The First Fleet

• Gabrielle Clarke, Grade 6
• Short Story
• 2021

Mary is a homeless lady who lives in the London streets. People walking past sometimes give her food but recently she hasn't gotten food for a while, so she stole a loaf of bread from a random person's house but right when she left the owner caught her and got the police. She got pulled into court and put in her place harshly. She tried to defend herself but the judge didn't believe any excuse she was saying. “You will be sent to jail but since all the jails are full you will go on a boat to another country and stay there for a year then be set free” said the judge.

One of the men took her but she had to walk the whole way which was tiring. They got there right when it was leaving and she almost missed it. When she got on the boat a man took her to her cabin and then she had a look around at all the rooms. While she was looking around she found a little girl around the age of 5 who was alone. Mary asked her why she was alone and the girl said her mum died that morning.

Mary told her she can take care of her while on the boat and the girl said yes. At that time it was almost 6:00 pm so we were gonna have dinner soon, so Mary and the little girl just walked around and talked until dinner time. “What is your name?” asked Mary. “I-Im Elizabeth” said the girl. Mary nodded awkwardly not knowing what to say after that. At dinner time the two girls got their food but Elizabeth didn't get any because the man giving the food out wouldn't give her any. Mary asked him why he's not giving her any food and he just ignored her.

Once the girls sat down Mary gave Elizabeth some of her food even though she didn’t have much herself. “Th-thanks,” said Elizabeth. “No worries” said Mary. After dinner Mary had to clean up the diner because every day everyone has one job to do, once she had finished she went to look for Elizabeth but she couldn't find her anywhere. She ran around the whole boat but right when she gave up she saw Elizabeth coming out of a captains office with the captain behind her. Mary was really confused about why she was in his office. “ Hi Mary, I've heard that Elizabeth has lost her mum this morning and she didn't do anything wrong. She's only on this boat because her mum didn't want to leave her alone, so she will be set free but she needs someone to take care of her. Would you be happy to do that?” asked the captain. “Yes of course i will!” said Mary.

The next day they got told that when they get to the island they will be sent back to England and be set free!