Diagon Alley - Write-a-Book-In-A-Day

FIRE, SALTWATER AND TEARS
FIRE, SALTWATER AND
TEARS
By Zoe Sullivan, Alicia Elliott, Tamsyn Taylor,
Pippie Richardson, Ali Cairncross, Eliza Morgan,
Jasmine Birkhold, Cassie Cogin, Bridget Kluck and
Fiona Yu
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FIRE, SALTWATER AND TEARS
Junior school NSW
Diagon alley - Zoe Sullivan, Alicia Elliott, Tamsyn
Taylor, Pippie Richardson, Ali Cairncross, Eliza
Morgan, Jasmine Birkhold, Cassie Cogin, Fiona Yu
and Bridget Kluck
St Catherine’s School
Parameters:
Primary Character 1 - Tree Lopper
Primary Character 2 - Diver
Non-Human Character – Fox
Setting – Garden Centre
Issue – Birthday Disaster
Random Words – Curiosity, Reflection, Memory,
Frantic, Eye-Opening
Word count - 3824
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FIRE, SALTWATER AND TEARS
This book is dedicated to the Sydney children’s
hospital
Keep fighting no matter your losses and always stay
positive. There is always someone who cares.
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FIRE, SALTWATER AND TEARS
First Published in Australia by St Catherine’s School
Waverley, 2015.
Original text © Cassie Cogin, Zoe Sullivan, Bridget
Kluck, Ali Cairncross, Fiona Yu, Eliza Morgan,
Alicia Elliot, Pippie Richardson
2015
The authors would like to thank
This edition is published in Sydney, Australia.
26 Albion Street
Waverley, Sydney NSW 2024
Australia
All rights reserved.
No part of this publication may be reproduced or
transmitted or utilized in any form or by any means,
electronic, mechanical, photocopied or otherwise
without the prior permission of the publishers.
Illustrations © Jasmine Birkhold, Ali Cairncross,
Zoe Sullivan, Tamsyn Taylor, Cassie Cogin
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HUNTER
Chapter 1
The sun waved hello to the world as another Sunday
afternoon reached the east coast of King Island. The
table was latten with gifts and presents. We huddled
together on a small bench, overlooking the roses and
lavender. We smiled at each other, receiving gifts in
turn.
“Thanks’ Granny May,” I held the ruby locket in my
palm.
“Hunter, wow!” Oscar lifted himself of off the
bench and sauntered over to where I was standing.
He clipped the locket behind my neck and gave me
two thumbs up. I smiled and spun around the
garden, my hair deluging down my shoulders, the
locket spinning with me.
Oscar smiled and grabbed my hands, spinning
around with me. We laughed and danced among the
flowers, oblivious of the people and world around
us. My head twirled with excitement and dizziness.
When we had stopped, all of our family members
had made a circle around us, and were chanting us
on. We laughed and linked arms.
“It’s so hot!” Oscar fanned himself, and slipped his
jacket off and placed it onto the chair.
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FIRE, SALTWATER AND TEARS
“Oh c’mon” I smiled at him, and grabbed his hand.
“Nothing a little cake can’t fix”
We wondered over to the old picnic table, where a
large cake was waiting for us. 10 candles dug into
the icing. My mum wrapped her arms around my
twin brother and I. I smiled and turned towards her
warm face. She lifted her hand towards my ear and
tucked my hair behind it. “Time to light the cake!”
She struck a single match and lit the 10 candles
carefully. The family erupted into a loud chorus of
happy birthday. I smiled and Oscar and I prepared to
blow out the candles. But something was wrong.
Oscar didn’t have his goofy smile anymore. Instead
his face was stained into a frown. I had to ask.
“What is it O-“
“Smoke.”
Mum turned to Oscar “Probably just the candles.”
Oscar loosened his frown but he wasn’t convinced.
“Oscar, it’s okay.” I put a comforting hand on his
shoulders. Couldn’t he just accept that it’s the
candles?
Then it hit me too. It wasn’t just the candles. It was
a fire.
“FIRE!” Granny May yelled from over at the bench.
We all turned to her. The bushes behind her were lit
up in flames, and the fire was spreading.
The blaze lit up the garden center and everybody
started to run. I turned to Oscar. He wasn’t moving.
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“Oscar, we’ve gotta’ go! We’ve gotta run!”
But he didn’t move.
I stood there, watching the flames leap from tree to
tree. All I could see was red wrapping around the
garden. The blanket of fire fell over the flowers. The
roses and lavender that I had danced in only
moments ago were burning before my eyes. I looked
around, everybody was gone. Our parents had ran
off to safety somewhere, and Granny May had
locked herself in the greenhouse. Oscar was still
there, next to me, his eyes burning with sorrow.
“Oscar…” I started.
The day was here. The day it all went wrong.
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MATT
Chapter 2
Something trickled down my forehead, just sweat. I
wiped it away with a grunt, lifted my axe and
cracked it down onto the tree. It was the final swing
and the axe penetrated through the beautiful gum.
Then, a groan sounded through the bush as the tree
fell to the ground with a thud, as if in slow-motion. I
dropped my axe, and fell to the ground too. I never
loved lopping down trees, especially the natives. I
felt like I was taking away somebody’s life, in a
way, I was. A single tear crept down my face.
“Come on Matt, don’t be so soft. This is your job!”
I whispered to myself. I tried to cheer myself up by
talking to myself,
“It’s so hot, I’m surprised a bush fire hasn’t started
yet.” I scratched my head and chuckled.
As I waited for my heavy breathing to calm down, I
sat up and glugged down a full bottle of water. My
ears perked up to a high pitched sound in the
distance – screaming. “Help!” The distant voices
cried. I jolted up right. My heart started racing. I
stood up and ran to the noises, my body was
screaming at me to stop, but I ignored the burning
pain. Then a crackling sound came to my attention.
“Fire!” The voices shouted in desperation, they
sounded nearer now. I smelt smoke, yes, it was fire.
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Suddenly, a wave of heat crashed into my face,
instantly, I started sweating, my whole body was
soaked in sweat as I ran through the bush.
Eventually, I found a clearing. In the middle, a building
was burning in flames, flames licked at the flower pots
and budding trees. Wooden planks tumbled from the top
floor to the ground. The Garden Centre was up in flames.
I ran closer, two children were standing outside, huddled
together.
“Gran!” They were screaming. I looked back to the
building. Leaning on the window, surrounded by
menacing flames, a small, huddled figure was limp and
unmoving. I sprinted faster to the window, smashed it,
and dragged the figure out onto the oddly sweet smelling
grass. An old, fragile lady. She had died in the fire.
“Gran! GRAN!” The children cried out in panic.
“She’s peaceful now, there’s nothing I can do kids.” I
managed to say without breaking down as a tear rolled
down my face.
I heard a small whimpering nearby. A small, red fox was
stuck under a log. I ran to him and rolled away the
burning piece of wood. Picking up the quivering animal,
I ran to the children. “Run!” I yelled, the girl stopped.
“Give me the fox.” She said in an eerily calm voice.
“What? Why” I replied, exasperated.
“Please.” She whispered. I gently handed her the tense
fox, which calmed immediately. I don’t know why,
maybe it sensed her acceptance of the situation so far. I
wasn’t sure how long it would stay that way. Anything
could have happened now. We started to run.
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OSCAR
Chapter 3
Our feet hit hard against the leafy ground. My heart
was pounding, my breathing shallow and short. It
was as though two iron hands were squeezing my
lungs tighter and tighter with every breath I took.
My foot collided with a sharp rock carefully
concealed beneath the dead leaves. I fell to the
ground, my sister and the tree lopper ran on unaware
of my sudden disappearance. The only one that
remained was the young fox that had fallen from my
sister’s arms. Its large, amber eyes stared at me
intently, his eye-opening gaze seemed to bore
through my mind. His long tongue licked my face
and the emotion included filled me with strength and
happiness. I stood up as the flames started to lick at
my heels and ignoring the effort it took my lungs, I
bolted.
My twin’s face was a mask of worry as the scarlet,
tangerine and saffron flare almost overtook me. She
scooped up the fox and started to run and I followed
her in hope of survival. The wood lopper ran along
us, glancing back at us every now and then. The
smoke filled my throat and my eyes watered. The
blistering heat was over-powering. The shrubs
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scratched my legs however, they did not seem to
mean much to me with the life-long mental scar
forming in my head due to this birthday disaster.
With every breath I wheezed, every breath I gasped
and every breath I felt Hunter’s gaze harden. The kit
laid frail in my twin’s arms, gasping as if sharing my
pain. Its tail looked, if possible, even more charred
and sickly than ever.
We ran along Narcoopa beach the fire chasing us as
if only a friend playing a game of tips. No, not a
friend but a mortal enemy. A mortal enemy that will
extinguish lives as easily as if going to sleep. A
frown creased against my sweat stained forehead. I
glanced towards my sister. For a split second, it
looked like a flame of fire resting shaken in her arms
before I realised that is was only the injured fox who
seemed to understand every word, every feeling I
thought. I gasped suddenly, my lungs failing me.
The fox leaped from my sister’s arm into mine, its
soft nose, not yet black but with a soft sheen of pink,
tickled my face. Its whiskers quivered slightly as my
sister’s face came into view.
“Oscar…” she whispered.
“Let’s go,” I said.
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Hunter was always pretty supportive but she tended
to run ahead. I mean that, especially in the present
situation. I could hide my pain while Hunter
couldn’t. I know she could tell something was up as
she still carried the fox but she seemed oblivious to
my struggles to keep up with her and the wood
lopper’s steady pace. The iron hands returned,
gripping on my throat instead, and I stopped yet
again leaning on an old gum before standing
hurriedly up again.
“Oscar, relax,” my sister scolded, looking stern
reminding me of my second-year teacher.
“The fire would have weakened the trees and this
one is older and more likely to fall if I put my
weight on it,” I explained.
My sister nodded before directing me to a slightly
younger tree. The wood lopper (who goes by the
name of Matt) stood next to Hunter looking
worriedly on. I grimaced slightly, before resuming
my extreme panting fit. She patted my hair
absentmindedly.
“We’ve run long enough but the fire won’t stop
there. We need to continue, a fire won’t stop for
anyone, unless they’re protected and armed with
water,” I said it determinedly even though my smile
was weak.
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My twin gripped my hand, finally understanding my
pain. She didn’t let go even though one hand held
the small fox, after rejecting the wood lopper’s
offer. Our eyes met, silently understanding each
other before we started to run as the roar of the fire
echoed behind us. We ran and ran. We reached a
cliff, lurching slightly at the sudden stop. It didn’t
look shallow and the sun’s reflection almost blinded
us. I stared at our shadow. A boy, a girl, a wood
lopper and a fox; who had more adventures than the
average person had in a lifetime. Who had been
through loss, sadness and disaster, but we’ve learned
the most important lesson of all. To be a team and to
stick together no matter what.
We all took a deep breath, bent down and jumped.
The wind whistled in my ears. I opened my mouth to
scream yet no sound came out. The last thing I saw
before I hit the water was three pairs of eyes, my
sister’s blue, the man’s green and the fox’s brown.
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HUNTER
Chapter 4
I watched as my brother paddled around in the
water, struggling to keep his head above the waves.
He’d never been the best swimmer, but that was
only one side of the coin. Oscar had a really bad
case of asthma, even the shortest of runs left him
wheezing and gasping for breath. He carried his
puffer around everywhere, but where was it now? I
replayed the events of the day. He’d put the puffer in
his pocket… he’d taken his jacket off!
And where was the man? The man that had helped
Granny May! I looked around for him, and spotted
him swimming towards us, though far away. He was
coming for us.
So consumed in my thoughts, I didn’t see when, out
of nowhere, a large wave loomed above me and a
wall of water slammed into me, pushing me further
away from my brother than I have ever been. I
spiraled around underneath the water, and surfaced
spluttering and coughing.
But I couldn’t see Oscar.
My head whipped from side to side wildly, looking
for any sign of him. I heard a soft whimpering and
turned my head to find the fox, wrapped in my arms.
I’d almost forgotten that I was holding him. My
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fingers were tangled in his fiery orange fur,
desperate to keep him close to me. Suddenly I
spotted it. Bright red hair, floating in the water.
“Oscar!” I shouted. I swam towards him, not caring
about anything else in the world, letting go of the
fox. Kicking viciously, I reached out for his hand
and held on tightly. But what I saw shocked me. He
was barely breathing, lying on his back in the water,
his bright blue eyes wide and staring up at the sky.
“Hunter,” he said, his voice raspy. “Let go.” I felt
his hand weakly tugging away.
“NO!” I screamed, tightening my grip. “Oscar come
on, we can get out of here, we can get out of here…”
my voice trailed off into sobs.
“It’s okay,” I heard him say. I raised my head, to see
him smiling sadly. “It’s okay.”
Oscar looked me straight in the eyes, and in that
moment, I understood. I let go. He closed his eyes
and I watched as he sunk below the waves.
I felt wet fur brush against my arm, and scooped up
the fox. I buried my face in his fur and cried.
“He’s gone,” I said. “He’s never coming back. He’s
gone, he’s gone!” I sobbed uncontrollably. I could
taste the salt water mingled with my tears.
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STEVEN
Chapter 5
I was shaking tremendously as the helicopter’s rotor
pounded in my ears. The flames were building up
and releasing dark-slate coloured clouds. The Coast
Guard had told me it would be bad, but I didn’t
think it would be this bad. Trying to lighten the
mood the Chief of Fire Department sitting next to
me snickered,
“We’ve got the fire under control, but if someone in
that sea,” he jokily shrieked, “You’s gotta lend a
hand cause I got no clue in the water department.”
He cunningly laughed but the pilot, paramedic and I
just sat in exasperated silence. Chief tried again,
“What happens when you mix a fire fighter, diver
and a para…”
I snapped,
“THIS IS SERIOUS.”
Finally he stopped. The four of us sat in silence until
I spotted something in the foamy, rolling ocean.
“Look, look. To the left! It looks like a man…”
I stopped for a second and looked closely at the
people,
“…A girl and a red dog.”
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I scrambled to find my goggles then hurriedly yet
carefully descended down the old rope ladder. I
struggled to stay on because one of my hands were
occupied carrying life jackets and life buoys. As I
reached the sea’s surface I shouted like I never had
before,
“ARE YOU OK? DO YOU HAVE ENOUGH
STRENGTH TO SWIM TO LADDER?”
They didn’t answer. All I could hear was a brief
mumble drowned by a mouthful of salty water. The
girl was just staring under the surface with tears
dribbling down her face. They were slowly going
under. Frantically, I paddled over and threw the
buoys over the man’s and the girl’s head. The girl
took the dog (which now I know is actually a fox)
and started screaming something to me.
“Find my brother! Please get him! Oscar!”
I started to search. I looped in and out of sharp coral
and waving sea grass searching liked crazy. My foot
twisted against a cold, hard rock but I was too
determined to feel the pain. Out of nowhere, I saw
the silhouette of a body sinking. It was a good 200m
down and I wasn’t trained for that. Even if the body
was in reach I wouldn’t have gotten it. It would’ve
hurt the girl too much.
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I climbed up the ladder, this time calmer, but still
very shaken up. When I reached the top, the chopper
was crowded but who was to care. At least most
were safe. It was quiet. Very quiet. Every time Chief
went to speak I firmly squeezed his thigh. It was too
soon to joke. The girl was still flooded with tears
and was finding it hard to comprehend what had just
happened.
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FOX
Chapter 6
I watched the water dripping down the girl’s face. I
nuzzled her hand. She whispered ‘I’m sorry Oscar”
as she lightly stroked my soft head. I liked the boy.
He had a warm feeling about him. The way he
looked into my eyes when he was on the ground. He
felt close to me even though he wasn’t here. I didn’t
understand. It was as though now he was only a
memory in my head. Where was he? I looked at my
stiff, burnt, black tail. It was stinging and felt numb.
I remembered lying in the log. I remembered the girl
and boy finding me. When they carried me down to
the beach. We dived into the water and then the boy
disappeared.
Something buzzed from the metal box and said
“Shelter to Chopper, Shelter to chopper, We have
the parents here. Do you copy?” and buzzed out
again. I curled up into my cold towel and relaxed.
The girl was still crying and murmuring. I heard a
bit of it. She said something like ‘mum’.
The air was hot and everyone was tired from the
long day. I didn’t know where I was when we
stopped, but many people had happy faces. We got
into another moving object. I was afraid but I felt
safe.
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MRS FRANCIS
Chapter 7
I heard the Tasmanian SES pull up outside the
natural disaster shelter. I squeezed my husband,
John’s hand and we both smiled. When we were
notified late this morning that our beautiful
children were safe I realised that it was worth it,
I mean I had seriously considered putting myself
out of my misery. Even thinking I could be
living without one of my children makes me cry,
let alone both of them.
Then Hunter walked through the door, holding
what looked like a dirty dog. To be honest,
Hunter didn’t exactly look beautiful ether. Her
hair was wet and mangled and she had tears
streaming down her face. Her
clothes were saturated and burnt in places.
“Mum.” She said in a whisper almost too soft to
be heard.
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I ran towards my daughter and embraced her in a
big hug, trying to avoid that disgusting dog.
I released her and looked at the door waiting for
Oscar to walk through it. As the seconds tick by
I could feel the panic rising up inside me, I look
towards John and could see he is worried too.
“Oscar,” I murmured. “Where’s Oscar?” There
was no reply.
“Where is Oscar?” My voice rose.
A river of tears flowed down Hunters face.
“Where is Oscar?!”I sobbed.
Hunter shook her head. We understood. Oscar
was gone. Forever. John, myself and Hunter sat
down crying. We sat for what I thought was
hours and I only realised this as it had become
dark. I could tell Hunter did not want to talk
now. So I motioned to John that we could wait
to know Hunters story another day. Together,
what was left of my family laid down for a
disrupted sleep.
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When Hunter woke up after her sleep in, I could
tell by the look in her eyes that she had had bad
dreams last night. She sat up and started talking.
She told her story, Oscar’s story. And then we
were in tears all over again. We knew because of
that fire our family would never be the same
again. No grandma for my daughter and no
brother for her too.
Then it was my turn to talk. I told Hunter since
the birthday party that we got the SES, police,
ambulance and fire brigade looking for her. John
told her how we didn’t rest until we were told
Hunter were safe.I then added,
“You can keep your fox, Oscar’s fox.”
Hunter then whispered, looking down at the fox
“Oscar, his name will be Oscar.
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HUNTER
Epilogue
I remember when mother told me we were going to
have to put Oscar down. These past five years I have
attached that soft red fur and pointed ears to the
memory of my brother. I agreed, if it meant he
would not be in pain. Oscar had never liked the
strong disinfectant stench of the veterinary clinic or
the vets in their white drapes. I didn’t want him to
leave me while he was unhappy, so I insisted that
the vets come to his favorite beach, Narcoopa beach,
the beach I lost my brother.
Silent, cold tears ran down my cheek. I watched
them land in Oscar’s soft red fur.
“He’ll be in a better place,” the female vet at my
side whispered.
At that moment Oscar lifted his head from my lap
and looked at me with those large brown eyes, full
of curiosity. A fresh wave of tears poured from my
eyes. I lent down and placed a kiss on his wet nose.
“I love you,” I whispered, almost without thinking.
He felt my sadness. I felt his warm tongue on my
cheek for the last time.
“Should I do it now?” the vet said.
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Her tone was kind and consoling but it wrenched at
me. I gave a silent nod. I watched as the needle sank
into Oscar’s thick coat. He gently lay his head down
and closed his eyes.
As I stroked his spine I whispered, “Tell my brother
I love him.”
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A raging fire.
A whimpering, burning fox.
A love between family.
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