Island Adventures

• Aditi Warrier, Grade 3
• Short Story
• 2017

The wind whipped Jackie's hair over her face as she stared at the setting sun. But her happiness didn't last for long. "Oh no!" she groaned. She and her twin brother Joey had gone boating and had just crashed into some rocks. Joey peered into the darkness. "I think there's an Island here," he said. "We could sleep here for the night." "Okay" Jackie agreed as she helped her brother drag their boat over the rocks. Joey grabbed a beach towel and laid down. "This is actually a great place to sleep," he commented before closing his eyes. Jackie glanced doubtfully at the giant crack in their boat before doing the same.
'Crackle!' 'Sizzle!' Jackie was startled out of her sleep, and was shocked to see that their boat was on fire! By now Joey was awake, and when they both looked up, they were amazed at what they saw. There was a flying pirate ship filled with bandana-wearing dragons! "Breathe more fire!" The captain yelled. The twins ducked as more fire came their way. When the dragons were satisfied with the damage, they flew away cackling.
"We must get revenge on them." Joey urged. "Dad taught me how to build a raft, we can build one now." When they gathered as much driftwood as they could carry, they started building. Finally, the raft was finished and they were ready to set off. "I can see the dragons!" yelled Jackie. But just as she said it, she noticed that a large chunk of their boat was missing! They both managed to grab onto the shark that was eating their boat and Joey suddenly noticed something on the shark's fin. It was a map! Joey just managed to untie the map before they plunged into the water.
As they sank deeper, they realised that they could still breathe! "It's the map!" Jackie said excitedly. "The map's given us these powers!" "I have an idea," she gasped "let's ride the shark home!" They swam up to the surface and climbed onto the shark. "I think the dragons dropped the map," said Joey, "I saw something fluttering down. At least the shark hasn't eaten us yet, just sit back and enjoy the ride."
Finally they arrived home and rushed in. "Mum, we're home!" shouted the twins. After hugging their mother Jackie grinned, "Can you ask a load of builders to start building a city? I would LOVE to live on Palmgrove Island." In a few months, the city was finished and they all sailed to the Island to live there happily and the dragons were never heard of again.