Back In Time

• Aaron Overall, Grade 6
• Short Story
• 2017

Tina sat contemplating how to finish her history assignment, still having failed to recover information of the mysterious, swashbuckling pirates. Her only solution was a visit to the local library. So she bounded to her bicycle and rode to the town square.
Tina never enjoyed going out in public. She disliked the long, ‘Dorothy’ looking dresses her mum made, and her fuzzy hair made passer-by stare. With the hearing of a German Shepherd, she heard each miniscule comment made. Tina preferred being recluse.
She made it to the Town Square, marched up the library stairs and yanked at the door handle. She pulled as hard as she could, but it remained shut. Now Tina was certain she would fail. Tears trickled down her face, splashing the steaming hot pavement, evaporating on impact. Just as she was about to leave, a dark, towering shadow appeared. Tina wiped her tears and turned…
A man in torn clothing loomed behind her. Barnacles grew on his revealed skin, the colourful bird on his shoulder barked random words. He forced a smile, unveiling a set of gold and silver teeth. Before she could speak, he urgently pointed to a large ship levitating on the nearby grass. She agreeingly boarded the ship, hoping to receive much needed answers, but naïve to the dangers ahead.
The ship suddenly ascended high above the vast city below. Continuing until all Tina could see were stars and blurred continents. She turned to see where they were headed. A spiral of colours swirled in the distance. When they reached a point where Tina could finally touch it, the ship was suddenly sucked into the portal. The pirate was grinning and laughing as his parrot climbed his neck, taking cover under his pirate hat.
As Tina was praying for this nightmare to end, the ship halted and began to drop. They landed in a sea of pirate ships; with each ship floating and firing cannons at will. Tina realised what was going on, these ships were at war. The pirate that had taken her was alone and needed recruits for the battle. Suddenly a cannonball crashed hard into the deck.
Terrified, the only thing Tina could do was dive for the wheel. She pulled at a nearby lever, the harder she pulled, the higher the ship soared. Tina struggled to stand her ground as the ship gained pace.
Once again, they were in space, heading back towards the portal. Tina knew what would happen on entry and braced herself as they hurtled towards Earth’s atmosphere. Tina pushed the lever down and as fast as a bullet, the ship spiralled towards Earth, halting before impact. Tina leaped from the ship and looked around. No one had seen and in the distance her bike was still waiting. She approached the library, pulling so hard she almost collapsed back when it swung open.
The next day when she presented her project, she was congratulated for her accurate presentation of a pirate war.