Submission from Matt
Crawford County, Indiana
When I saw everyone waiting for me, I thought something was wrong, like someone had died in our family or something like that. But I didn't ask any questions because they never wait on me for supper so as I was sitting down they asked me if I had a nice day or not (they never ask me any questions about my day). I said I had a good day Then they asked me if I had any plans for this afternoon. I didn't have any plans so I said no they asked me where I wanted to go to on a surprise family outing. I had something better to do then that but everyone was staring at me, so I said yes.
Submission from Matthew C.
Crawford County, Indiana
Dad wouldn't tell us where we were going. After we had driven for awhile, we thought about making up some time and go a little bit faster. As we sped up, there was this white Camaro with a blue light in the window. We just thought that he was a fireman or something like that, but when we looked back again and saw lights flashing, we pulled over and he pulled over right behind us. When he got out, we figured out that he was a policeman. . .
Submission from Luke
Crawford County, Indiana
He got out of his car, came to our car, and asked if we knew how fast we were going. Dad said that his speedometer said 55. The officer said that he clocked it at 69. (Since Dad had never gotten caught speeding before, he only got a warning.) The officer drove off and we started on our way. We drove and drove, only passing one house. Boy, were we out in the boonies. Eventually, we came to a gas station. (The only reason we stopped was because we were getting low on gas, seeing how Dad never stops for directions.) They told us we had taken a wrong turn, and to go back the way we came and go left this time. So, we started on our way and drove and drove and passed that one little house, finally coming to the "y". Taking a left, my annoying, pesky, sister started to complain about being hungry. Mom told her to be quiet until we came to the next town, which was 25 miles away...
Submission from Matthew C.
Crawford County, Indiana
...all the way to the next town we had to listen to my little
sister's complaining about being hungry. We stopped at the first
restaurant that we came to. It was called "Jessica's Place". The food
there was terrible, but we ate it because we were so hungry. We
finally got my little sister to shut her mouth about being
hungry.
Then Dad said we were 30 minutes away from our surprise destination
so we all started cheering because we had been riding all day . It
didn't seem like long after that we...
Submission from Lisa
Michaelmount
...reached our destination. As we turned a corner, I caught a
glimpse of a sparkling blue ocean. I realised we were at the
seaside.
"Hooray!", we all shouted, "A trip to the beach!"
We pulled into a hotel parking lot and porters dressed in fancy
uniforms arrived with trollies to take our luggage. Since Dad had
recently lost a lot in the Stock Market, I wondered how he could
afford to take us on this vacation. But, I did not have time to worry
about things as such for, in the wink of an eye, my parents were
whisking my siblings and I away in order to go down to the sea. I
could not stop thinking about where Dad had obtained the money to
treat us to this holiday. Finally, mustered up as much courage as I
could and asked,"Daddy, after your big loss, why are you taking us on
this trip?"
Submission from Kate
Mt. Blue
Dad told me he wanted us to spend some quality time with our
family because he had been working too much lately. I said great but
wondered how we could afford it. Dad and I walked with mom and my
sister down to the beach then to go swimming Mom lay down a blanket
on the sand but Dad picked it up. He led us to a boat that was on the
beach and called out to the man on its deck. "Hello there! I reserved
a boat ride for this afternoon."
"Oh, hi!" the man said. "I'm Captain Jon. Climb aboard!"
We all jumped on the boat and put on lifejackets. The boat was neat
and a ride in a boat was a cool surprise. But Captain Jon seemed a
little strange because he was....
Submission from Myam Siegler
Horace Mann Duncan
...talking about his adventures on boats during his life.
Well, the only problem was that no one was listening to HIS stories.
Everyone (including myself) was so wrapped up in the views that were
around us. The skies were baby blue, the ocean was a deep blue-green,
and not a wave to be seen for miles around.
The sun was still high in the sky so I knew that we had plenty of
time left in the day to enjoy this beautiful boat ride. 30 minutes
had passed and everyone was still in awe at the view. Noone seemed to
notice that Captain Jon was still talking about his past and his
adventures. I finally broke the silence of my family and Captain
Jon's storytelling....
Submission from Lisa S.
South Africa
...but before I could speak, Captain Jon looked at us with a
strange expression.
"Let me tell you something," said Captain Jon. "This boat is
haunted."
Now we were all really scared. We felt a sudden wind rush through us.
We demanded to get off the boat but the captain said we were to far
out at sea....
Submission from Jessica Hager
Monte Vista, Santa Barbara
...so we jumped off the boat and started swimming. We swam until my sister (stupid as she is) was tired. Since we had life jackets on, we decided to take a break. We rested for about two minutes. When we were done resting, we started swimming again. Then my sister said she saw dolphins. We were saved! But as they got closer, we saw they weren't dolphins at all. They were sharks! We tried to swim away, but we were surrounded.
Submission from John Thomas Bondrew
Discover the Rainbow, Lord's Valley, PA
Suddenly, Captain Jon drove his boat through the sharks and scooped us into the boat. We were both very thankful, even if the boat was haunted. As we drove away from the sharks we noticed a fog that seemed to surround the boat. My sister and I became a little scared but Mom and Dad said not to worry. We started to relax a little when all of a sudden BUMP! We hit a sandbar! What else could go wrong?
Submission from David P.
Cape Cod
Captain Jon told us not to worry. He would call for help on his radio. I was afraid that the radio would not work since he had said the ship was haunted. Captain Jon picked up his radio but suddenly he realized the radio didn't work. My mom took my sister down below deck so she wouldn't be so bossy. Captain Jon, my dad and I got out a light to signal a SOS. It got foggier and we saw something running towards us. At first, I thought it was a ghost!
Submission from Alyxander Christian and Mom Dunning
Four years old, Ft. Huachuca, Arizona
But then, as the shape got larger, we saw it was a Coast Guard
boat coming out of the fog. Everyone cheered; finally we would be
able to leave this haunted boat and the strange Captain John
behind!
The boat pulled up beside ours. The men inside threw ropes to Dad and
Captain Jon to bring the two boats closer together, and a plank was
put across for us to walk on. It was cool walking over the water like
that, but of course my little sister threw a fit. She screamed and
kicked my dad so hard he almost fell with her into the water!
On the way back to the shore, Mom and Dad decided Captain Jon was a
little looney, but I wasn't so sure. I glanced back at the boat...and
couldn't believe what I saw!
Submission from Akshaya Kumar
Howe School, Pittsburgh, PA
It was Captain Jon trying to driving his boat into ours! The coast guard quickly turned their boat back away from shore, to get away from him. We saw a island and headed towards it. Then we heard a boom!
Submission from Susan Crawford
Giddings, TX
Captain Jon's boat was on fire. The flames were so high in the sky and I was so glad that we were on the coast guard boat. And so thankful that I was with my dad and wished that I was at home.
Submission from Robin
New York City
Off in the distance we could hear the sound of sirens. Someone on the coast guard boat must have contacted the the nautical fire department. As the fire boats got closer, the sound of their sirens became unbearable. I grabbed a couple of flotation cushions to hold over my ears.
Submission from Kathryne McKay
Brandenburg Intermediate, Duncanville, Texas
The nautical fire department was there to help with putting out the fire. However, before they could put out any fire, they had to make sure that everyone on the boat was saved. They went into full swing getting everyone off of the boat. After getting everyone off the boat and safe, they began to direct their hoses at the burning boat. One hose did exactly what it was suppose to do, but, the other hoses wouldn't give out water, so what were they to do now? Someone yelled, "Call for reinforcements in a big hurry." The call was made and in the distance we could hear the next nautical fireboat coming. We began to yell and then we looked at the burning boat and noticed that something strange was beginning to happen on the left side of the boat.
Submission from Stephanie M.
Cornwells Bensalem
The left side of the boat opened up and four treasure chests floated out. Each chest was a different color. The blue, green, and red chests were very normal. Everyone was so curious about the fourth chest. It was silver and gold and was much larger than the others. We watched as the treasure chests began to float away.
Submission from Dick Fisher
Crofton Elementary, Crofton, MD
The left side of the burning boat was starting to dip lower in the water and appeared about to sink the whole thing. We asked the firemen to get Captain Jon off the boat and to ask him to go home with us so he could tell some more of his sea stories. Captain Jon seemed glad to be invited to go with us and promised that he would tell us the story about the time he had been visited by pirates.
Submission from Latrell Sprewell
Maple, Northbrook, IL
"Well, kids. This is what happened when I met the pirates of
Robert McDowell Island. They were cruel and didn't play nice. The
captain's name was Jon Blackbeard Donaldson the Third."
After Captain Jon told us the wonderful adventurous story, we had hot
chocolate and peanut butter crackers. Afterwards, we went to a nearby
restaurant and ate dinner. It was quite delicious. We had fun and
went to a nearby Best Western hotel and spent the night there. But
then, in the middle of the night...
Submission from Mary Mines
Belair Elementary
...we heard a loud noise outside our door. My father went to go check it out. He didn't come back for 10 minutes. My mother went out to check it and she didn't come back after ten minutes. Then Captain Jon came to our door. He said their is something strange happening out there come and see. I was frightened until heard both my parents laughing. My siblings and I decided to go check it out.
Submission from Danielle Gilray-Mistretta
MJ Fletcher Elementary School, Jamestown
When I got outside with my parents, I saw that it was just fireworks. They were beautiful, but my sister started crying because she was afraid of the fireworks. I cheered her up by saying, "They won't touch you, they are far away." After the fireworks, we went back to bed. I had a beautiful dream of fireworks. I was still wondering how my dad could afford all this, so in the morning, I snuck into his room.....
Submission from Gretchen Bailey
Wallace Intermediate, Wallace, Idaho
...and looked in his wallet. I grabbed a dollar and another one reappeared. Now I knew the secret!
Submission from Claire Levigne
Wallace Intermediate, Wallace, Idaho
His wallet was spitting out money. I had wondered how it did it. Why didn't he tell us? I quickly tried to put the money back in the wallet, but it just kept spitting it out. Then I heard my dad wake up. "What are you doing?"
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