Where's The House?

• Lillian Nicholls, Grade 3, Ipswich Central State School -
• Short Story
• 2020

Excellence Award in the 'The Inside Story 2020' competition

"Where can I go? It's too dark to see. What should I do? I just need a little bit of light, so we can get out of this dark and creepy cave. The tide is coming in from the beach fast. Wait, I think I left some matches in my pocket! Let me get them out. Here they are, my lucky Red Head Matches." "Quick!! Lets get out of here!" yelled Simon. Those boys were always in trouble, they just loved adventure. They were brothers and the best of friends. Their names were Simon and Peter. They also had a little sister called Lilly. She was the sweetest little thing you could ever have laid eyes on.

Simon and Peter had a mother that worked at a cafe. So they had a lot of food to eat. "Come on Peter, hurry up, we need to get home so we can help Mother with supper," yelled Simon in a loud voice while walking along the beach through the soft, wet, grainy sand, watching the waves come back and forth. "We're almost there", said Peter. "Wait! Where's the house gone!? It's not here anymore? Where did it go?" asked Peter. "But that's not the worst part, where's mother and Lilly?"
"But, they were both so young." whinged Simon in a very weak voice. "Look, I found them!" Said Peter, yelling out to Simon. "Shh! We need to think, Peter, not make jokes!"

"No, I really found them! They're over there! Mother is trying to entertain Lilly in the water." said Simon. The boys yelled out to their Mother.
"Mother, we were so worried about you two!"
"And Lilly was asking too. I'm so glad you are okay." Mother sighed. "Mother, we thought you were gone!" said Simon. "Didn't we, Peter?"
"Well, yes," he said. "But Mother, do you know why our house is gone?"
"No, I got home from the shopping centre and it was gone!"
"So, where will we go for the night? asked Simon. "Well, your father will be home soon, so we can wait for him to arrive and then we can go to your Nanna's house. I'm sure she won't mind."
"But mother, where are we going to live?"
"Well," Peter replied, "we could buy another house and start afresh."
"Okay," said the mother in a confident voice, "We'll do that.
"Why don't we buy one in the country, where we can have lots more adventures!" Exclaimed Simon.