Explorer 3000

• Imogen Reeves, Grade 6, Penguin Primary School
• Short Story
• 2014

Excellence Award in the 'The Text Generation 2014' competition

I sit in outback Australia, resting my heavy head against a gumtree. My vision is blurred and unclear, sweat pouring down my face. The heat is
burning me to nothing more than ashes in the summer sun; a ball of fiery, swirling gas that could engulf Earth and its population in a heartbeat.
But still it remains in the sky, threatening and powerful. I force myself to stand and sway precariously on the spot. I wipe one hand against my
forehead and continue my journey to find the inland sea. Being an explorer it’s my duty to find the necessities for survival in such a bare and dead
land. There has to be fresh water and I would be the one to find it. In an almost animated way I find determination, pride and energy at once in a
sudden burst of emotions. On the horizon I see an image of water, pixelated almost and reflective. My heart sinks as I realise it has to be
a mirage. But nearing closer, it stays in view. I find so much energy buzzing in my dying soul and without stretched arms I dive into the pool.
Different emotions smother me at once: joy, confusion and then despair.
The hot sand from whence the mirage appeared filters through my fingers as I weep; droplets making patterns in the sand. I half expect my tears to
evaporate, being so hot, but they just sink into the sand. I have a sudden thought and dig for my life. If those tears sank, so would a sea. Mad with
dehydration and desperation, I would grasp at any hope. Time seems to pass so quickly as my hands are scratched red raw. Suddenly I hit a strange
sort of water that has so much surface tension I bounce right back off it, hitting the inside of the computer screen where a boy plays my video game
in the outside world.