THE COLOSSAL COMMUNITY CLEAN-UP
Vraya Mistry, 9
Surrey
“Race you to the bottom!” called Oscar, dragging his suitcase behind him. Isla panted as she heaved forward her suitcase. “Come on now kids,” called Mr Brown, “hop in the car.”
Laughing, the children ran down the stairs and climbed into the car. The Browns were going to Wales for the summer. Roaring loudly, the car ate up the dull motorway, stopping in traffic every now and again. Unexpectedly, the Browns arrived 2-3 hours later, exhausted from the tiresome journey. They trudged along the cobbled streets, pulling the large suitcases. Finally, the Browns reached the hotel. They trundled up the stairs to the room with little energy.
Early the next morning, Oscar and Isla awoke and jumped out of bed, getting into matching tangerine orange sweatshirts and navy blue shorts. They yelled for their parents to hurry up and get ready quickly.
“Okay, okay no need to scream the hotel down like parrots!” chuckled Dad.
“Wake up sleepy heads” giggled Isla.
“I suppose we have to now!” grinned Mum.
After everyone was ready they went for a walk along the seashore, wrapped up nice and warm in their furry jumpers and waterproof coats. The wind whipped around, swiping at the children’s cheeks, bringing along a dense fog making visibility poor. Eventually, the wind died down and the fog disappeared much to the Browns relief. A smiling sun and salty breeze filled the air, as the family came to the end of the beach. Suddenly, Oscar and Isla spotted a mountain of rubbish nearly as tall as them.
“What on Earth has happened here?” cried Isla, “why is everything scattered everywhere?”
“Why haven’t people used the bins?” added Oscar.
“Because tourists are so careless around here” said an unfamiliar voice.
Oscar and Isla both turned around to see a girl roughly the same age standing behind them.
The girl had ginger hair, loose down to her shoulders. She wore a T-shirt saying ‘SUNSHINE’, a pair of baggy jeans and sandy shoes.
“I’m Amy” said the girl, “I collect as much rubbish as possible, but the heaps just grow each day.”
Oscar voiced an idea,” We’re here for our summer holiday, we could help you clean up the rubbish.”
“I’m grateful,” beamed Amy,” but wouldn’t that ruin your holiday plans?”
“Not at all!” exclaimed Isla,” we could gather as many people as possible and get them to help us, you know like a big clean-up.”
“Yes!” remarked Amy.
Passionately, the three youngsters began telling the local community about the clean-up. Everyone grabbed a couple of bags, a partner and set off to clean-up the junk lying about. From 11am to 4pm the crowd of people collected a colossal amount of rubbish. They also installed recycling bins and signs to help maintain a tidy beach. Their efforts did not go unnoticed. To the children’s amazement, the 10pm news featured a report on the community clean-up of the beach. Oscar and Isla beamed as they were interviewed, creating memories of their best ever holiday.