A Trip To The Rainforest National Park

• Saoirse Chu, Grade 6, St. Anthony's Primary School
• Short Story
• 2015

Excellence Award in the 'Read Write Repeat 2015' competition

2045 AD
April Monroe stumbled into the old, unentered rainforest national park for the second time in her life, her heart beating right out of her chest. No, she thought, it couldn’t be.
Where are all of the huge, sweet smelling trees and the amazing widlife? Why had the lovely sound of chirruping birds and buzzing insects stopped? What was the replacement for that sound?
April listened harder, then dramatically rose her hand onto her shocked mouth. The replacement of the rainforests’ sounds was chainsaws. So many chainsaws. She ran back to the locked concrete gate. Fumbling with the lock, and looking over at a lonely stone, wondering what it had been through. She glanced next to the stone, where a once filled waterhole sat. April remembered it so clearly. She had expected it to be nothing like it was now.
The stone began to move. And it moved a little more. April stared at it. It had legs, and... a tiny little head.
April picked the turtle up. It was almost dead. She would take it home and care for it, then call the animal rescue squad.
April had finished with the lock.
“Lets get outta here.” She smiled to the creature who had turned back into a tiny stone.
2015 AD
“Hey Mike,” April said to her uncle, Mike, the rainforest ranger.
“Yes April?’
“Can I have a look around the rainforest?”
“Course you can sweetheart, lets go.”
April took her uncle’s hand and they want to explore the forest.
VVZZZZZZZZCCCCHHHHINNNNGGGGG
“Mike! What was that?”
“What was-” Mike looked shocked. “My dear, I think there’s loggers!”
April and Mike carefully creeped along the path, until they were nearly face to face with the loggers.
“They’re poachers too! April dear! That is a Blue Tooted Katoo! Free them, April, I’ll call the police.” Mike instructed.
Soon there was a loud NENAWNENAWNENAWNENAW!!!
A policeman got out of his car and arrested the loggers and poachers.
“You’re under arrest for logging in a protected area. And you poachers are arrested for illegal poaching! Get in the car. Thank you for calling.”
The policeman drove off.
“Oh, that was the best and scariest adventure, Mike! I know those stupid poachers won't come back!” Said April.
Mike chuckled. “No they won't, will they?’
2045 AD
April was securing the lock of the gate but out of the corner of her eye she could see one single tree beyond all of the stretching acres of grey tree stumps. The young, 5-year-old April had thought wrong. The loggers did return. And they ware cutting down the last tree in her favourite place in the whole world.
“STOP!” She yelled.
Bang! The tree had hit the ground.
All her dreams of becoming a rainforest ranger like Mike were over. In her pocket, April could feel the movement of the turtle. But suddenly, like a snap of the fingers, it’s heartbeat stopped.