500 Words 2023: read a finalist's story from the 5-7 category

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This story was chosen as a top 50 finalist for 500 Words 2023.

Remember, spelling, punctuation and grammar are not taken into account for a 500 Words story, therefore all the top 50 stories have been published how they were submitted.

Message in a Bottle by Evan S.

The storm raced up from the South and wild waves rose up to toss the little yacht about as if it were a cork. Dark clouds loomed overhead. Lightning forked, flashing down as if to reach for the raging sea. All of a sudden, rocks appeared out of the driving rain, dead ahead!

When Jasper woke, he was baking in the sun on a beach of golden sand surrounded by the tumbled wreckage of his vessel.

"I'm shipwrecked!" he groaned. "Doomed! Doomed! DOOMED!" He slapped cold salty water onto his face several times in order to begin to think clearly. He soon discovered that he was marooned on an unknown island.

Luckily, there was an abundance of coconut palms and he had lots to eat! Unluckily, he had to share them with the coconut Crabs which were Scary with a capital S! It was not long before he decided that it was time to be rescued. He fabricated a signal fire but it kept going out. After a lot of thinking and many roasted, fried, boiled and baked crabs, he had a better idea: he would send a message to the world in a bottle.

Jasper found an old bottle amongst the wreckage. He dug a pen out of the sand and a piece of paper. He wrote:

Dear Rescuer,I am shipwrecked on Coconut Island.Please come and rescue me.I am sick of eating crabs!Yours Hopefully,JasperPS: Please bring some chocolates!

When he had finished writing, he rolled up the message and popped it into the bottle. Corking it up, he carried it down to the beach and hurled it into the sea. Seven times (it kept washing back up). Finally, the tide carried it away and Jasper watched it bobbing in the gentle waves as it disappeared from sight.

Days drifted into weeks and weeks washed into almost a month. Jasper waited patiently, sitting in the rugged little driftwood shack he had erected on the beach. He passed the time singing cheerful tunes and scaring off the scavenging seagulls. "Will no one come and save me?" he cried out loud, knowing he would not be heard. His loneliness had began to take its toll.

Eventually, one morning, Jasper heard the sound of a speed boat's engine approaching. Leaping up, he ran to the water's edge and started flapping his arms about like a scrawny, underfed bird. The boat turned into the bay, its engine roaring as it sped towards him. "I'm saved!" he thought, falling onto his knees thankfully.

A patrol officer was driving the boat, he cut the engine as he floated gingerly into the shallows."Is your name Jasper?" the policeman called."Yes!" Jasper gasped."Did you ask to be rescued?""Yes! Yes!" Jasper exalted."Did you throw this bottle into the sea?" the officer asked."Yes! Yes!" Jasper replied, clapping his hands!"Then, here is your ticket for littering!" the policeman growled, tossing the bottle back onto the beach, before speeding away.

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