Above by Willem, 11-12 Autumn Writing Competition Winner

Above by Willem

I’ve been awake all night.

A sweet smell fills the room. I hear my sister groan. “Wow.  I say “Olive How can you sleep?” She emerges from the covers and pushes her dark hair from her face. “I love storms.and better still I smell breakfast” “Max, Olive. Time to get up,”Our mum’s voice rings out over the pounding rain. I shove my feet out of bed and land on the wooden floor. Suddenly the house tilts sharply. “Woah”I say “it’s going to be a rough day”. I steady myself on the bed. Olive grabs her bed head and we look at each other. “Ready?” She says. “You first”. I take a deep breath and launch myself off the bed and slide into the closest wall. The foam cushions my landing. Olive laughs. “Nice one” “See if you can do better”. I say. Olive slides on to the floor and wraps one arm round the bed leg.“Wait for it” I say.  A burst of hail drowns out my voice. The house suddenly tilts back horizontal and we both make a break for the bedroom door past all our furniture that has been clamped to the floor.

At the top of the stairs is a chair attached to a conveyor belt with a padded harness.

Olive straps herself in and presses an orange button. The chair descends with a jolt, mum’s voice calls out. “ Everything ok? These pancakes are getting cold.” Olive lands at the bottom and says. Better hurry up! She sends the chair back up. The house starts to sway wildly. I steady myself and make a leap for the chair. I pull the harness on and grip the soft arms as I descend.

The pancakes smell  so good. The house rights itself once more and I make it the kitchen.

I glide into the kitchen on my socks .Mom stands in front of our eating pod with a steaming plate of pancakes Olive is already zipped up inside the transparent sphere. Inside the pod is a leather booth with harnesses and plate and drink holders. I take the plate from mum and unzip the door. Olive is on her second serving!, I sit down and fill my mouth with blueberries and maple syrup. “Yum”  I say. “ Shhhh”  says mum outside the pod. “Listen,”she says. Her finger pointing to the ceiling. Everything was suddenly quiet and still. “It’s stopped raining,”  said Olive. Mum smiled. That was quite a storm.

A door flings open and a bearded man with a raincoat and a cable with a hook staggers in from the outside. “Dad!” We yell, I hurriedly unzip the pod and  run over to him. You almost missed breakfast!” Olive says. “Did you save me some?” He says wiping his brow. “Always” I say as I help him off with his jacket and hang the cable up by the door.

Dad stands in the kitchen scoffing a plate of pancakes and gives us the lowdown.

There’s been some damage but the forecast is looking clearer.

“I think we can still do the supply run together.” He says.

Mum peers out of the kitchen window.” I can see some blue sky, she says.

Dad finishes his last mouthful. “Ok you kids ready? Let’s call in the scouts. “

We grab out coats and go outside.

White clouds drift past us. You can now see the edge of the garden. Dad looks up and cups his hands around his mouth and lets out a high pitched “KRIIIIIIII!!!!”. A dark winged shape overshadows us. Then another and another. Then through the clouds three huge albatross glide in for a landing.

“ Here's our ride” dad says. The birds ruffle  their  feathers and sit obediently As we carefully climb onto their backs. Warm feathers enclose our legs and we wrap our arms around their necks. I smile and look at dad. He winks.

My albatross starts to run towards the edge. I bury my face into feathers afraid to look. Then with a surge I am lifted into the air.  I look across at Olive and dad as they soar up beside me. The wings of my scout stretch out and the wind rushes past. Down below I can now see a big fishing vessel emerge from the blue blanket of the ocean. The albatross pitch and slowly glide down towards the boat. A scruffy bearded man with a yellow raincoat  waves and walks out from the bridge with a basket of fish,lobsters,kelp and even a stingray! “

Our scouts shake their heads and tap their beaks  in unison. Dad dismounts and greets the fisherman.” Hello Sven” says dad. “Quite a storm we had” “Aye a feisty one” says Sven.  “How did you fair up there in the clouds”  he says “not too bad” says dad. We’ve made some improvements to the house”KRII!!, ! ” The albatross shove their heads in the basket and start fighting over the fish. “Hey get out of it!” dad says and takes out three fish and throws them to the birds. Sven puts a cane lid on the basket and clicks the straps to a large saddle which he attaches to dad’s scouts  back while it gobbles up the fish.

“ Now my friend”  says dad “ For your troubles” . He takes out a greenish blue crystal that glints in the sun and hands it to the man. Svens eyes light up. “Umbreon Lumonium”  he says. “What a beautiful specimen”

Next time I will get you three lobster.” Wonderful “

says dad.

“We should get back home to mum, Dad.”  Olive says climbing onto her scout.

Our birds stretch their wings and stamp on the bridge. “Goodbye my friends” says Sven.

The albatross takes a few clumsy steps and lifts off . Then using the wind currents they deliver us safely home. Mum is standing in the garden with the mower and waves. My scout glides in, extends its feet and slowly lands on the grass. There is a bit of a jolt when we land but other than that it is quite smooth.

“ How was your trip?” Mum asks “it’s beautiful down there,'' I say. Dad lifts the basket lid.

“A treat from Sven. I’ll cook. How about Mulligatawny?

“Let’s go check the clouds” says Olive.  The house is steady so we don't need the chairlift this time.

We reach the attic above the stairs and climb a ladder. I push up the trap door and we step out onto a beautiful green platform of flowers and plants. Next to the edge there is a picnic blanket and some cushions we flop down and stretch back and look up at the drifting clouds. The air is cool on our faces. We close our eyes.

“Dinner.” Dad bellows from below. We sit up. I look upon the horizon, below the sea glistens, above the pinkish,reddish sky and in the middle a shining orb slowly sinks and beams of light radiate upwards towards them. I smile “You know…”I say “this is the best part about living on a floating island…”

The End