Page 17 - CORNICE GRADE 9

I tried to do the same. Collecting dry grass and small pebbles from the meadow, I made a small
fire pit on the beach. After a few attempts of rubbing two dark rocks, I found by the shore, I lit a
small fire. Then, I roasted the mussels and gulped them. It was finger-licking good! I kept the

fire lit for signal, in the hopes of being rescued. Then, I picked four apples off of the mountain
apple tree, which I had climbed earlier that day. Surprisingly, the apples were much bigger than

the ones you get in Florida. They're red and polished. As I took a huge bite off of the apple, the
sweet juice of the apple cascaded down my throat. It was full of flavor.

After about an hour of walking on the meadow, passing by, and collecting some apricots, apples,

blueberries, and cherries from the trees and bushes, I realized that to be rescued soon, I had
better start making an SOS sign somehow… a fire itself isn't enough.I broke one of the branches
off of the apricot tree and drew a large "S" in the beach sand. Following that, I drew an "O" right

by it, and an "S". Dog-tired, I rested by the beach.
Wandering about on the beach made me think of home. My lovely family. When will I get to

meet them again? What if no one comes to rescue me, and I never get to meet them again?!
Thinking of the warm hugs of my parents and the sweet licking of the adorable little Timmy, my
golden retriever puppy, I felt a stab of uneasiness. As my lower lip trembled, my tears threatened

to spill over. "I must not lose hope. There's always an angel out there." Taking deep breaths, I
constantly reminded myself.

Just as I was about to lose my battle with the tears, a strange thing happened. From the vast
ocean before me, I saw a huge ship with a group of men carrying fishing rods, approximately

100 feet far. They must be from a fishing company, I thought.As my hopes began to rise again, I
sprinted off to collect more tree branches to add in the signal fire and make the smoke

prominent. By then the ship had come closer, and I sprinted off to the end of the beach, waving
my hands shouting, "HELP! HELP! RESCUE!" But there was no response. Again, after taking a
deep breath of fresh air, I yelled, "HELP! HELP! Over here on the island!" I assumed that the men

heard me. But I continued to shout. Slowly, the ship came in my direction. One of the fishermen
eyed me with confusion.

Twenty minutes had passed by, and the ship finally reached the shore. One of the men came
toward me and asked me, "What's your name, lad?" in a Hawaiian accent. I gulped and took a

breath of relief. I answered "Paul. Paul Fremen. I’ve been stranded on this island since
yesterday," I said in a shaking voice.

"Paul, don't worry. We will take you to the city. We will get you out of here. Come on," a
fisherman said in a deep voice. I nodded and said, "Oh okay. Thank you."
Then all of us boarded onto the ship and I waved goodbye to the lonely planet. I couldn’t wait to

meet Calvin and Akela. I hoped they were alright.

-Anusha Rajbhandari

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