The Sandcastle

• Kiara McCauley, Grade 7
• Short Story
• 2008

The Sandcastle
Kiara McCauley.

Bang!! The car door shut. My brother Mason and I were spending the weekend at Nan and Pops caravan in Turners Beach in Tasmania. It was a great place to stay, we love it and treasure every moment. Our cousins Janet and Amber came over so we could have a play, we decided to go down to the beach and make a sandcastle.

We made a big sandcastle on the beach. I dug the moat, Mason collected rocks to make the sandcastle strong, Janet patted it down, and Amber decorated the sandcastle with seaweed and shells. I took off my bead bangle so I wouldn't lose it in the sand. We worked all afternoon until Janet and Amber went home, Nan called us back to the caravan for supper. We were very tired from working on the sandcastle so we went to bed early.

In the middle of the night, the moon shone through the window and woke me. I suddenly remembered my bangle. When the tide came in it would wash my bangle away from underneath the wooden steps. It was my favourite bangle; I had to go find it. I crept out of bed and quietly opened the caravan door. The bright moon lit up the caravan park as if it were day. As I walked down the steps the waves were half way up the beach. The tide was coming in.

I found my bangle under the steps covered in gritty sand. Our sandcastle remained standing; it made me proud of my accomplishments that day. It was twinkling in the moonlight, and it looked like lights were shining from inside the hollow turrets. I knelt down beside it and peeped through the crack. I saw some little people dancing. I kept very quiet so they wouldn't see me, watching them laughing and partying. I didn't hear the wave that slid silently up the beach, it crashed over me.

I was sinking to the bottom of the sea. Strange enough I heard some voices.
'Up up, and away,' something cried. Two mermaids came out of nowhere. They each took one of my arms and swam back to the sandcastle. It was under the water. The moon was shining through the water and onto the sandcastle like a spot light. I was as tiny as the mermaids. We swam through the windows of the sandcastle. Some mermaids were playing music with seashells. I joined in dancing with the mermaids while the moon travelled across the sky.

It was almost morning, I was tired. I closed my eyes and yawned. When I opened my eyes I was lying on the beach. I looked around for the sandcastle; all that was left was a pile of smooth sand. The sandcastle had been washed away by the tide. I ran back to the caravan and jumped into bed. Now on nights when the moon is shining brightly, I go to bed and dream about the mermaids dancing in their sandcastle.