The First Fleet

• Tailah Reigne Ficarra, Grade 4
• Short Story
• 2015

Well hello, my name is Lilly and I am 18 years old, I come from England. I stole a loaf of bread and now I am getting sent to Australia to be a slave. I am now a convict.
I am on this ship called the Friendship, it is night time and there is a very rough storm with gigantic waves. I was really scared, I could hear the enormous waves crashing against the boat. The boat was rocking from side to side and it was scary. I was in my old, dirty, wooden bed still half asleep. After a while, my best friend Anne came and said, “It’s time for you to go, good luck.” I said, “Thanks.” When I set foot out of our cabin, I started to get goose bumps, a shiver, it was freezing. We usually work for six hours. Our job is to scrub the deck, but we do not get paid much, we only get paid 2 shillings.
The next day the seagulls were chirping and the sun was shining on the boat. I knew it was going to be a fantastic day. There was just one major problem last night. My friend Anne passed away, she was my only friend I had on this disgusting ship. In the background, I could hear the Captain calling, “I see land! I see land! It is land!” he screamed until he got the whole crew’s attention. We headed north until we finally reached the land, the island. The Captain said, “I think this is Sydney Cove.” We landed at the island with a thump! Everybody cheered, “Hoorraayy!!” They were filled with joy. The Captain stood on the land, dug a hole, put our England flag into the land and claimed the land ours.
Once we all hopped off the disgusting boat, we saw little figures coming closer and closer. They did not speak English so the soldiers said they were stupid. The soldiers didn’t like how they lived so they burnt down their homes and wrecked their spears and weapons. The soldiers said they were weird and dumb.
I watched them and tried to communicate with them, it was hard but interesting. It was also very unusual how they lived their life but everyone is different. After a long, long time we finally understood each other. They told me that they were the first ones on this land and we all became fast friends. Now I had five friends, more friends than I had back home. I found out that my new friends were Aborigines and that was very interesting.
I really miss my family back home, but I think that I can start a new life here and maybe I can make even more friends here in Australia. I thought it was going to be like England but it isn’t. I thought it was going to be bad here without my family but it is good. I will remember this always.