The Mysterious Portal

• Maya Giddens, Grade 4
• Short Story
• 2022

Summer sat on the park bench with her BFFs, Lauren, Carl and Mia. Summer couldn’t wait to go on school camp. She already had everything organised. She was now an expert at packing. Spare clothes, a pair of socks, spare underwear, a beanie, a pair of gloves and maybe she could sneak in a bag of chips. Her parents had split up when Summer was only one. It was actually quite cool; having two sets of everything. She was staying at her mum’s now and her mum never ate junk food.

She and her friends spoke about camp.

“Hey nerds,” a mean voice sneered.

“Winter, leave us alone,” Summer groaned, she and Winter were the complete opposite. But the two had been stuck in the same class for every year.

“Hey! Quit being mean losers!” Julia replied. Julia was like Winter’s sidekick. But Julia actually hated Winter, but she was forced to be her friend.

“Julia, you don’t have to be her friend,” Mia begged.

“I want to!” Julia snapped, but Summer could see tears swelling in her bright green eyes.

“Yeah,” Winter sneered.

“GO AWAY!” Lauren yelled before dashing into the distance, her friends not far behind. Then suddenly they heard a whooshing sound growing louder. They looked up, a tornado was forming! Children screamed and ran in different directions. They were being swallowed whole by the tornado. Summer felt herself being raised into the air.

“HELP!!!” she shrieked. Her friends were being lifted up now too. They struggled but it was no use, they were reaching the top of the tornado, they were about to be hurled off!

“Noooooooooooo,” Summer cried as she flew off the tornado. She landed in a bunch of bushes. Summer scrambled out and saw her friends sprawled next to her. Then a mysterious portal opened. She saw stairs leading to it. Summer excitedly shook her friends awake.

“What is it, Summer?” Carl asked.

“There’s a portal!” Summer explained.

“Oh wow!” Lauren gasped.

“It’s amazing,” Carl gushed.

“And it looks like a lavender,” Mia added.

“Let’s go!” Summer cried, dragging her friends into the portal. Purple light enclosed them, a whooshing sound leapt from ear to ear. Summer and her friends landed in a rose bush. The friends whimpered as the prickles stabbed them. They scrambled out.

“Where are we?” Carl asked. Mia shrugged her shoulders, “Looks like a spooky forest to me.”

“Let’s explore more,” Summer called out as she was racing across the dark forest.

“Hello?” a voice squeaked.

“Yikes!” Lauren yelled, leaping into Summer’s arms. Summer stumbled.

“Hi there, I am Harry,” a light brown creature greeted.

“Hi Harry,” Carl replied, “Let’s be friends.”

“Cool!” Harry agreed.

“We haven’t met a talking creature yet,” Summer admitted.

“I haven’t met a human,”

“You haven’t?” Summer asked.

“No,”

“Well then, we’re your first ones!” Mia cried.

“Oh my gosh! What is that dangly vines!?”

“They are called hair,” Summer corrected grinning from ear to ear...