Running Wild: Tsunami

 For literacy, we have been reading 'Running Wild' by Michael Morpurgo. We have to write a story about a tsunami, based on the tsunami from Running Wild, from our point of view. We had to describe the the scene as it unfolds. Below is my story.

Tsunami

I was on the beach when it happened. I was enjoying the sun, yes I was tanning, because where I come from there isn’t much sun. It’s very dull when all you can see is grey, depressing even. So this vacation was just what I needed. Although very soon I wish I didn’t come here. I wanted to become a traveller, which I couldn’t do because I’m broke. This is the closest thing I’ll get to travelling. My Mum and Dad paid for the expenses as a Christmas gift. God I wish they didn’t, of course parts of  me loved them for it Anyway, I was just changing positions in my chair when I heard a commotion with an elephant trumpeting and kids yelling somewhere to my left. I didn’t think about it too much, considering that it was probably an elephant. I knew they were pretty tame here and the kids would be fine. That commotion brought me out of my stupor. I realised, just where water was gently lapping gently against my toes, there was nothing. I sat up and took off my sunglasses and gasped at the sight before me. 

The water was receding quickly, as if it couldn’t wait to get away from me, and it was already so far back you could see the fish flopping around, gasping for air, or well for water - you know what I mean. I looked up from the receding water to see a huge wave coming towards me. I tried to scream, but the sound caught in my throat. I was frozen, which wasn’t good considering there was a huge wave rushing towards me. A tsunami. I’ve seen enough movies to know that’s what it was. My body unfroze slowly, like it was thawing out. The moment I regained feeling, I did what every sensible human being would do, I ran. Away from the wall that was descending on me, away from my doom.

I wasn’t a runner, I hated running. So you could say I wasn’t the fastest person running, but I definitely wasn’t the slowest. The tsunami had caught everyone’s attention and people were running for their lives. I could hear a siren going off somewhere, but the pounding of my heart in my ears eventually drowned the screeching, screaming and crying of everything around me out. Everything except the tsunami. 

I could hear it coming. My thoughts were running wildly in my head and I could not control, did not bother. I knew the wall of doom was gaining on me, I heard it rushing past cars and buildings, knocking them down, taking people with it. The temptation to turn around, stop running and just let it absorb me was strong. But thoughts of my parents and my family and my friend came to the forefront of my mind, and I knew I had to keep going. 

I was in a crowd of people running for their lives, but we weren’t all squashed up together. There was space to run, and flail your arms. The occasional people  fell, and I'm not proud of it, but I left them. I only thought of me and my family, yeah it was selfish but I couldn’t take away any running time from myself. My legs felt like lead and I knew I would collapse soon, my heart was pounding with quick, frantic beats, and my right side felt like it was on fire. It would be so easy to give up, but I had to keep running. 

Soon, I spotted a car that looked abandoned, so I decided to take the risk and check it out.  I hoped desperately for four things. 1. That it was unlocked; 2. That it had the keys inside; 3. That the gas tank was filled and 4. that I wouldn’t die. I ran up to the car and grabbed the handle. It was locked. I checked inside, to see if it was worth smashing the window, and guess what? No keys. I wasted ten seconds doing this, it may not seem like much, but ten seconds was a lot when it came to being chased by the ocean. I left the car quickly and ran, regretting to check the car. I heard a thundering overhead, but didn’t pay any attention to it. I didn’t know what it was at that moment, but I later figured out that it was a helicopter, and I didn't care. 

Rubble was falling everywhere, along with buildings and lampposts. Luckily most of that was behind me, but I could see mounds of rubble and chunks of buildings in front of me. Once I started looking ahead a bit more, instead of what was right in front of me, I noticed pain in my feet. I thought it was from the running, so I ignored it. But the pain got deeper the more I moved on. I figured there was glass in my feet. I was worried, thinking they would get infected, but then I remembered I was about to die so it didn’t matter. 

I heard the tsunami slowing down, which I was grateful for. Hopefully that meant when it hits me, I knew I wasn’t going to outrun the tsunami, that I maybe wouldn’t... die? Then, before I could get my hopes up to high, something slammed me in the back. The air that was still inside of me before, which couldn’t have been much since I was running full speed, was immediately gone. I felt as if I had been hit by 100 football players, the biggest ones, all tackling me at the same time. Black spots swam across my vision and I was barely aware of the debris swimming around me. I couldn’t breath, my eyes stung, and my ribs were probably broken. I was in the tsunami. I blacked out.

When I woke up, I immediately knew I wasn't in heaven. My head was throbbing, and I barely saw people standing over me, talking about how lucky I was, putting bandages on my ribs. My back was uncomfortable and it hurt with every slight shift as if it was broken, but it couldn’t be, I mean I’m alive, aren’t I? My ribs ached and every breath was pure pain, but I was alive. 

Running Wild: Character Profile

 For literacy, we have been reading 'Running Wild' by Michael Morpurgo. This is their character profile. I wrote down what their personalities were, or what they seemed like to me. 

Report: Rime of the Ancient Mariner

In my literacy group we have been reading 'Alone on a Wide Wide Sea' by Michael Morpurgo. The poem 'Rime of the Ancient Mariner' came up and we had to do a report on it. The poem is really good and there is a link to it at the end of my report if you would like to read it! I warn you, it's a really long poem.

 Rime of the Ancient Mariner

Rime of the Ancient Mariner is one of the most famous poems in the English language and was created by Samuel Taylor Coleridge in 1797, published in 1798, and was updated throughout his life. Samuel Coleridge was born October 21, 1772, Ottery St. Mary, Devonshire, England. He was an English lyrical poet, critic, and philosopher. 

The Rime of the Ancient Mariner is about a seaman who shot an albatross, which leads to misfortune for him and his fellow sailors. The seaman, who is the ancient mariner, then goes around the world retelling the tale of his cursed journey. 

The ancient mariner isn’t a real person but Coleridge may have been inspired by a conversation he had with another famous poet, William Wordsworth, who had recently read George Shelvocke's ‘A Voyage Round the World’. Shelvocke writes of an incident when his second in command shot an albatross, which had been following the ship for several days. The ship, called the Speedwell, was later lost at Juan Fernandez Island.

Other people say that the poem was inspired by a dream that Coleridge's friend, George Cruikshank, had after he finished reading Thomas James’ ‘Strange and Dangerous Voyage’. This is about a man who had been shipwrecked and saved by angels who had piloted the ship.

There’s other, other, people who think that the old man who speaks at the start of the Rime of the Ancient Mariner could have been Fletcher Christian, who led the mutiny aboard the HMS Bounty in 1789. Coleridge had been aware of the rumours that Christian faked his own death and returned to England, meaning the old man of the poem could have been inspired by Christian. 

Are any of these true? We’ll never know, because Samuel Coleridge died in Croydon (United States) on the 25th of July, 1834. Samuel Coleridge was buried on Bandon Hill.

The Rime of the Ancient Mariner

Alone on a Wide Wide Sea

 My literacy group has been ready 'Alone on a Wide Wide Sea' by Michael Morpurgo. Down below is a slide show with three quotes from Aunty Megs and what it shows about her character.

Alone on a Wide Wide sea: Ida Barrington

My literacy group is currently ready 'Alone on a Wide Wide Sea' by Michael Morpurgo. We had to pick one character and make up a event in the past for them, and this is when she meets Piggy Bacon.

 Ida Barrington was just like any school girl her age. She was at an okay intelligence level, she was pretty and she was, well, good. Some might have gone as far to label her as an angel. That was until she became friends with Martin Bacon.

Ida had just transferred to a new school because hers had burned down due to some silly kids who really hated school. Ida always wondered how and why some 9 year olds burnt down the school.  As she was walking across the front of the school Ida felt as if she would throw up. “I can make new friends and be away from dad at the same time!” Ida thought to herself. This thought was enough for Ida to ignore the fact that her legs felt like jelly. She ignored the tug on her stomach that tried to turn her around. She ignored the small voice in her head that told her to go back home and call it a day, “your father won’t care” the small voice said. Ida knew this was true, when her father wasn’t sleeping he was drunk. She trudged across the grass and pushed all these thoughts to the back of her mind. “New friends” she repeated the words under her breath all the way to the principal's office. It took her a while to find it but she found it eventually. After talking to the principal a bit, he led her to her classroom and knocked on the door twice and walked in, without waiting for an invitation.

After Ida finished introducing herself to the class, she took her seat next to Martin Bacon. “What a weird last name” Ida thought to herself. Little did she know that would one day be her last name. She glanced to her side and saw Martin staring at her, “what?” she asked, it came off a bit harsher than meant “nothing” he said simply and turned away. That was how she met Martin Bacon. After class she was rushing to her next one when someone caught up with her. That someone was Martin. Ida sighed and then turned to him, “yes?” she asked politely. “I was just, uh, wondering if you would like to be friends?” he asked with a hint of uncertainty. Ida stopped in the crowded hallway, people bumped into her but she didn’t care, “you want to be my friend?” Ida asked excitedly, “yes, that’s what I said” Martin replied with annoyance. From that sentence Ida knew he was temperamental but she didn’t care. “Yes!” she practically shrieked, and ran off, hoping not to be late to her class. From that day forward her and Martin were friends, the best of friends, but in time Ida would come to regret that simple ‘yes’.

Coopers Station Advert

 This term, my literacy group are reading 'Alone on a wide wide sea' by Michael Morpurgo. Down below is an advert in the newspaper from Mr Bacon trying to get kids to come to his farm. 

Coopers Station Survival Instructions

 In my literacy group, we have been reading the book called 'Alone on a wide wide sea', by Michael Morpurgo. Down below are instructions on how to survive if you were at Coopers Station.

How to survive at Coopers Station

I have listed some equipment you will need to survive Piggy Bacon, without this equipment the method down below may be useless.

Equipment: 

1. To survive you must have resilience, a whole truckload of it

2. Obedience (it never hurts to be the favourite)

3. You need to be calm. Being temperamental will not end well because he has anger issues as well.

4. You need to have friends, a BUNCH of them. Why? Because you will need shields if Piggy Bacon tries shoot you

I have put a method on what to do down below, do your best to follow it.

Method:

1. Always put on a show when you're being whipped, if you do not, you will be whipped more. Always be EXTRA

2. Do not let Piggy Bacon catch you slacking, always work HARD

3. Do not go exploring at night, he will most likely catch you and if he does, well it won’t be pretty

4. Do not argue with Piggy Bacon, even if he is wrong (which he most likely is)

5. Do whatever Piggy Bacon wants, no matter how tiring the work is

6. Be polite to Piggy Bacon, although he doesn’t deserve your manners

7. Do not let him catch you calling him Piggy Bacon, call him Mr Bacon to his face or when he’s around

8. Eat all your breakfast, lunch and dinner. It may not taste the best but you won’t be getting anything else until Sunday. You need your protein because if you're too slow at work, you get the belt.

9. Every Sunday, you MUST sing along to the songs and eat as much as you can, or stuff it in your pockets for later

10. Pray every night, because that may be your only hope of escaping

Thank you. I hope you may never be in the situation where you have to use these instructions but if you are, I hoped they helped.