ACTION ADVENTURES

• Abby Sheary, Grade 2
• Short Story
• 2018

“Ooh! I can’t wait to see what it’s like!”
A weird purple light filled the screen as I loaded up Action Adventure. It swirled around in a hypnotizing manner. I felt sleepy. Perhaps it was because I hadn’t slept enough. My eyes closed.
***
“Where am I?” I asked, confused. I was wearing a fur coat and in a foreign place. A penguin waddled towards me.
“Hi!” It said. “You must be Michael.”
“I am. Hi! Who are you?”
“Waddles.” He responded. Then he left. Friendly penguin, I thought. Then it dawned on me. My eyes grew wide.
I ran up to the penguin.
“Excuse me; did you just speak to me?”
The penguin looked up. It squawked.
“Phew.” I said, relieved. “It was only a hallucination.”
Suddenly it spoke.
“Of course I did.”
“Where am I?”
Waddles covered his face with a flipper. “Gosh, you’re in Action Adventure.”
“Action Adventure?” I gasped.
“Yes,” sighed Waddles. “BTW, your first challenge awaits you.”
I slowly turned around and came face to face with…
“A polar bear cub?”
“Awww…” I cooed. “Where’s your Mummy?”
The cub pointed behind me.
“Mummy there!”
That was not what I expected.
I turned around to see a ferocious polar bear. I noticed massive claws peeking out of her paws.
“Who are you? And what are you doing with Mimi?”
“Mi-Mimi?”
“You know. My cub beside you.”
She advanced. I backed away, terrified.
“You were about to harm her.”
“No, I w-wasn’t.”
“Lies!” she proceeded.
It was only then that I noticed a meat icon. I grabbed it and threw it at Mimi and her mother.
“Here you go!” I grabbed another chunk. “And some for Mimi, too!”
The bears grinned. “Thank you!” They stomped away, leaving a trail of meat scraps behind them.
***
Suddenly a voice boomed overhead.
“Congratulations! You have completed the first test. You have two more tests in the Arctic zone. Next challenge: Walrus.”
I felt warm breath on my back.
“Uh-oh.”
I saw a Walrus behind me. He had beady red eyes and gleaming white tusks.
He glared at me. I started searching for ideas to survive. I decided to sing him to sleep.
Then I began singing my favourite lullaby, Mockingbird.
“Hush, little Walrus, don’t say a word. Michael’s going...”
I stopped. The walrus was already snoring.
“Congratulations! You have completed the second challenge! Last challenge: Orca.”
Suddenly I found myself underwater. There was an orca in front of me, muttering.
“Hmm… Fish for snack, Shark for dessert, what for main course?”
The orca turned around.
“Ah! You look positively scrumptious! As dinner…”
“P-please!” I stuttered. “Y-you’ve got it all wrong!”
She swam towards me hungrily. I closed my eyes and prepared to be eaten.
***
Nothing? I opened my eyes and saw the orca chasing a pod of dolphins.
“Well done! You have unlocked grasslands! Do you want to keep playing?”
Said a familiar voice.
I smiled thoughtfully. I always thought my life didn’t have enough adventure.
“Playing.”