A Beast Or A Myth?

• Loic Chiang, Grade 4
• Short Story
• 2016

I could see nothing but a white wall. While I was staring at it, I started thinking about animals, maybe imaginary animals. But something told me that this was real thoughts. Still unconvinced by this, I decided to go on a mission to find this mysterious beast.
7 days later…
The flight was only two hours away from Sydney, where I live. In my check-in luggage there was some rope, safety equipment, lots of water, a tent and some food to last me for one week.
When the plane landed, I wanted to start my adventure but my tummy was rumbling, as I had not eaten since morning. I checked in to my hotel and ate some food. Unfortunately, it was too late after I finished my meal, so I settled in for the night.
On the second day, I woke up at 4:30am. It was freezing! I had to wear layers of winter clothes to prevent hypothermia. But by afternoon, it was scorching hot and I had to return to my hotel room to change into singlet and shorts. I went back to look for burrows but I only found a few belonging to scorpions, mice and other creatures. Before I knew it, it was time for me to head back to my hotel. I was so exhausted that I fell asleep before my head hit the pillow.
When I woke up on the third day, I felt energised and I was ready to continue my adventure. After hours of searching, I could not find anything that looked like a home to any animals. It was a futile day.
On the fourth day, I kept an eye on anything that moved. I saw a few snakes, several birds but most of them were just my imagination or the mirage. It was sweltering and I would have died from heatstroke if I had not had a respite. It was another exasperating day.
On the fifth day I felt good. The first thing I saw during the search was a giant burrow. When I approached it, I realized that the burrow was massive! I inserted a stick with a camera attached to its end to look in the burrow. My computer showed a few tiny dots moving around. Why would such tiny things need a humongous burrow? Then something happened. I saw something huge crawling behind me! It had a tiny head attached to a huge body. I hurriedly snapped many pictures of it so I could share it with my friends. After that, I decided to spend my last night in the wilderness.
The return flight was much more enjoyable because the adventure was a success, and I had photographs as proof. When I returned, I shared with everyone my photos of the beast. I felt so awesome.