Tom and the Mystery of the Cloudmen, Part 2 By Giordana Fiorentino, Grade 5
Tom woke up, startled and frightened. He looked around: he was lying in a narrow, bumpy bed, and he was in what looked like an old, wooden cabin. Of course! It was the cabin of the pirates’ ship, those mysterious cloudmen who had kidnapped him. Any other boy would have actually hated these criminals, but Tom suddenly felt thankful for them. So what if the ship sailed to another country, possibly another world? He didn’t care. All he wanted was to leave the dreadful, dull, boring place he had lived in. Anyway, nobody would even notice him missing. He was so unimportant to all the people in his town. Tom sought adventure and fortune; he was ready for this trip. An hour had passed, and Tom was still locked up in the cabin. But then, he heard footsteps approaching. The door opened with a creak and a cloudman stood Source: Ian Britton on the entrance. Tom had made up his mind to escape to the deck, since it was getting stinky and hot in the cabin. The monster had a bowl of soup in his hand, and the boy took the chance to run away. Strangely, he passed right through him! Tom rushed up a set of stairs and arrived on the deck. He hid among a pile of stinky, greasy sacks! As he sat down, he took from his pants pocket Source: TopTenz.net a biscuit he had stolen from the bakery shop in town. As he wolfed down his supper, he looked up at the sky. The sight was amazing! The ship was no longer sailing on water, but flying in mid-air. They were high up in the sky, so high they were almost reaching the stars! Tom wondered how he could breathe at this height, but then forgot about it and fell asleep. When he awoke, the sailboat had stopped. They had arrived at a point where there were clusters of light everywhere–stars. Tom felt a strong desire to lunge for them, and without thinking, he did. To his surprise, he was floating! All of a sudden, he felt this was the right place for him. Yes, he would stay here. No more wandering in the streets, starving. No more feeling lonely. He saw a figure approaching. It was very familiar, in fact. It was... his grandpa! Well, he was dead, but his kind spirit remained. Tom ran to him, and he felt like he was reuniting himself with the only person who had ever loved him. Tom didn’t think he had ever felt happier in his life, and indeed, he had not.
The Dingo and The Kangaroo By Katarina Bellon, Grade 1
The dingo is trying to stay down so the kangaroo will not see him. He is going to kill the kangaroo for dinner and for the baby dingoes. The koala is hanging onto the tree to climb up and get the coconuts on the palm tree.
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