Back In The Days Of London

• Ryan Masibhera, Grade 3
• Poetry
• 2014

Once upon a time there was a boy named Ryan and he was an orphan that lived in London. He was 11 years old and he lost his mum, dad and little sister.
London in 1787 was a big city that was overcrowded by people. Ryan’s family would steal food to survive because they were poor and had no food. Now his parents were gone. Ryan needed a job and so he became a pick-pocket. So every day he went out stealing from people’s pockets.
One day he got caught stealing by a hotel owner. The hotel owner reported him to the judge, so the judge sent him to gaol. All the prisoners in gaol were sent away to another country. So he became a convict. He had to travel on one of the ships to a country called New South Wales in Australia.
Ryan was so sad to leave his country. He was put on the Fishbourne ship to New South Wales. While he was on the boat he met a friend called Jeff. His friend and he were sent down to the bottom of the hull of the ship. They were just waiting to get to New South Wales.
While they were on the boat there was a loud thunder storm and that made Ryan and Jeff very scared. The rough waves made them fall all over the floor and they got very seasick. They vomited and became very homesick. When the storm was over they were afraid to go on deck. They liked staying inside the hull of the boat. Both Ryan and Jeff couldn’t wait to get adopted by some people that lived in New South Wales. It took them so long to get there and they still had to wait.
While they were travelling something very bad happened. Jeff was suffering because he had cancer. All the other passengers heard about it. They screamed in horror. Finally they arrived in New South Wales. He was still suffering so they all tried to help him but they couldn’t do anything. Two of the passengers named Jack and Bill arrived at the hospital. Jeff was already losing blood. So they ran as fast as they could. When they arrived they hurried inside to donate blood. Jeff was left in hospital to recover.
All the people were sorted into different families for adoption. Ryan was the last person to go to a family. He was worried about his friend, who was still in hospital. He was adopted into a new family and went to live in their house on a farm. But Ryan could only think about what happened to Jeff. He still missed his family back home in London.
One afternoon they asked Ryan to go hunting for some rabbits. Just as Ryan was coming back he suddenly spotted a stranger. As the stranger came closer he looked at his face and he said “Jeff is it you?” Ryan couldn't believe it. Jeff took him home to his family.
He introduced Ryan to his new family. Ryan suddenly got a big surprise. He was excited and asked the mum and dad, “Is that you?” Dad said in his deep voice, “Yes”. He ran over and hugged them all. Ryan couldn't believe it, he was so happy because he found his parents in New South Wales. All this time Jeff was living with his parents on the farm next door. They got together with Ryan’s other family and they all lived happily ever after.