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SECOND GRADE CLASSROOM ANNOUNCEMENT :
"Story 8" |
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When the group heard what that voice had just said, they all looked at one another.â€The game wasn’t supposed to be like that â€-one of the girls said-“It was supposed to be a survival game, yes, but without anyone to get hurtâ€.â€Now what shall we do?â€I asked. "We will stick together†said Jackson . He probably was the oldest but also the strongest of all ."And when they understand that nothing of what they have said will happen, they will come back to get us, yes, we won’t receive any money, but screw themâ€.It was the second day on that island and we still couldn’t find any food or water.We built a little camp near the beach so that if those guys were coming back we could promptly see them. But no-one came to take us back. We started to be hungry and thirsty as we had not eaten or drunk yet. We were all on our way to our tends at the camp, when a voice seemed to come from the sky. You'd better follow the rules , if.......... . The voice faded away. If what? Which rules?(Federico T.) Our eyes met. I could read the fear in their faces. I remember my happiness when I learned that I had been chosen for this show, while now there is only anxiety and anguish inside me. Who was the responsible of all this? I felt so unprepared and vulnerable, perhaps because life until then had not put me in front of situations of great danger. As the days went by, we inspected the entire island. At last we found a spring. Drinking fresh water gave me an immense pleasure and Jackson even caught some fish. We realized that every three days, at noon very likely (we could not know the exact time), a plane flew over us. It rounded over our heads: one, two... three times and then it vanished. Jackson made us think that the plane appeared every three days. Three laps, three days: was it a coincidence? (Matteo E.) At first, all we could think about was the plane. Who was in there? Why? Could we get them to help us? After we recognized the pattern, 3 loops every 3 days, we thought of a plan. Maybe the people up there, whoever they were, weren't helping us because they couldn't see us, or didn't know we needed saving. We collected dry leaves, sticks, fallen branches and pieces of driftwood washed ashore, everything we could carry to start a fire. Ronald, a pale, skinny, redhead boy around 8, used his glasses to direct the sunrays towards our little pile. Amazingly- after quite a few tries- a wisp of smoke slowly turned to a flame. When the plane finally came we waved, jumped and screamed, but to no avail. It just continued on its way. After that, we never saw it again. It was confirmed. We were on our own. High tide came, and we were forced to rebuild our camp further from the shore after wave upon wave crashed down on us, taking away our shelter and the few things we had been able to bring from home. The first month was the hardest. Long, tedious days spent building with only wood and vines and stones and leaves. Finally, after much frustration, we found a way to stack logs and branches on top of each other creating makeshift walls, and used huge green leaves as roofs to keep the rain off our heads. We became like a little family. There were ten of us. Ronald, the redhead, and Jackson, the eldest and strongest of the group. Then there was Kym, a girl of about 15, tough as nails, with long raven hair always in a ponytail. Rose and Tom, twins, were both blond and blue-eyed and shy, and looked way smaller than 12. Tina, the smallest of the group, could be no older than 6. She had short curly hair and a fiery soul, but a sob escaped her every now and then. The genius of the group was Jerry, who was only 14 but knew way more than my math professor back at school. Kate and Shirley on the other hand became the best of friends immediately, both whiny and snotty, complaining more than even little Tina and talking back to Jackson ignoring the fact that they were only ten and eleven years old. And, last but not least, there was me, Jake Linton.(Bianca Z.) Day after day the dynamics of the group changed. Kate and Shirley were more annoying than the rain which fell punctually every night. Jackson wanted to command over the other boys, because he was the eldest, and Kim was always in competition with the other girls. I knew it was a survival challenge, so had the group split, the situation would have become much more critical. One evening we were relaxing on the seashore, when Kate suddenly noticed something jumping out of the water. She said: "I'm fed up with eating vines. Now I'll show all of you how to fish!" I didn't like her at all. She was such a blowhard girl. I didn't know why, but I had a bad omen. Kate dived into the water, she was convinced she had seen a fish and she wanted to catch it. Out of the blue, a strong whirlpool rose from the sea and dragged her in the black,deep abyss. We all shouted and her best friend Shirley ran towards the whirlpool to try and save her, but she was slammed against a rock. Jackson was right: we didn't have to split. Shirley was able to go out in some way, but she was completely covered with blood and she couldn't even breathe because of the blow.That night nobody could sleep because Shirley was risking to die and we were all shocked about it. In the middle of the night I noticed that she was immersed in a lake of blood. She lost the most important of the battles. Poor Shirley, she had lost her life just because her rebel friend Kate had put in danger. We were shattered, but our battle for survival continued. The following days Jackson acted as a tyrant. He didn't want us to split for any reason. He had become such an aggressive and unpleasant boy. One day, while we were searching for food in a vinewood, Ronald, the ginger head guy, said he would have liked to eat some meat. We had been eating just vines, fruit and leaves for more than a month and Ronald really loved good food. Suddenly, it seemed that something was moving through the vines. A grey steam moved the leaves. Ronald started to go crazy: "I can see a deer up there! Can you see it?" Nobody of us could see any deer. It seemed that Ronald had a vision. He started to follow the deer he had seen, even if Jackson ordered not to split. Then Ronald disapppeared . Forever. Now three out of ten had gone. The challenge had become more dangerous... We decided to move to another refuge because ours had become too dangerous. Maybe exploring that island would have given us more motivation. Maybe. I was starting to be more familiar with Rose and Tom, the twins. They were very shy and the only thing they wanted was returning back home and sleep on a comfortable bed. We moved through the island when we reached a big clearing. I said: "I don't think this is a good place to stay, it's too isolated." But almost everybody wanted to have a nap, so we stopped there. It was about midday, judging from the position of the sun. Tom, Rose and Tina sat on the grass and the two twins immediately fell asleep. Jackson came to me, saying: "You look so anxious, my friend. Why?" I told him I had had a bad omen, I didn't like that place, I thought there would have been a hidden danger there. He laughed at me, but suddenly we heard little Tina crying. We saw the twins covered with a heap of red ants. We called them, but they didn't answer. They had been poisoned by the ants. It was all their fault, but I was very, very sorry for their death. They were so kind, shame! I decided not to listen to Jackson anymore, even if he was right. Jerry said: "Guys, we are six left out of ten, if we don't reach a safe place, another of us will die. It is a life/death situation, not an exploration game! Do you understand, Jackson?" Jerry was a great boy. He always said the right thing in the right moment. He was a science expert, and we all needed his wisdom. The only person I couldn't understand well was little Tina. She was very nice and little, but her personality was a mystery to me. We continued to walk and we reached another wood. Also this time I felt in danger, but it was the only way to cross that part. While walking through the trees, the situation seemed under control. But, out of the blue, a dense fog came in the wood. We couldn't even see ourselves. Tina shouted: "Oh, someone is speaking! Can you hear it?" Kim thought: "It's surely another of her fantasies. However, she is only six, she doesn't even understand." But then Kim heard a voice calling her: "Kiiiiiiiim.....Kiiiiiiiim.....I am Nicholas, your ex fianceé, I've come to help you. Here....I'm here" None of us could hear that voice. After a while, the fog went away. Now we could see, but the scene before us was terrible: Kim was diving into a gorge, and Tina had disappeared. Jackson shouted at Kim, but it was too late. It seemed that everyone who had died, had been bewitched or persuaded anyway. Maybe... After the wood, we finally saw a cavern. Without thinking about it, we decided to repair there. Jerry suggested to sleep all stack that night and avoid every tipe of distraction. That night was quiet, and so were the seven following nights. We thought we had finally found the safe place we were looking for. But we were wrong, absolutely wrong. The evening after, a strong storm menaced the island. Thunders and lightnings destroyed the wood we had crossed the week before and they left nothing but ash. But when we looked better, we saw a crashed plane in the furthest part of the wood. It was the same plane we had seen two months before. We knew perfectly we had better not move out, but the temptation was too high. Jerry went into the plane and said:" Perhaps, if I do this...then that...then this..." He was trying to fix it. He added:" Guys, leave me a moment alone, maybe I can fix it and we can go back home. I hope it!" We went out the plane. Jerry counted:"3,2,1, gooooo!" And the plane took off!! But, after 200 meters, Jackson and I saw it exploding. Also Jerry had died. The most intelligent among us. At that point, the only ones left were Jackson and I. Jackson was the strongest, but also the most selfish. I hated him. We went back into the cavern and we fell asleep. Suddenly, at night, a big stone fell next to me. We were blocked! There wasn't any way to go out from the cave. At that moment, Jackson told me: "Do you know, Jake, you are the only person left together with me. I didn't expect you were so strong. Wait, what's that light?" I was surprised: "Light?Where?Be careful, it could be a vision" Jackson told me to shut up and followed the light he had seen. I did't trust him. This time I remained where I was. After a while, I heard Jackson shouting: "Ahahah, I can becone the richest boy in the world with these. Jake, come to see!" Those were his last words. The cave shaked and crashed. I don't know how, but I save myself. Jackson died instead. Poor guy, he was so stupid. Then, I realized I was the only one left on the island. I had won. But I hadn't won randomly. I understood the secret to win during our walk in the wood and seeing how my mates had died. They had died because they had been bewitched by their own wishes. I had won the battle against passions. THE END |
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MATTIA A.
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