1 a short story for a teenage magazine2 short story ― It happened to me … 3 me and some friends4 last summer holidays, Balblair beach5 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 enjoyedour picnic.Noticed Roy was digging a hole.Roy came back with a bottle. Inside therewas a message: in a foreign language.Showed the message to mum. Shemanaged to translate it.We put the message back into the sea.6 finding the message/bottle7 send our own messages8 proud, happyIt was an unusually hot summer’s day forthe Highlands of Scotland. Eileen, Debbie and Ilazed happily on the lawn sunbathing andfantasised about far-away lands we would liketo visit. Then I had an idea ― to go for a picnicat Balblair beach.We all met at my house in order to pack thepicnic basket. We had enough lovely food tofeed an army! We cycled happily towards thebeach. Roy, my retriever, did not want to missout on the fun so he followed us.After about half an hour we arrived feelingreally hungry and thirsty. So we lay the rugdown on the sand and started tucking in to thedelicious food we had prepared. But Roy wasnowhere near. I spotted him digging a deephole somewhere in the dunes. We thought nothing of it until Roy cameback with a bottle covered in seaweed. He layit down and started barking. My friends toldme to take a closer look. I picked it up and sawthat there was something inside ― a message.As none of us could understand what themessage said, we headed home. I showed it tomy mum and she told us it was German. Shealso managed to tell us what it said: “If youfind this, make a wish. Put me back into thesea when the sky is blue. Only then will yourwish come true! ” The next day was another lovely sunny dayand so we returned to the same part of thebeach. We all made wishes and I threw thebottle back into the sea. I felt proud that mymum had translated the message. I also feltexcited at the thought of my wish comingtrue.
