PUFFIN BRIGADE

Nell Williams-Ray, 8

Gloucester

Once upon a time near a rocky island on the coast of Scotland, a family of puffins lived. They had feathers as black as the midnight sky and beaks that were striped like a tiger. They were bold and brave, smart and caring. Percy, Petunia, Poppy and Paul adored their home in the sea near Atlantic Cliff. They spent all day bobbing up and down on the crystal clear waves. Petunia was busy preparing to return to land to lay a shiny, new egg.

The puffins made the journey back to their beautiful cliff top but sadly, things had changed. Poppy cried at the booming noises, Paul did not understand why the grass was covered in crimson bricks and Percy felt angry when he saw ebony oil on the surface of the water below. Petunia tried to make things better by gathering lunch, but could not spot any silver eel.

The family huddled together and made the decision to find a new, safe land. They spied a wooden boat tied to a pole on the sandy beach. The puffins worked as a team to get the boat out to sea and they set sail! Using their flippers as oars, they travelled far and wide across the great ocean. The waves were big and small, narrow and wide, but they stayed strong and carried on sailing.

All of a sudden, a hammerhead shark came into view. It swam closer and closer until it crashed into the rickety boat, breaking pieces of wood in a heartbeat. The puffin family were petrified and Paul started to cry salty tears. The boat began to sink. The heartbroken family had no choice but to swim until they found land. They continued their voyage and swam into the red sunset brushed across the sky.

Daylight turned to darkness with golden stars. As the puffin family finally reached land, strange waves of pink and green danced above their heads. It was the Northern Lights and they had reached Iceland!

The family were welcomed by a huge colony of puffins. They were met by friendly puffins, fluffy puffins and even baby puffins! Percy and Petunia explained what had happened to their home. Penelope the puffin told them all about the Puffin Brigade in Iceland. A group of humans who make sure other humans do not fish too much so the puffins have food, they do not build on the homes of puffins and they make sure the ocean does not have pollution. The puffin family had huge smiles plastered on their beaks. But Petunia knew it was soon time to lay her egg so started to dig a burrow.

Later that summer, claps and cheers could be heard across Iceland as baby Pru was lifted up for all to see. Percy, Petunia, Poppy, Paul and Pru returned to Atlantic Cliff that winter, to tell everybody all about the Puffin Brigade and how to make their land a happy and safe place for the animals living there.