Tas-Mania

• Aidan Cash, Grade 7
• Short Story
• 2014

The train pulled in to the station. Around sixty people boarded. The whistle blew. The train pulled out of the station.
Callum and his family were headed to Tasmania for a family holiday. The plan was to stay there for two weeks then head back home. They had packed two suitcases and one bag full of belongings for the trip.
They were thrown into their seat as the train set off. Callum and his mum shoved the suitcases and baggage underneath their seats. Five minutes of silence passed and Callum’s younger sister, Keira pulled out her fingerprint smothered electronic device and started playing one of her games with irritating music. Her volume button was broken and she had lost her headphones so she had no way of muting it.
Thirty minutes later, Callum had started drawing on scrap paper when an announcement was made. “We have had a report of a break in the tracks up ahead,” said the voice, “We are sorry for the delay but we will have to stop the train until the trac…” The brakes were applied and screeched out the rest of the message.
The repairs went on into the night and nobody in Callum’s family slept that night. They ate small portions of snacks packed for the trip and stayed in their seats for most of the night. Finally, once the long night had passed, the train set off once again. Everything went back to normal, at least for a while…
They reached the train station in Victoria and lugged their suitcases off the train. They stumbled up the stairs and hailed a taxi to the quay. They would then catch a ferry to Hobart. This was the next stage of the trip.
The ferry pulled in to the quay. Around forty people boarded. The ferry turned back to face south. The ferry pulled out of the quay.
It chugged along the strait. Every time an announcement was made, Callum was instantly alert. He did not want anything to go wrong in the middle of a vast expanse of water. Then, it did. A man’s frantic voice sounded over the speakers, “E-e-emergency procedures, everyone! The ship’s showing signs of sinking. We may have to evacuate. P-put your life jackets on and head to the western side of the boat!”
Chaos erupted. Everyone on the boat stood and reached under their seats they ran down the aisle and pushed through the exit. There were already two inflatable lifeboats set up. Without waiting for the captain’s instructions, everyone jumped aboard the inflatable boats.
They were afloat and the ferry had started tilting, the back of the deck filling with water. The captain called the Hobart emergency services and after about two hours the sound of two rescue helicopters filled the air around them.
The Helicopter was flying over the Bass Strait, headed towards an airfield in Tasmania, where Callum and his family would be safe at last. Tasmania was in view now. Then came the announcement…