1 a short story for a teenage magazine
2 short story ― It happened to me …
3 me and some friends
4 last summer holidays, Balblair beach
5 We decided to go for a picnic.
Packed the picnic basket.
We cycled to Balblair beach. Roy, my dog,
followed us.
We all sat on the picnic rug and enjoyed
our picnic.
Noticed Roy was digging a hole.
Roy came back with a bottle. Inside there
was a message: in a foreign language.
Showed the message to mum. She
managed to translate it.
We put the message back into the sea.
6 finding the message/bottle
7 send our own messages
8 proud, happy
It was an unusually hot summer’s day for
the Highlands of Scotland. Eileen, Debbie and I
lazed happily on the lawn sunbathing and
fantasised about far-away lands we would like
to visit. Then I had an idea ― to go for a picnic
at Balblair beach.
We all met at my house in order to pack the
picnic basket. We had enough lovely food to
feed an army! We cycled happily towards the
beach. Roy, my retriever, did not want to miss
out on the fun so he followed us.
After about half an hour we arrived feeling
really hungry and thirsty. So we lay the rug
down on the sand and started tucking in to the
delicious food we had prepared. But Roy was
nowhere near. I spotted him digging a deep
hole somewhere in the dunes. We thought nothing of it until Roy came
back with a bottle covered in seaweed. He lay
it down and started barking. My friends told
me to take a closer look. I picked it up and saw
that there was something inside ― a message.
As none of us could understand what the
message said, we headed home. I showed it to
my mum and she told us it was German. She
also managed to tell us what it said: “If you
find this, make a wish. Put me back into the
sea when the sky is blue. Only then will your
wish come true!”
The next day was another lovely sunny day
and so we returned to the same part of the
beach. We all made wishes and I threw the
bottle back into the sea. I felt proud that my
mum had translated the message. I also felt
excited at the thought of my wish coming
true.