And Then...
As I shook the bottle to tip out the object inside, a paper and a small locket fell out. The paper was very frail, old, and was very wrinkled. Careful not to tear it, I started to unfold the fragile paper.
"Whoever and whenever someone is reading this, I need your help. My daughter, the girl in the locket, has been taken by some...some sea monster thing. I know it sounds crazy, but I'm telling the truth. We were walking along the warm sand mid July of 1968 when I felt a small, cold hand on my thigh. 'Daddy, what is that thing in the ocean?' My little girl said. I looked down to see my precious Cove looking up at me in terror. Her face went pale and she was ice cold and could barely speak. It was as if she saw a ghost. When I asked her what was wrong, she just pointed at the ocean. I lifted the scared little girl into the air and put her on my shoulders after telling her everything would be okay. Within seconds of her up on my shoulders, these long, slimy, purple...arms wrapped around Cove and started pulling her off of me. No matter how hard I fought against the sea creature, my little girl was still taken from me. I know she is still alive because she sends me rocks with tiny messages on them asking when I will save her. But the thing is, I can't save her do to my uh...condition. I don't know what year someone will find this, but you're probably wondering why I am asking for help since I am very old. I am basically immortal. I don't die, I can't. The only thing that can kill me, is the scales from a mermaid. That is why I can't save my daughter. From what I've been told, there is many mermaids guarding the spot that my daughter is being kept. I am found on Apulit Island on the east side. Bring the bottle so I know that you are here to help. Please help me save my daughter."
Is this real? Does someone really need my help to save their daughter? I have no clue but I need to tell my parents and ask to go on a cruise to Apulit Island. I put the old paper back into the bottle and started the long walk across the warm, gritty sand back to my parents. "Mom! Dad! I found something!"
"What is it sweetie?" my mom called back.
"It's a note. Someone needs my help." I gave the bottle to my mom and she read the paper.
"Axton, this is probably just a joke hun. I hate to break it to you, but it was probably just some kids messing around. Although, a trip to Apulit Island does sound like fun. I'll go make reservations and we'll have a ton of fun."
I was a little crushed at the thought that it could be a joke, but the 14 year old girl inside of me still believed that someone needed my help.
A few weeks later, I found myself packing for the trip to the island. All I could think of, was the poor dad missing his little Cove and the pain he must be feeling. But whenever I brought it up to my parents, they continued to tell me that it was just a joke. I finished packing my clothes and started walking to the car, but I remembered that I forgot the bottle, so I ran back inside and grabbed it. After that, we headed to the airport for the flight to our boat for the beginning of our cruise to the island.
After a long two weeks on a boat, I was ready for some action. My family arrived at our destination, but we were the only family that got off at the island. The Captain of the boat warned us as we got off. "Be careful of an old guy asking for help. He's a pretty sketchy guy."
We got settled into our beach house and as soon as I finished unpacking, I put my swimsuit on and headed outside. "I'm going to look for the guys little girl mom!" I yelled as I walked out the door.
"Don't talk to the guy asking for help like the Captain said Axton. I mean it."
Yeah, yeah. I thought. I'm going to look for the guy asking help. He needs me. I continued walking but only a few steps away from the house, my foot hit a rock. Oww. I looked down to see if my foot was okay. My eyes instantly skipped my foot and went to the rock. It had a message on it telling me to go twenty paces to the left and then stop. There, the rock said I would find another rock and this would continue until I found the father of Cove. I did as the rocks said and I came up to a dark cave with Cove's name all over it. I walked to entrance and knocked on the door. Within the first three knocks, the door opened.
"Axton. I've been waiting." A deep, raspy voice said. "Come in deary."
"How..how do you know my name?"
"Oh honey, I know everything about you. I have been watching you since you were born."
I felt a chill run down my spine and I started to shiver. "I brought the bottle, but I'm going to leave it here and then I'm going to leave." I replied as I set down the bottle and slowly started backing up to the door. As I started to turn around, the door slammed shut.
"You aren't going anywhere." the voice said calmly but intensely. "You're mine now. There is no escape."
"I started yelling for help but the voice informed me that it was useless because no one could hear me. I asked the voice why he wouldn't let me go and a figure started to emerge from the shadows.
"Because, because. I'm lonely, and I need a friend." My dad said laughing as he came into view. My mother opened the door from behind me, laughing as well.
"Dad? Mom? What are you doing here? What about the man? Who is the voice?" I had so many thought running through my brain. I didn't know what to believe.
"Axton, you can thank your mom for all this." My dad replied, still laughing. "She's the one who thought it was a good idea to put a note in a bottle and have you go on this little adventure."
"Mom is that true?"
"Yes dear. This was all planned out. No one needs saving, and no one was kidnapped. This was all just for fun and giggles."
"So you wrote the letter then? And did all the rocks and the writing on the cave and the door shutting?"
"Yes, Axton. Your father and I did all of this. We planned this trip a few months ago and wanted to get you back for the whipped cream prank you pulled on your dad's 40th birthday."
"Oh, that makes sense." I laughed feeling embarrassed that they got me so scared. "I guess, my mind is really good at wondering."
Student’s Choice Reflection
As I shook the bottle to tip out the object inside, a paper and a small locket fell out. The paper was very frail, old, and was very wrinkled. Careful not to tear it, I started to unfold the fragile paper.
"Whoever and whenever someone is reading this, I need your help. My daughter, the girl in the locket, has been taken by some...some sea monster thing. I know it sounds crazy, but I'm telling the truth. We were walking along the warm sand mid July of 1968 when I felt a small, cold hand on my thigh. 'Daddy, what is that thing in the ocean?' My little girl said. I looked down to see my precious Cove looking up at me in terror. Her face went pale and she was ice cold and could barely speak. It was as if she saw a ghost. When I asked her what was wrong, she just pointed at the ocean. I lifted the scared little girl into the air and put her on my shoulders after telling her everything would be okay. Within seconds of her up on my shoulders, these long, slimy, purple...arms wrapped around Cove and started pulling her off of me. No matter how hard I fought against the sea creature, my little girl was still taken from me. I know she is still alive because she sends me rocks with tiny messages on them asking when I will save her. But the thing is, I can't save her do to my uh...condition. I don't know what year someone will find this, but you're probably wondering why I am asking for help since I am very old. I am basically immortal. I don't die, I can't. The only thing that can kill me, is the scales from a mermaid. That is why I can't save my daughter. From what I've been told, there is many mermaids guarding the spot that my daughter is being kept. I am found on Apulit Island on the east side. Bring the bottle so I know that you are here to help. Please help me save my daughter."
Is this real? Does someone really need my help to save their daughter? I have no clue but I need to tell my parents and ask to go on a cruise to Apulit Island. I put the old paper back into the bottle and started the long walk across the warm, gritty sand back to my parents. "Mom! Dad! I found something!"
"What is it sweetie?" my mom called back.
"It's a note. Someone needs my help." I gave the bottle to my mom and she read the paper.
"Axton, this is probably just a joke hun. I hate to break it to you, but it was probably just some kids messing around. Although, a trip to Apulit Island does sound like fun. I'll go make reservations and we'll have a ton of fun."
I was a little crushed at the thought that it could be a joke, but the 14 year old girl inside of me still believed that someone needed my help.
A few weeks later, I found myself packing for the trip to the island. All I could think of, was the poor dad missing his little Cove and the pain he must be feeling. But whenever I brought it up to my parents, they continued to tell me that it was just a joke. I finished packing my clothes and started walking to the car, but I remembered that I forgot the bottle, so I ran back inside and grabbed it. After that, we headed to the airport for the flight to our boat for the beginning of our cruise to the island.
After a long two weeks on a boat, I was ready for some action. My family arrived at our destination, but we were the only family that got off at the island. The Captain of the boat warned us as we got off. "Be careful of an old guy asking for help. He's a pretty sketchy guy."
We got settled into our beach house and as soon as I finished unpacking, I put my swimsuit on and headed outside. "I'm going to look for the guys little girl mom!" I yelled as I walked out the door.
"Don't talk to the guy asking for help like the Captain said Axton. I mean it."
Yeah, yeah. I thought. I'm going to look for the guy asking help. He needs me. I continued walking but only a few steps away from the house, my foot hit a rock. Oww. I looked down to see if my foot was okay. My eyes instantly skipped my foot and went to the rock. It had a message on it telling me to go twenty paces to the left and then stop. There, the rock said I would find another rock and this would continue until I found the father of Cove. I did as the rocks said and I came up to a dark cave with Cove's name all over it. I walked to entrance and knocked on the door. Within the first three knocks, the door opened.
"Axton. I've been waiting." A deep, raspy voice said. "Come in deary."
"How..how do you know my name?"
"Oh honey, I know everything about you. I have been watching you since you were born."
I felt a chill run down my spine and I started to shiver. "I brought the bottle, but I'm going to leave it here and then I'm going to leave." I replied as I set down the bottle and slowly started backing up to the door. As I started to turn around, the door slammed shut.
"You aren't going anywhere." the voice said calmly but intensely. "You're mine now. There is no escape."
"I started yelling for help but the voice informed me that it was useless because no one could hear me. I asked the voice why he wouldn't let me go and a figure started to emerge from the shadows.
"Because, because. I'm lonely, and I need a friend." My dad said laughing as he came into view. My mother opened the door from behind me, laughing as well.
"Dad? Mom? What are you doing here? What about the man? Who is the voice?" I had so many thought running through my brain. I didn't know what to believe.
"Axton, you can thank your mom for all this." My dad replied, still laughing. "She's the one who thought it was a good idea to put a note in a bottle and have you go on this little adventure."
"Mom is that true?"
"Yes dear. This was all planned out. No one needs saving, and no one was kidnapped. This was all just for fun and giggles."
"So you wrote the letter then? And did all the rocks and the writing on the cave and the door shutting?"
"Yes, Axton. Your father and I did all of this. We planned this trip a few months ago and wanted to get you back for the whipped cream prank you pulled on your dad's 40th birthday."
"Oh, that makes sense." I laughed feeling embarrassed that they got me so scared. "I guess, my mind is really good at wondering."
Student’s Choice Reflection
- Explain the process you went through to write this paper. Please be specific.
- For this paper, I wrote down my ideas and wrote a small outline of how I wanted these ideas to flow and how I wanted to tell the story.
- This paper is a narrative paper, because it's is my story and I'm not arguing anything or explaining anything.
- One thing I learned from writing this paper is, I have a wondering mind and my ideas tend to mush together and I forget what point I was trying to reach.
- I am proud of the way I ended up telling to story and how I ended up organizing my thoughts into a good paper.
- This paper shows the readers that I have a very fantasy way of writing but I also like to put real life situations into my papers very subtly.