Young Storykeeper Volume III

126 | STORYKEEPERS VOLUME III AGE NINE | 127
BUOY AND THE BOY
Once there was a little boy called
Jack. He loved going fishing. His
mum and dad were not at home.
Mum was having a baby, so
Grandma was minding Jack.
One day Jack said to Grandma,
“Can I go fishing?”
Grandma said, “Yes.”
Jack packed his things and
went fishing on his boat. He caught
a lot of fish. He then rowed over
to the buoy, which was sitting
off Helvick Head in the middle of
Dungarvan Bay. Jack saw that
there was a little room inside the
buoy and he thought he would love
to go for a sleep in there. When he
got home, he asked Grandma if he could go for a sleepover on the buoy and she said he
could.
The next day, Jack packed some food and some of the fish that he had caught. He
also brought a lantern and a sleeping bag with him. Jack decided to row over in his canoe.
He tied it to the buoy and unpacked his stuff. He brought everything into the little room,
climbed into his sleeping bag and fell fast asleep.
The next day when Jack woke up, he got a big fright. The sea was too choppy to row
home. He started to shout for help.
“Help, help, help!”
Grandma also saw that the sea was rough
and she was starting to worry. She looked
through her binoculars and she could see that
Jack was shouting for help.
Grandma rang the RNLI. Help was on the way!
Soon Jack heard something above him. It was
the rescue helicopter. A man came down to
get him and he broke the glass on the buoy.
He told Jack to put the harness on and soon
Jack was on his way home in the helicopter.
Jack had learned his lesson and he would
not be going out to the buoy again. Mammy
and Daddy were home with new baby, Oran.
The next day Jack saw the Irish Lights
Vessel Granuaile in the bay. It was fixing the
buoy after its adventure with a boy called Jack.
THE LIGHTHOUSE AND THE LOST GRANDFATHER
Once upon a time there was a boy called Chris who lived with his
grandfather in a lighthouse. Chris’ grandfather was the lighthouse
keeper and Chris loved hearing all his tales about the lighthouse.
At the end of every story, Chris; grandfather would tell him,
“One day this lighthouse will be yours.” His favourite story was about
an octopus attacking the lighthouse. But one day, when Chris got
up his grandfather was not in the lighthouse and was nowhere to be
seen. His disappearance was a mystery and Chris missed him so
much. Fast forward thirty years - Chris is now 41 and living in the
lighthouse. Little does he know what is coming his way.
One cold, dark, cloudy day, Chris was going to turn on the
lighthouse light, but on his way up something caught his eye. It had
eight arms and a big, round head gliding through the water. In the
middle of its head were two beady eyes.
“That creature must be octopus that attacked my grandfather,”
Chris said to himself. Chris watched as the octopus slid up onto the
shore and scaled the wall of the lighthouse. Chris dashed to get his
scuba gear as he knew the octopus would try to drag him under
the water. The octopus caught Chris and submerged the water,
tentacles wrapped tightly around its victim. As they headed towards
the bottom, Chris saw his grandfather trapped in a bubble.
“Give me the precious ruby stone from the lighthouse and I
will set him free!” said the octopus. Chris thought for a moment,
His grandmother had given that precious ruby to his grandfather to
protect him against the sea.
Chris had a plan - a sly plan. “I will give you the ruby,” said Chris
sarcastically, “if you set him free first.””
“Deal,” said the octopus. The octopus pricked the bubble with
one of its tentacles and Chris’ grandfather swam up to the surface.
“Now the ruby,” said the octopus.
“Sorry, no can do,” said Chris and with that he pushed the
octopus into a bubble, trapping him forever under the sea.
After that, Chris and his grandfather told many visitors to the
lighthouse about their encounter with the octopus and spent many
evenings wondering what the vengeful octopus was doing now.
Anna Mulhall
Co Waterford
Finn O Muirithe
Co Waterford