Cameron's Story

Off To Greenland

by Cameron Markwell, age 8

"Run!" cried a very weak Viking.

"Put up the sails!" cried the leader. His people put up the sails. Eric got a surprise. The boat went faster than a motorboat! Unknown, they got off the trail. They wanted to go to Greenland, but now they were headed to North America. They sailed for days. Finally – BUMP - the boat shook, and then there wasn't a sound. Eric jumped off and looked around. Then he said,

"We will camp here. Then, tomorrow, we will look for the Greenys."

The next day Eric woke first, and he found the wood Indians. He thought they were the Greenys. Some of his men woke up. They collected lots of food. This was not smart of Eric; the food was bait!

With the Indians. The first Indian to wake up was Whale. He went to the beach with permission. He was old enough to go without a Brave. When he saw Eric, Wale wasn't smart. Instead of running, he hid behind a tree.

When Eric's men were eating and not watching, Whale took some food. Whale started for home, thinking about having a friend. Then he stopped, looked. Nobody was watching. He put the food back. He also left some gifts.

Eric never knew Whale was there until he found lots of gifts, but he found Whale. Whale did not even think about staying, Whale ran home. Eric ran, too. Unknown to Whale, as Whale ran he stopped and noticed he can't be Eric's friend if he ran away so he came back but unfortunately he was not there. Whale looked and looked. Then he hid behind a tree. So did Eric. Whale looked over. Eric noticed Whale was just a child. Eric and Whale became friends. Eric knew how to speak Spanish. Whale told Eric he was not in Greenland, and he was in North America.

"Well, then, I will sail to Greenland, but I will come and visit," Eric said in a brave voice. He packed up and went to Greenland.

As they went on to Greenland, the waves got higher and higher. Then Eric thought he saw a dragon shape coming out of the water.

"Go to North America!" Eric yelled. The boat turned around, but the water dragon appeared on the side of them. Its roar filled the air.

"Put up the sails!" yelled Eric. His men put up the sails, but the water dragon stayed next to them.

"Whoa!" yelled Eric as his men rowed, the water dragon pushed the front of them, and made them turn around. Eric thought they were headed to Greenland, but they were headed to Norway. They sailed for days. Finally, Eric said,

"This is not the way to Greenland. If we find another place, we can probably be known to all of Iceland."

The next day, Eric saw horses with men in shiny armor. The men were normal, so were the horses' heads. The back of the horses were like a serpent's tail. The strange creatures got closer and closer. So close that one got on. Eric drew his sword and held it out straight to the man's chest. The man did salute and said,

"We protect the surrounded!"

Eric made the man stop talking and said,

"Where is The Surrounded?"

Eric thought the man's eyebrow went up as he said,

"It is the water that's surrounded by Greenland, Iceland, Norway, Finland, and North America."

"OK, now get off my ship."

After Eric said "OK", his voice changed from curiosity to bravery. The seaman got on his seahorse and yelled,

"I will help you sometime. Tell me, have you seen the sea dragon?"

The seaman changed like Eric's voice.

"Yes!" yelled Eric as the seaman disappeared.

Days passed. Eric noticed the clouds moved. That night, Eric watched the clouds. Eric had a bad feeling about this. The next day, everything was fine, but the weather. Eric remembered what had happened when the sails went up. We got out of the storm. Once again, Eric yelled

"Put up the sails!"

Eric was puzzled. It took a while to get out of the storm. Eric knew it was the water dragon who made him go fast. The next day, everything was fine. That day they became famous for discovering all those things, but mostly the water dragon. The people have looked for it and they always found it.