Jewel Island

• Rosie Scutt, Grade 6
• Short Story
• 2018

It all turned out for the best...
Let me start from the beginning. My name is Jewel. It all started on a cruise ship for my parents' wedding anniversary when suddenly everything went very wrong. The captain was tired and he wasn't looking where he was going, and out at sea were many sharp rocks lurking in the darkness. Of course, the ship hit them. As soon as it did, the whole ship lurched to one side and the ship’s inhabitants were in chaos.
Soon after, all the life rafts were dispatched from the cruise ship and were rowed far from the ship. After hours of rowing, the lifeboat that I was on jolted to a stop. As we all awkwardly clambered out of the boat, we all looked around. We were on a big island that wasn't on any of the maps and all the adults started to argue. I was fed up with all the arguing! I grabbed my backpack and walked into the harsh rainforest within.
As I walked into the rainforest, I was suddenly very conscious of how vulnerable I was. I was thinking of turning back to the parents, but then I saw a glinting through the trees. I ran to the spot where I thought it had come from, when I came to a clearing. All over the clearing were thousands of beautiful jewels, diamonds and crystals. I ran down to the gems and stuffed as many as would fit in my backpack. Suddenly I heard shouting from the beach. As I reappeared from the forest, I saw a giant lion roaring at my parents. I took no hesitation in taking out one of the red rubies and glinted the sun off the gem and into the lion's eye. As the adults gaped in a mixture of awe and horror, the lion slowly turned toward me...
The lion roared and stared at the gem in fascination. I suddenly turned toward the jungle and threw the ruby into the jungle as the lion followed it. The adults cheered and suddenly, my parents embraced me in a warm hug. "Thank you my darling," my mother whispered into my hair. A man then said, halting the cheering to a shuddering stop, "It's great that you saved them Jewel, but we are still stranded here." Suddenly I had an idea. I ran back to the clearing with the adults following. As they all gasped in awe, I shouted, "Grab as many as you can!" And soon after had a collection of colourful jewels spread out on the beach. "When a ship comes past, they’ll see the glinting on the island and come rescue us!" I explained.
My plan worked. A fishing boat came to the island and took us aboard. "What ye be calling this strange land?” The captain said. "Jewel Island," my father said, giving me a wink. I felt closer to my parents than ever before.
The End