In the box

Brianne was excited and thought she could not wait, but the grumpy, old man
at the shop had told her not to open the box until six o’clock. When she came
home she put it on the table, in the dining room and sat on the chair in front of
it and waited. She had another hour to wait, and she thought she would burst
before the time was up.

It was a beautiful box made of rich dark red marble with streaks of grey
running across it, like veins on an old lady’s leg. There was a large gold catch
on the side with an ornate lock latched through it. Brianne ran her hand over
the smooth, cold surface and carefully considered if she should wait until six,
or if a couple of minutes early would make that much difference.

The clock on the counter clicked over to 5:45, and she decided that was near
enough and took the old key from her pocket. Brianne’s hand started to
tremble with anticipation as she slid the key into the lock. She slowly turned it,
and a loud click echoed in her head.

Suddenly she was plunged into darkness.

There was an overwhelming smell of old cheese and she could not help herself
from sniffing the air, she then started to feel hungry and the cheesy smell
became surprisingly delicious. Brianne was feeling very strange and confused
and thought she should just sit and try to work out a way to turn on the lights.

Sitting in the dark, she rested her hands on her stomach and noticed
something very strange. It was soft and furry, then she ran her hands down
her legs and realised they were small and furry. “Oh No!” she exclaimed, “I
think I’m a rat!”

A gruff voice came from behind her in the darkness, “It’s really not that bad.
You will get used to it. Did you open the box early too?” An old grey rat
stepped into Brianne’s vision and continued to question her. “Did the old man
tell you to wait until six o’clock?” Brianne had so many of her own questions
running through her head she could not think of anything. He continued and
his voice became more agitated, “What’s wrong? Can’t you talk? Are you
alright? Do you know what you’ve done?” In frustration the old rat raised his
voice louder, “ CAN YOU HEAR ME? What’s your name? Where are you from?
Did you have the box? You didn’t do what you were told, did you? If you had
waited until six you would have released me and you wouldn’t be here. You’re
going to be stuck like this forever now.”

“No, I can’t be! I don’t want to be a rat!” Brianne screamed.

Behind the doors.

Brianne crept down the corridor and noticed the three doors slightly ajar. She
quietly stepped closer and peered inside. This was when she had to make the
choice. Stay in the passage way and let the monster catch her or walk through
one of the doors and into another world.

She pushed the green door just slightly more open to see in. She could see a
lush jungle with what looked like ruins and suddenly she noticed a tiger. She
backed away and moved to the blue door. It was pitch black so she poked her
head in a little further. A strange feeling came over her and she realised this
door led to outer space. Grabbing the wall beside her she pulled herself back
into the corridor. The last door was a golden yellow and she slowly peaked
her head inside. She saw an enormous cream coloured castle and she heard a
beating sound and looked up to see a large green dragon flying above. “What
a choice” she sighed with exasperation.

Discovery

Brianne wanted to discover the world but young ladies were not allowed to

join a ship’s crew in 1725, so she decided she would stow away on the next

ship leaving the harbour. She left her home a month ago leaving only a note

telling her mother she would be back, but not to expect her home for dinner.
She knew her parents would not approve of her ambition to sail the high seas,

but she was going to do it anyway.

The beach

The sun sparkled on the water like jewels on a tiara. It was hot and the Lady

Brianne sailed into the bay. Her crew needed a rest as they had been at sea for

several months and the pirates needed to find more supplies and bury their

treasure before they set sail again.

Captain blah blah shouted the order,”Take a landing party ashore and secure

the beach.”
TWILIGHT TIME
The sun hung low in the pink and purple sky. Soon the bats
would be flying over looking for their evening feed. Kaela
stood by the water’s edge and tears welled in her eyes. She
knew at twilight time she would change. How she wished
she could turn into a bat instead of what was going to
happen to her.
The waves slowly lapped at her feet and drifted back out to
sea dragging the sand from beneath her. Her body started to
quiver, she felt her bones turn to mush and as the first star of
the evening began to shine she slumped on the wet sand and
was picked up by the next wave and washed out to sea.
Kaela hated this every night, turning into a jelly fish was not
at all exciting. She floated around in the ocean in the dark,
she had no idea of what to eat, and she got very tired and
scared because she could not see very well in the dark water.
As the sun rose the next morning she awoke lying on the
beach with the wet sticky sand and seaweed in her hair. She
smelt like a fish and was hungry and thirsty. This was a
dreadful curse and one she would have to live with for the
rest of her life. She could not wait for the day she saw a light
at the end of the tunnel and she could just live her days as an
ordinary wombat.

TRAVEL

Jake stood in the middle of the paddock waiting for a gust of wind. He had
stood there many times before, watching the hot air balloons drifting by. Last
week he came up with a plan to travel and see the world. Today he is waiting
with a large bunch of twenty colourful balloons and he is ready to go.

He looked over and noticed the leaves in the trees moving and he took an
anxious breath. Suddenly he felt his feet leave the ground and up he went.
Slowly at first and then with a whoosh he rose above the tree tops. Juke hung
on tight and his balloons floated off to the west.

Jake was so excited and imagined what he would see and planned his trip in his
head. With the wind blowing hard he decided he would be flying over the
Great Dividing Range very soon, and then on to Uluru. If it kept blowing west
he would be over the Indian Ocean in no time.

He imagined the pyramids of Egypt, the plains of the Serengeti and the
Taj Mahal in India. He would love to see them all. A chill suddenly went
through his body and snapped him out of his day dream. He looked around
and
noticed the sky had turned really dark, he thought it must be late and he had
already floated out over the ocean.

Looking down he saw a huge blue and green sphere. Jake gasped as he
realised he was floating on the edge of space. He sighed then smiled to himself
as he whispered, “At least I did get to see the world.”