1 a short story for a teenage magazine

2 short story ― It happened to me …

3 me and some friends

4 last summer holidays, Balblair beach

5 We decided to go for a picnic.

Packed the picnic basket.

We cycled to Balblair beach. Roy, my dog,

followed us.

We all sat on the picnic rug and enjoyed

our picnic.

Noticed Roy was digging a hole.

Roy came back with a bottle. Inside there

was a message: in a foreign language.

Showed the message to mum. She

managed to translate it.

We put the message back into the sea.

6 finding the message/bottle

7 send our own messages

8 proud, happy

It was an unusually hot summer’s day for

the Highlands of Scotland. Eileen, Debbie and I

lazed happily on the lawn sunbathing and

fantasised about far-away lands we would like

to visit. Then I had an idea ― to go for a picnic

at Balblair beach.

We all met at my house in order to pack the

picnic basket. We had enough lovely food to

feed an army! We cycled happily towards the

beach. Roy, my retriever, did not want to miss

out on the fun so he followed us.

After about half an hour we arrived feeling

really hungry and thirsty. So we lay the rug

down on the sand and started tucking in to the

delicious food we had prepared. But Roy was

nowhere near. I spotted him digging a deep

hole somewhere in the dunes. We thought nothing of it until Roy came

back with a bottle covered in seaweed. He lay

it down and started barking. My friends told

me to take a closer look. I picked it up and saw

that there was something inside ― a message.

As none of us could understand what the

message said, we headed home. I showed it to

my mum and she told us it was German. She

also managed to tell us what it said: “If you

find this, make a wish. Put me back into the

sea when the sky is blue. Only then will your

wish come true!”

The next day was another lovely sunny day

and so we returned to the same part of the

beach. We all made wishes and I threw the

bottle back into the sea. I felt proud that my

mum had translated the message. I also felt

excited at the thought of my wish coming

true.