Marco Escapes
By Bonnie Maidens
Part One
Running, Marco escapes from the horrid, ancient orphanage where the crazy old ladies have been keeping him hostage. His heart beats faster than a sprinting cheetah as he races around the busy streets of London. Every step he takes was another nerve throbbing moment which made him anxious. Jumping over hotdog carts and dodging wild cats, he finally reached the outskirts of Epping Forest.
Tip-toeing through the tall overgrown trees that let no sun in at all, Marco comes across a little, narrow pathway scattered with shredded leaves and broken branches. Marco always thought taking risks will work out for the best, so he quickly went for a stroll down this creepy, dark path. “Hello, anyone there?” Marco whispers, swallowing away his fear. He kept following the path until he saw a small patch of grass in the distance. As Marco got closer and closer, butterflies and pretty little ladybugs started appearing more and more. “This place is awesome!” Marco exclaimed shoving away all that fear and replacing it with joy. Marco took a look around and found a little treehouse covered in flowers and vines.
It was light brown and sat halfway up an oak tree. There were little wood planks nailed into the tree trunk leading up to the doorstep. When he stepped inside, it was completely empty except for a little note carved into the wall which read; Henni and Harriet forever. Marco thought to himself that it was obviously abandoned, so he pulled some wood planks off the tree trunk and built a chair, that he used as a bed. That night he got ready to go out fishing down at the nearest creek. Picking up the bait and putting it on the hook, Marco accidently poked his finger and it burst out with blood. He went fishing quickly to wash his wound in the water.
Part Two
“OMG, OMG, we're finally here,” screeched the students of Elizabeth Academy. They had been stuck in a cramped bus for several hours and arrived at their destination, the beautiful patch of grass. They all set up their tents and had roast marshmallows to settle in. At night they played tag, the three house leaders Henni, Harriet and Greer sprinted to their annual hiding spot. The abandoned treehouse.
After about 10 minutes of hiding in the treehouse it got cold so they went back down. Greer gasped spotting a blood trail going all the way down the stairs. “Eww, gross,” they all said in disgust. “Let’s follow it,” they agreed. Walking through the dark forest they shivered in fear. Every step they took they were following the blood trail until they approached the creek. “Stop!” Henni shouted. “Look, there’s red splodges floating away in the water, whoever or whatever this thing is, it needed a wash.” They kept walking along the sand hoping to spot a clue. Then, they found small deep footprints scattered along the side of the bank. “Come on guys, don’t be scared,” Greer says trying to be a leader. “If we follow them we might find this person!”
After about an hour of following footprints they eventually stopped right before the end of the creek where a palm tree sat alone. “It’s getting dark, shouldn’t we go back?” Harriet whispered.
“No! This is the coolest adventure I’ve ever been on.” Greer hissed. They walked up to the palm tree and all of the sudden saw a dark, human shaped silhouette on the ground, then they looked up. “AAHH!” they all screamed.
“What is that little boy doing up in a tree in the middle of nowhere at night time?” Henni asked. The scream shocked him and he fell off the tree right down beside their feet.
“Who are you?” Henni asked the boy.
“I-I-I’m-m Marc-co, what do you want from me?”
“We want to know what the heck you are doing.” She replied. Marco explained his whole life story to them and said that he had to get away. They took him back to the campsite so he could freshen up a bit.
“Miss Lavender, look what we found,” Greer said shoving Marco towards their teacher. “And who may you be little boy?” Miss Lavender spoke in her poshest voice. “Marco, Marco… actually I don’t know what my last name is.”
“Why not, that seems very odd.” Harriet said. Once again Marco explained himself while crystal clear tears starting dribbling down Miss L’s face. “Oh you poor boy, I’m sure you would love a great family. It’s funny your eyes kind of remind me of my chocolate labrador back home.” She says wiping away her tears.
“Wow, I've seen a picture of one of those but never met one. I always wanted a…. what do you call them, that’s right, a dog.” Marco exclaimed.
After a long long chat, the girls of Elizabeth Academy and Marco went back to Miss Lavender's mansion. “This place is the bomb!” Marco yelled at the top of his lungs. “I’m glad you like it. Because you know how you said that you have nowhere to go, well I was thinking you could stay here with my dog and I.”
“Really! That would be the best.” He said, fulling up his eyes with joy.
“Ok then it’s settled.” Everybody danced with excitement for the rest of the night.
In the morning Marco woke up to Bessy the dog lying beside him. He ran into Miss L’s bedroom and woke her up. “I have one question before you can go back to sleep,” he started saying, “does this mean my full name is Marco Lavender?” She smiled and laughed.
