelped in pain and stopped trying to stop the seagulls. We were nearly at the hole now. Preparing for the worst, I looked up into the land of the clouds.
And I was very surprised to see nothing more than a beach. A fantastic beach. An awesome beach. People were sun tanning, surfing, licking ice creams, and much more.
It was my dream beach.
Yelling in excitement, I ran off down to the surf hut. "Can I have a surfing lesson" I asked, trying to use my most flattering voice. The guy at the shop looked up from polishing a surfboard. Then he walked over and leaned against the table. "Sure, kid." he said lazily. He pulled out a nice looking surfboard and handed it to me. Then he ran down to the water. he looked over his shoulder. "Coming, kid?"
I nodded and streaked towards the water, preparing for the awesomeness that was yet to come.

Overall, I had a marvelous time at the beach in the clouds. I learned how to surf, went in a surfing competition, got myself an ice-cream, did a little sun tanning, and much more. When they saw I was ready to leave, the seagulls took me back to my cottage in the countryside. I was sad to leave the beach, but relieved to be back home.