Young Storykeeper Volume III

166 | STORYKEEPERS VOLUME III AGE TEN | 167
ISLAND BOUND
CRASH! Another wave hit the cove. Sam pressed
his nose against the glass and I knelt beside him
on my bean bag chair. Earlier I had pulled up some
blankets as we sat in the chill of our lighthouse
cottage.
I bent my head and drew yet another picture
of Granuaile, my heroine. I wanted to be just like
her… “Jules the fearless sea captain and her
hound, Sam.” I tried cutting my hair like her –
except I didn’t have a sword so I used scissors
instead.
Oh, oh, here comes Dad… “Julia, get your
head out of the clouds, you don’t see me doing
that Granuaile nonsense… and WHAT did you do
to your hair?” he said angrily. Did I mention that I
only cut my hair today?
“I’ll show you that I can be a sea captain and
that I will find an island,” I muttered to myself.
The next day, I put on my raincoat and my
wellie boots and put on Sam’s lead. I grabbed
my old rucksack that I had stuffed with snacks.
As I closed the door of the cottage, I looked up
at the lighthouse. I found my old rowing boat – I
knew that Sam was good in boats so I knew that
he wouldn’t leap out of the side. Before I started
rowing, I saw land with my binoculars.
“Sam, you and I will go down in history,” I said
ecstatically. I slowly rowed towards the island, the
sea wasn’t rough today. A short while later Sam
and I hit land. “Land ahoy!” I hollered.
I swung myself out of the boat and Sam
followed. The island was covered with trees. I took
out a notebook and mapped everything I saw. As
we walked through, a bird flew up and away. We
had walked for an hour or so when we heard the
rumble of thunder. Sam and I darted back to our
boat. The sky had darkened and it had become
slightly foggy. I couldn’t see my home. I leaned
miserably against the boat.
Suddenly, I saw a big bright light – the
lighthouse! Dad must have light it up. I got the oars
out and rowed for all that I was worth. Lightening
crashed and thunder roared. Sam sat at the back
shivering. I pushed harder, my bones ached. The
lighthouse was the only thing keeping my spirits
up. Only a few more pushes…
Finally, I made it to the lighthouse. I ran inside.
“Where were you all morning?” asked Dad.
“On an adventure!” I said.
Aoife Azmi
Co Cork
IS IT A GHOST?
Sean lived in a lighthouse off the coast of Dublin.
He loved to work there, helping Dad with the big
light, cooking with Mam, fixing their ship Rebel
with his younger sister Sally and taking their
dog Hooper for walks. But he was always afraid
when night came. He swore he could hear heavy
breathing, the dragging of chains, a distant howl
and a really dumb, but spooky laugh. It sounded
like this:
Snort, ha, snort, snuff, snuff, snort, ha, ha,
ha!
Weird, right? Sean decided that it sounded
like a pig that had found some slops in the mud.
Once, he had seen a shadow in his room, doing
that weird laugh. He dared not tell his parents,
though, because he knew for a fact that Sally, who
was much younger than Sean, was not afraid like
him. He thought that it should be the other way
around.
So, after a yummy fish and chips, and a
long game on his Switch that night (he savoured
every moment) Sean decided to find the cause of
this spooky stuff. So, after sunset, with his torch
handy, he set off into the night.
Two hours later
“Help!” screamed Sean. He was outside,
and a white floating person wearing old-fashioned
ragged clothing and an Imperial mustache with an
arrow through his head, and chains attached to
his hands was chasing Sean, all the way to the
lighthouse! Sean was fast, but this…
…thing was faster!
“They will come,” the ghost moaned. With
quick thinking, Sean jumped into the dark choppy
sea. Sploosh! The ghost looked over the cliff and
shrugged. All he saw were small bubbles rising
above the water, then they stopped. He floated
away into the night, dragging his chains behind
him. Screech! They dragged along the driveway.
Sean’s head came above the water. Who will
come? he thought. He decided he would head
back. This was going to get complicated.
Isaac Devlin
Co Wicklow
THE LONELY MERMAID
Once upon an ancient time, there lived an innocent
mermaid who was lonely and sad. The only people
she had were a fish named King, who was an
angel fish. But he was always busy. The mermaid
looked from her window of her room and sighed.
Her dream was to find a friend or even true
love. But seeing as there were no other mermen
or mermaids to her liking, she decided to embark
on a torturous quest to another city to find a friend
or a match.
The next day she woke up bright and early to
begin. “Ahh,” she said as she rose from her bed.
“Time for an adventure.” She packed her bags and
off she went. She took a sea bus to Oceana, the
closest town, but she wanted to go to Coral Reef,
the biggest city in the ocean, and there she would
soon find a friend or a true love. So from Oceana
she stopped at Waves Cafe for a snack.
“Where might you be heading off to, miss?”
the cashier said, looking her dead in the eye.
“Stealing the kraken’s treasure, eh?”
“No, no I would never do such a thing! I’m off
to Coral Reef to find a friend. I’m so lonely.”
“Oh well, you best be going. People here in
Oceana are no good match. Bye now!” he said,
handing her the sandwich she ordered.
“Thank you!” And off she went.
“Oh dear!” exclaimed the worried mermaid,
“The bus to the next town just took off 20 minutes
ago. I shouldn’t have stopped at the cafe. Oh no!
Guess I have to swim.”
So she swam and swam until she met a
whale. “Hello there, young miss!” bellowed the
whale
“Hi, I best be going. I have to get to Coral
Reef. I’m lonely and looking for a friend.”
“Oh, can I come with you? I’ve been cursed
by a witch and I’m so lonely and I want to break
the curse.”
“What’s this curse anyway?”
“Oh, I’m afraid it’s a curse where I’m a big
ugly whale.”
“Whales aren’t ugly. C’mon come with me to
Coral Reef. We can find friends there!”
So they swam to Coral Reef but it felt like
ages until… “I’m tired.”
The mermaid decided that they could take a
rest, so they found a rock, they rested for a bit
then the mermaid saw a crab and went to ask him
the way to Coral Reef. They talked and talked. The
whale became bored so when he saw a cave, he
went in.
Inside were crystals and diamonds. He
wanted to take some back, but someone stopped
him. “Oi!” they said. When the whale looked down
there were little shrimps looking at him with spears
“Oi!” they said again. The whale laughed and
took a crystal.
“Oi!” they said and the cave closed. They
stabbed him with the spears and the whale fell
down.
Meanwhile, outside the cave the mermaid
had finished talking with the crab and saw a little
hole in the cave door. She knew the whale went
there so she went in. She saw the whale on the
floor.
“Oh no!” she cried, her eyes teared up and
she cried. A tear fell on the whale. He awoke, but
not as a whale, as a merman. He hugged her and
they fell in love.
Bianca Wloka
Co Wicklow