Highly commended

The Battle for the Island

Noah Le Noury
Year 4 Blanchelande School

There once was, and thanks to its animals, there still is, a lively and colourful small island in the Indian Ocean. The island was home to creatures and plants of all types including gorillas, monkeys, big cats, elephants, bats, toucans and crocodiles. This is the story of how the animals learnt that all nature needs to work together to keep their natural environment in harmony.

It all started when a big company called X-Oil thought it could make lots of money by turning the whole island into a palm oil plantation. The owners did not care about the damage and destruction it might bring and definitely did not want the cost of protecting the animals living there. At best, the creatures were in the way and at worst, they might damage the palms and attack the workers.

The humans arrived with three ships containing big machines to clear land, build a harbour and construct roads. This was only the start, more ships arrived with more machines and people with guns to hunt the animals.

The elephants trumpeted for all animals to retreat to a deep river valley in the centre of the island and the creatures gathered as the leader of the lions drafted a battle plan.

Leaping into action, the big cats hunted the workers from all over the island, chasing them into the river valley. The gorillas and orangutans helped by throwing stones from the trees. Next the snakes moved in, pushing the workers into the muddy river and the crocodiles herded them down to the beach. Finally the elephants pushed the humans' machines off a cliff, destroying the harbour. The screaming men and women ran to the ships and set sail for home, delivering a warning for mankind to leave the island alone and not come back.

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