The arrival of a new journey...

By Esha Rana

The crippling ocean waves hitting up against the rickety boat were now quiet.. What would I see as we docked on new land? In December, 1795 our rickety boat arrived in New Holland, I saw some people far in the distance. As a convict, I wasn’t allowed to go that far but I really wanted to explore and see what was out there.

In the blink of an eye, I saw a swish of a black figure, in the woods as I tried to tell my governor he said there was nothing there and I was just dreaming.. 

When we arrived it was getting very boring however there were things to do like play outside or play cards. It was very windy and cold but in the morning it was sunny. I was shivering with disgust because the food they served here is horrendous! 

But I knew that I wasn't dreaming at all! As I met some other people, they told me that they too saw those people in the distance but no one would believe them. 

 Later on, the wind was dancing. I am a convict named Ava and I am sent here ( unfortunately) for stealing some food.

As a child convict our work was really hard and the only times we got a break was after we finished 10 hours of farming the food and other things. I have noticed that there are also some rats here. They are completely disgusting!

The mean soldiers have been treating me very badly, by not giving us food and rest. I think, if I have to keep up with this, I may become very sick..

In our free time, my friends and I would go to the woods where we were allowed to go and just sit on the sand and look to see if there were more people we had seen before, and there were! 

In the blink of an eye, I saw a swish of a black figure, in the woods as I tried to tell my governor he said there was nothing there and I was just dreaming.. 

But I knew that I wasn't dreaming at all! As I met some other people, they told me that they too saw those people in the distance but no one would believe them. 

As a child convict our work was really hard and the only times we got a break was after we finished 10 hours of farming the food and other things. I have noticed that there are also some rats here. They are completely disgusting!

In our free time, my friends and I would go to the woods where we were allowed to go and just sit on the sand and look to see if there were more people we had seen before, and there were! 

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Every night, I was told by the elders, about the mysterious figures in the background. I was thinking of escaping this place but I couldn’t be alone, there was just one friend who stayed back because she was too scared to get found as she could be in more trouble so she stayed back to also keep company for the other people.

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I really can't be bothered to wake up at 4 in the morning just to see some black figures lurking around the forest. It is very weird how those people over there are like using something and they dance and sing different from us. I have also wondered that they don’t really look like convicts like us or travelers..

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We decided to go later on in the year, in about 5 months so we could figure out where to go and what to do. We didn’t get much information though. I am beginning to see more of these people, in the morning, we can see them more but not really in the night when it is our free time so I have to get up early to see them.

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I really can't be bothered to wake up at 4 in the morning just to see some black figures lurking around the forest. It is very weird how those people over there are like using something and they dance and sing different from us. I have also wondered that they don’t really look like convicts like us or travelers..

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One day, my friends and I were allowed to go outside in the woods at free time, and that is what we did. When we went in the woods, we were very, very, very excited because now we could see who was there!

 But there was no one there..

How Strange!

Sometimes we would hear the loud bong noise from something hollow, see sparks of fire, hear them sing in a different language or even see the little house they made for them to sleep that was made out of sticks and hay. But there was nothing there! 

About some more months we are back in this rigid, old boat and sailing back to England! I was very happy to be back home from staying as a convict at New Holland for maybe 2 years.

It was just dirt on the ground, trees and some birds chirping, exactly what a normal forest would look like... I tried to look for the campsite where we could see them sitting down next to a fire, it was still there but not the houses. We explored a bit more but then our time was up. 

And we went back to our small cabin.. As we were going for bed I told them, how I was thinking they moved somewhere else.