Oceania

• Jessica Clow, Grade 06
• Short Story
• 2014

The young, shy girl sat on the pebbly corner of the gravel road in the middle of everyone else’s sadness. No one spoke to her, no one even looked, except a brown, shaggy dog wandering around the city streets. She looked up at the starry night sky; she had to get away from this ghastly place.

She trudged down the road, feeling very unhappy, anger welling up inside her. The shy, little girl gazed out at the orange ball, sitting on top of the clear, blue water. The baby waves lapped at the smooth red stones on the jagged shoreline, as the sound of rustling palm trees surrounded her.

She sat, her head in her knees, thinking of all the ways she could escape from the dull, black island she called home. She remembered all the people who had tried leaving, her dad, her older brother and Mr Jones from down the road; all of them had never come back. She knew that she would never make it back, but it was better than staying where she was.

The next morning, the Sun not yet up, she collected lumps of dirty, rotten driftwood and green, leafy vines. The small girl pieced them together like a puzzle, until she had made a small raft, bobbing up and down on the aqua-coloured ocean in front of her.

She jumped on and the narrow raft sank a bit, so little waves rolled under her toes. The young girl grabbed her long stick and, using it as an oar; she pushed herself out to sea.

The young girl was surrounded by a big, vast blueness, no land in sight. At that moment, a huge gust of wind knocked her and she plunged deep into the dark, stormy water below. She went down, and down, until he saw a faint light in the darkness around her.

She kicked her legs as fast as she could and slowly made progress. As she kept swimming, she could see a big, glass dome, filled with light, green coral houses and kelp roads. The little girl slowly swam up to the dome and found a big, black door, covered in bright green kelp and found on a pirate ship, she carefully turned the scratched, golden knob. She stepped into a room, and when she closed the door, the water was drained out and she was dry.

She trudged into the under water city, wondering where she was. She peered around the corner and spotted a women's clothing shop. She strolled into the store, feeling happy and relaxed, as she stared at the purple dresses, t-shirts and new denim shorts. The shop owner glanced up at her and smiled. “Hello,” the shop owner said, in a creepy, horror movies like voice.
“Hello,” she said back, "You speak English?”
“Yes and welcome to Oceania,”
“Oceania?” the girl said, confused.
“Don't talk to me like that, Harriet,” The girl froze. No one she knew had known her name.
“Dad?” She asked.
“Yes,” He said, with a huge grin on his face. Harriet jumped onto her dad.
"I'm never leaving!" She squealed, "I'm staying with you forever!"