Caught by pirates A collaborative two-nation story Part 1 by Geocro, Kirdup and Gaiwhe in South Africa Part 2 by Eleanora in Argentina

Part 1: The voyage

We left dry land on the first day of spring.  None of us knew what to expect on the journey.  There was, however, something about the captain that made us all wonder what we were in for. "You folks are going to have to ride this canoe out to the ship.  The ship is anchored in the deeper water out there," he bellowed.

The canoe ride to the ship wasn't too bad.  But I just could not shake the creepy feeling that we were being watched. When we got to the ship the crew helped us aboard. It was strange being on a pirate ship! Still I was sure that wasn’t the reason my stomach was in a knot.

We started moving around midday. It was hot and Lily was already starting to get grumpy. I moved two deck chairs from the hold on to the deck. They were heavy and by the time I got them up I was out of breath. “Hurry up!” said Lilly. “I’m dying out here!” “Sorry,” I mumbled as I got to the top deck. I dropped the chairs and they made a hole in the deck. “Oh you are so clumsy!” cried Lilly “Well sorry,” I said. “If you’re such a clever clogs you go and fetch it!” “Fine!” said Lilly. She made her way down the stairs.

Suddenly she felt something cold lick her feet. She looked down to see a puddle big enough to fill a pool. “Oh no!” she cried as she ran up the stairs. She cried “Abandon ship. Huge hole in ship.” To her surprise everybody jumped into the life boats and started rowing furiously.

We also jumped into a lifeboat. In all the confusion I had lost track of where we were going and now we were completely and utterly lost. “Oh you blithering idiot!” Lily cried. “Where are you taking us?” “Shut your trap!” I told her. “If you don’t stop complaining we'll never get out of here! Right now we have to keep alive on this canoe.” Lily, with a hurt look on her face, stuck her nose in the air and turned her back to me. We noticed that a few of the others had also jumped into lifeboats and they were following us.

  Part 2: The Mystery Island

  In order to escape from the waves that the ship made when it sank, we lost sight of the other boats. Soon the night embraced us and the cold wind of the ocean whispered us as the loneliness of the sky without stars started to move us. Three whole days and three long nights passed by till I spotted land. Lily turned around when she heard me shout excitedly… “Land ahead…hooray!”

After the long journey, we were excited but also anxious about finally reaching land. so Lilly was now excited at the thought of finding food, shelter and people who could help us to get home. I had certain expectation but, as usual, I am much more prudent and cautious than Lilly and I don’t always believe what I see.

As we reached the coast,  we felt that something was wrong. We saw some deserted houses, a group of horses, some boats anchored at the port, no flag announcing its nationality, no dogs nor domestic animals and no signs of human beings. The other life boats came back into view following us.

We decided to take a look at the abandoned town. We took turns to check out the island not to leave the boats alone. Lilly came with me while the others stayed guarding the boats. Once again I felt that we were being watched.

Down in the port’s office, we found a radio beeping a choked and very far away signal of help.  " Mayday!! Mayday …I ...am ...the.. capt..n.. boat..sunk.. cghgchgc“ (noises). We suddenly remembered the other members of the crew who could be the ones who were asking for help. We tried to contact the signal. Nothing happened. Lilly was getting more and more nervous. I couldn’t think clearly. We decided to try again every  five minutes. Nothing happened. Many hours went by and we still had no answer from the others. Tired and desperate, Lilly shouted her message again in the radio and a voice rang out from the radio.

"We know what happened. You are in an abandoned island that was built for scientific purposes. Don't bother to look for food - it could be dangerous. Scientists changed the DNA of some of the native animals in the island and they turned fearsome. Stay in the boats. We will rescue you as soon as possible. I repeat, don't get out of the boat.“ We ran out of the office, back to the boats.    

We were exhausted. But only thinking that we could be eaten by animals made us go back to the boat with no doubts. Once there....Would we really be rescued? But, that is another story for another day…. THE END