Fredrik S

Chapter 1

The Mysterious Bushlands

Jacob was still, almost as if he had been crystallized with boredom. After the next few seconds of complete daydreaming, his mum, Maria, darted into the room with a surprisingly excited face and interrupted Jacob’s moment with the fairy world, screaming,

“Jacob, I know we’re all bored out of our minds so I thought we could get our tents ready and we could camp the night in Heflin Park,”

“But I want to stay home.”

“Come on, get outside,” Maria demanded,

“Ok then,” he heartlessly exclaimed. The family set out to the park to possibly have the greatest time they’ll ever have. About an hour later they arrived at the park and as the time adjusted to night, Jacob missed the comfortable cushioning he had on his bed at home, instead he just had to sleep on a raggedy old sleeping bag, he didn’t feel confident about what was to come.

Chapter 2

The Portal

After a rough, uncomfortable night of sleeping, Jacob woke up feeling adventurous. Unnoticed, he got out of the tent feeling hungry to explore, and set out on a journey. Wherever he went there were spiders and all types of insects everywhere. As he gradually got deeper into the bushes he stopped to the sound of a distinctive beaming noise and a blue light in the distance, the noise was as if there was an oversized amplifier two metres away from him. As he got closer and closer to the noise he stopped and glared at what was ahead, he was speechless. It was a portal, the dark and gloomy rays ripped through the forest. And he decided to step through.

Chapter 3

A Whole New World

Jacob couldn’t believe it, it was a whole new world, an island. There was a coral sky and a tall raging abandoned building towering over him on every step he took. There were waves, crashing up against the shore, devouring the sand like acid. He didn’t know that just a step through a portal could take him this far. He was completely isolated and he didn’t know what to do. He ran his hand through his hair and when he did a silver piece of metal fell out of his hair and started to beep as it fell to the floor. When it fell he saw some letters engraved into it, it said ‘tracking device’. He began to panic and started looking around. He saw a silver glistening box in the distance, he walked over to it and picked it up and a map slipped out of the back. Jacob picked it up and...

Chapter 4

The Map

On the box it had a button. He rested his finger over the button and accidentally pressed it, suddenly a stitched face figure appeared in the sky and he had tentacles on his back. The next second Jacob had been lifted up into the air and was dropped onto the ground with a massive thud, he had been slammed into the ground and the the figure disappeared. After minutes Jacob woke up from being knocked out and as his eyes adjusted to the light he saw a boat in the water circling the island. He quickly leapt to his feet and ran to the shore beginning to wave his arms around like a maniac repeatedly screaming,

“Help, help!” a boat started coming in to help him.

Jacob got onto the boat and started looking around. There was glass scattered all over the floor and cobwebs in every corner, Jacob could tell this didn’t seem safe. It was so old the seats were ripped up and the driver was using table cloths for cushioning! Suddenly they hit a massive wave and the plank Jacob was standing on fell into the water and he was no longer attached. The driver rode off as if he hadn’t even noticed what had happened.

Chapter 5

The Race

After a long wait in the water he began to hear the sound of cheering and the engines of boats that seemed to be coming closer and closer. He started screaming,

“HELP! HELP!” A Jet-ski stopped and the driver told him to get on and he gave him a towel to dry himself with. As he looked around he saw a map on the dashboard and it had a red mark on a the dock that was down the road from Jacob’s house and Jacob said,

“Excuse me, on that map on your dashboard there is a red mark on a dock and that dock is down the road from my house,” Jacob exclaimed. The driver answered,

“This is a race and that mark you’re talking about on the map is the finish line”.

Chapter 6

Home

Boats passed by, throwing waves over the boat. The driver sped up, he didn’t think we’d be this close to the docks, the driver meandered through all the boats. He was watching the crowd cheering us on, I looked back and it was unreal, we were there, at the end of the race, back home. The driver stopped next to the docks as he immediately ran home to his family who had been worrying about him ever since he had disappeared, their faces lit up as soon as he entered the house. They were all so happy to see each other.

By Fredrik Smart

Jacob’s world is in his home with his family and the familiar rhythm of life is pretty ordinary until Jacob's mum, Maria, comes up with an idea to go camping in a local park. When it comes to the second day, Jacob wakes up and sets out on a journey, but his paths are mentally blocked by a beaming blue portal sucking in his attention. He does step through, but does he make it out?

‘I don't know if there's been such a great book offering such a wonderful collection of words’.

The Daily Telegraph