A Day In The Life Of A Bark Canoe

• Adam Okera, Grade 6
• Short Story
• 2022

Sliding, gliding, driving, striving. I cut a sure path through the turbulent water to my destination, achieving my goal is all that is on my mind. For hours, indeed days, Yarri has piloted me amongst submerged houses. Dwellings that once stood proud but no longer, their rooftops the only evidence they survive. The moonlight, the only beacon to guide me as dangers forebode all around. I place my trust in Yarri and he in I. I have never felt so wet and cold yet I must press on. For the job is not finished.
Yarri is a young man from an aboriginal tribe called the Wiradjuri tribe. His hair is dark black and his shin is brown. He has brown eyes like a wombat's fur. He is a kind caring person,who cares for all mankind, as you will discover in this story. Jakki Jakki, like Yarri, is a kind and caring person. He is quite handsome and has black hair, brown eyes and brown skin. They are friends and are well known to the world, unlike you or me. Their story represents the indigenous helping the settlers
We stream down the overflowing river, fuller than it usually is. Water gushes beneath me and I cry to be dried. The sky is dark grey and the morning sun peels over the sunken orange dark misty sky. As the sun rose we could see a lot better. My three metre deck felt weak. The shallowness of my body made me easy to use. We kept sighting sunken dwellings but no people seemed to be there. At first I started to give up my faint trace of hope like a whispery vapour seeping out of my brain until a dreadful sight awaited me.
In front of me were broken branches,floating away,mabey to the ends of the Earth.Yarri and Jacky Jacky’s tummy had flipped over. They were so sad that they forgot to steer me so I hit a tree branch. We made a sharp turn to the left. There was no sign of people. The current started to get stronger. Yarri struggled. Could we make it?... We headed up and saw a dreadful sight. More sheep and ruins of houses floated in the water. Then, I saw lifeless settlers, floating in the river. Yarri brought the living people onboard and steered them to the banks. After a while a crack developed on my board. Water seeped through and slowly I started to sink. Yarri carried a pouch full of resin and sap. He used the sap to glue the resin onto the canoe. Meanwhile,Jacky Jacky bucketed the water out with a wooden utensil.
As we passed the banks of the river, I saw sad people: some bending over their former relatives; some had tears peeling down their cheeks; and others wailed as they buried or set fire to bodies.The lovely people they were before definitely had changed. Sorrowful people sat down and snored.

So, Jacky Jacky and Yarri Yarri saved the English, the people who resented him.