Volcano stories
Mt Franklin - Lava aNd Ash.
By ARI sCHELTEMA
300,000 years ago everything was fine. It was raining. The grass was green. Some little bandicoots were playing in the rain. Wombats were in their holes because they did not want to get wet. The birds were in their hollows. All of the animals were relaxing.
A snake jumped out of a bush and sunk its razor sharp fangs into a bandicoot. The bandicoot tried to escape but it could not so it died! The snake ate it whole and slithered away back to its burrow. The other bandicoots ran home. A kangaroo sniffed the air. It smelled like gas. He looked at the air. It was black. The ground started to shake. Trees started to shake, too. Mount Franklin erupted. Lava poured out of the volcano. It headed downhill at 60km/hr. A giant wombat ran as fast as it could to get out of the way of the lava but the ash killed him! A giant kangaroo jumped away from the lava and ran far enough to get away from the ash.
Most of the animals died because of the ash and not many died because of the lava. A giant bird tried to get away on its feet but it could not. It tried to fly away but it choked on the ash in the air. Some other birds tried to fly away but they suffocated, too!!! A giant koala climbed to the bottom of the tree and started to run away on the ground but it began to cough, choke and finally went into a life time sleep. The trees started to burn and, before the trees could finish burning, the lava destroyed the trees. One bird could not get away fast enough so the lava started to burn it. It shrieked. Now there is a bloody patch on the lava. A wombat has been digging a hole the whole time. But the lava started to leak into the hole, he started digging as fast as he could. He dug up to the surface but when he got to it the lava was coming to the hole. He decided to dig right away from the lava. The lava started to seep into the hole after him. He dug as fast as he could! He dug as far as he could! Finally, he started to dig up. It took an hour to get to the surface. The lava had just solidified. The wombat was very tired. He was a long way away from his home. He had to start digging home before it got dark. When he was home he flopped down on his bed of soft dirt at 12 am!
A snake jumped out of a bush and sunk its razor sharp fangs into a bandicoot. The bandicoot tried to escape but it could not so it died! The snake ate it whole and slithered away back to its burrow. The other bandicoots ran home. A kangaroo sniffed the air. It smelled like gas. He looked at the air. It was black. The ground started to shake. Trees started to shake, too. Mount Franklin erupted. Lava poured out of the volcano. It headed downhill at 60km/hr. A giant wombat ran as fast as it could to get out of the way of the lava but the ash killed him! A giant kangaroo jumped away from the lava and ran far enough to get away from the ash.
Most of the animals died because of the ash and not many died because of the lava. A giant bird tried to get away on its feet but it could not. It tried to fly away but it choked on the ash in the air. Some other birds tried to fly away but they suffocated, too!!! A giant koala climbed to the bottom of the tree and started to run away on the ground but it began to cough, choke and finally went into a life time sleep. The trees started to burn and, before the trees could finish burning, the lava destroyed the trees. One bird could not get away fast enough so the lava started to burn it. It shrieked. Now there is a bloody patch on the lava. A wombat has been digging a hole the whole time. But the lava started to leak into the hole, he started digging as fast as he could. He dug up to the surface but when he got to it the lava was coming to the hole. He decided to dig right away from the lava. The lava started to seep into the hole after him. He dug as fast as he could! He dug as far as he could! Finally, he started to dig up. It took an hour to get to the surface. The lava had just solidified. The wombat was very tired. He was a long way away from his home. He had to start digging home before it got dark. When he was home he flopped down on his bed of soft dirt at 12 am!
The Big Big Volcano.
By Curtis O’Brien and Tommy Ellinger
300,000 years ago the forest was really scary with snakes in it. There were lizards at Kangaroo Creek having a drink. Some of them were sunbathing on a rock. The frogs were jumping in the water and the kangaroos were hopping with a baby kangaroo in the pouch. One of the kangaroos did a poo. Then they all had a drink. They ate some grass. The baby got out to eat and drink as well.
One of the kangaroos heard some rumbling. He looked up towards the mountain. He heard some rumbling again. He jumped over towards the mountain and looked at it. He smelt gas. It smelt like hot peppery lava. His eyes stung like it was onion. Then he saw the ash come out. It was greyish yellowish blackish.
He went back to tell the others! He jumped super-fast and super far. The other kangaroos were still eating grass and having a drink. They were frightened. They all looked at the scared kangaroo. He said, “Hey! We need to move to another place!”
They replied, “Okay – but why?”
“Because there’s a volcano!” shouted the kangaroo.
The kangaroos jumped away.
“My baby!” the mother kangaroo cried.
The mother kept running because the lava was almost at the baby kangaroo. She didn’t want to die. But she yelled, “Run!”
So the baby kangaroo did run. He tripped over a root but hopped away to his mum. He hopped into the pouch. Then they jumped all the way to the river, hopped over the water and the lava didn’t get to them. All the kangaroos were safe except for one. The old one was too old to run. He fell over a root and breathed in the poisonous gas.
The End.
By Curtis O’Brien and Tommy Ellinger
300,000 years ago the forest was really scary with snakes in it. There were lizards at Kangaroo Creek having a drink. Some of them were sunbathing on a rock. The frogs were jumping in the water and the kangaroos were hopping with a baby kangaroo in the pouch. One of the kangaroos did a poo. Then they all had a drink. They ate some grass. The baby got out to eat and drink as well.
One of the kangaroos heard some rumbling. He looked up towards the mountain. He heard some rumbling again. He jumped over towards the mountain and looked at it. He smelt gas. It smelt like hot peppery lava. His eyes stung like it was onion. Then he saw the ash come out. It was greyish yellowish blackish.
He went back to tell the others! He jumped super-fast and super far. The other kangaroos were still eating grass and having a drink. They were frightened. They all looked at the scared kangaroo. He said, “Hey! We need to move to another place!”
They replied, “Okay – but why?”
“Because there’s a volcano!” shouted the kangaroo.
The kangaroos jumped away.
“My baby!” the mother kangaroo cried.
The mother kept running because the lava was almost at the baby kangaroo. She didn’t want to die. But she yelled, “Run!”
So the baby kangaroo did run. He tripped over a root but hopped away to his mum. He hopped into the pouch. Then they jumped all the way to the river, hopped over the water and the lava didn’t get to them. All the kangaroos were safe except for one. The old one was too old to run. He fell over a root and breathed in the poisonous gas.
The End.
The Story of Mount Franklin
by Veronica O'Brien
The golden sun was rising from behind the tall mountain that overlooked the valley as the big kangaroo jumped through the tall trees towards his home. It was right at the top of the hill and it was almost day time; he would be lucky if he made it home before it got light.
He was almost home when he heard a noise coming from behind him. He spun around as fast as lightning and saw something moving in the semi lit trees behind him. He sighed. This had happened last night as well; someone had followed him from the meeting place to ask his advice on the best name to give his and his wife’s new born baby. He had answered the question by telling the big fat wombat that it was his own decision what to name his child and to clear off.
That was the problem with being the boss around here. No one really understood what being in charge meant; all those idiots out there thought that they should go to the boss to ask where the best place to go to the toilet was. Ah well, he would just have to see what this idiot wanted and then tell him to go home.
“Who’s there?” he shouted in to the almost total darkness.
No one answered.
“Show yourself if you want to live!” he yelled. This was a lie. He would never kill anyone even if his life depended on it. But no one knew that, so he could use it to scare whoever he wanted into doing what he wished them to do.
There was the sound of a stick snapping and then something large stepped out of the trees. It was his friend, the giant platypus who lived down by the creek.
“What do you want at this time of night?” he asked the platypus. “People will get suspicious.”
“I thought I would come and visit you,” answered the platypus.
“What? At this time of night?”
“Well there was something I needed to talk to you about.” The platypus seemed distressed and deep down, the kangaroo felt like something was very, very wrong.
“Come with me, my old friend,” the kangaroo said to the platypus. “I can sense something is wrong. You seem unhappy.”
They walked through the forest together to the kangaroo’s sleeping tree where they sat down on the bright green grass.
“What’s up?” asked the kangaroo once they had settled down.
“Well… it’s my wife,” began the platypus. “She hasn’t been feeling very good for the last few days and she doesn’t look great either.”
“What do you think is wrong with her?”
“I think she has a sickness that could kill her.” The platypus’s eyes filled with tears as he said this and he blinked rapidly to stop them running down his beak and onto the ground.
There was a silence in which the birds did not participate in; they tweeted in joy as the morning was born.
“I’m sorry,” mumbled the kangaroo, “about being rude to you when you came to find me. I really hope your wife’s OK.”
“I hope she is, too.”
There was another silence.
Suddenly there was a rumble.
“Was that you?” asked the kangaroo suspiciously.
“No. I thought that was you.”
“Don’t lie. It’s not truthful or loyal. I am your friend after all.”
“I promise I’m not lying.”
The kangaroo looked into the platypus’ eyes and knew he was telling the truth.
“What was it then?” he wondered out loud.
*
The kangaroo woke with a jerk after a very long sleep. He looks around to try to find what had woken him, but all he could see was the sun setting behind the tall gum trees and his friend the platypus lying asleep on the tufty, brownish-green grass. He hopped up and bounced into the darkening trees to search for food for brekkie. He spotted a nice patch of bright green grass and jumped over to it. He devoured fourteen mouthfuls in just a few seconds then stood up for a breath. As he breathed in the air through his nose, he smelled a very weird and disgusting smell. It was unfamiliar and scary because of that. All of a sudden there was that mysterious rumbling sound that he and the platypus had experienced last night. “What was it?” He asked himself. He and nobody else that he knew had ever experienced such thing happening around here. At least not for thousands of years. There were stories about rumbling and quaking coming from the earth’s heart, followed by gassy air and hotter than boiling ash explosions coming from the tall hill that overlooked the valley. He looked up at it in the darkness and it looked back down at him in a menacing and baleful way. The kangaroo shivered. There would have to be a meeting between all the animals to find out if the rest of them had experienced this as well.
Ten minutes later, the kangaroo was standing in a clearing, in the middle of a big circle of all sorts of animals. There were three wallabies, two other kangaroos, a giant wombat and four large possums. Sitting in the trees on the edge of the clearing were a few creamy white cockatoos, their crests sitting like yellow fire on their heads, and a couple of koalas eating the eucalyptus leaves lazily.
The kangaroo looked around at them all and he spoke: “I have called you all here tonight to discuss a certain and very serious matter.”
The animals didn’t seem too disturbed; the kangaroo almost always started these meetings this way and it was usually about something very unimportant.
“I am assuming that you have all heard the old stories about rumbling and quaking coming from the earth’s heart? Well, I called you all here because I have felt recent quaking and heard rumbling just like in the old legends and tales. I was wondering if you had heard them as well,” the kangaroo announced loudly and clearly.
This time all the animals sat or stood up straight and looked at the head kangaroo in fear as the truth of the preceding days dawned on them all. The giant wombat spoke up: “Yes.” He answered in a deep voice. ‘We have witnessed this rumbling as well. We haven’t been too worried. But now you have alerted us the meaning of this, we have realised how grave the situation is.” The wombat looked around at all the other animals then looked back at the kangaroo. “Surely you know of the next part of the old stories… the part where hot, orange lava spills out of the tall mountain and pours down the hillside, killing any living things that happen to be in its way!”
There was a silence that even the birds participated in.
Suddenly there was a thunderous rumbling noise, even louder than the ones the kangaroo had heard already.
All the animals jumped and looked at the kangaroo, afraid of what to do next. Then they looked up at the volcano and cried out in panic; ash was flying out of the volcano at top speed and floating down towards the valley… and towards them. Mayhem struck the animals as they ran off towards the bottom of the mountain; away from the burning, airborne ash.
The kangaroo stood still in shock as all his friends ran off away from the ash cloud. He turned his head towards the tall mountain and saw orange lava spilling over the top. He was just about to turn and follow everyone else but then he remembered his family and friends who were probably still asleep unknowing that their life and the lives of their friends were in danger. As soon as the kangaroo thought this he took off at once to the top of the hill. While he hopped, one half of his mind kept telling him to run away and forget about his friends and family. The other half was telling him to keep running to save the people he had lived with all his life. Right at the back of his mind something else was telling him to keep bouncing; the thought of his job as a boss. It was his responsibility to save everyone from any danger they could possibly be in.
After what felt like an hour (though it had probably only been a few minutes) the kangaroo arrived at the patch of grass where the platypus and himself had been sleeping the day before. The platypus was still lying asleep on the ground, breathing heavily. The kangaroo jumped over to him and shook him until he woke up.
“Wake up! Wake up!” he shouted.
The platypus stirred and stared up at the Kangaroo with bleary eyes. “What do you want at this time of night?” he mumbled grumpily.
“I’m here to save your life so get up!”
“What from?” the Platypus grumbled lazily.
“Get up and I’ll show you!”
The platypus sat up slowly and looked around. His unfocused eyes passed over the flowing lava twice before he realised what he was looking at. He squealed and shouted in shock and ran off. “I think he over exaggerated that a bit,” thought the kangaroo to himself and bounced off to save his other friends.
The lava was running down the hill at an alarming rate and the kangaroo sped up. He arrived at his other friend’s home and woke up their whole family. They all ran off as fast as they could down the hill. But, as the kangaroo turned around to look at the volcano, he almost fainted in shock and surprise; the lava was only about ten metres away from him and he could already feel the heat coming from it. He turned around and ran as fast as he could. He hoped all his friends would notice the lava and get away as quickly as possible.
*
The kangaroo ran down the hill at top speed. Birds were squawking and possums were squealing all around him. Smoke and ash was filling the air and it smelt of gas. As he ran around a large tree he got a gigantic shock and almost tripped over a root sticking out of the ground. Curled up at the base of the tree was a long, black snake. It had a red belly and a long, forked tongue. The kangaroo looked into the snake’s brown eyes and hatred swept over him. The snake looked up at the kangaroo and sneered. “Everyone is panicking so much,” he hissed. “What’s the big fuss?”
by Veronica O'Brien
The golden sun was rising from behind the tall mountain that overlooked the valley as the big kangaroo jumped through the tall trees towards his home. It was right at the top of the hill and it was almost day time; he would be lucky if he made it home before it got light.
He was almost home when he heard a noise coming from behind him. He spun around as fast as lightning and saw something moving in the semi lit trees behind him. He sighed. This had happened last night as well; someone had followed him from the meeting place to ask his advice on the best name to give his and his wife’s new born baby. He had answered the question by telling the big fat wombat that it was his own decision what to name his child and to clear off.
That was the problem with being the boss around here. No one really understood what being in charge meant; all those idiots out there thought that they should go to the boss to ask where the best place to go to the toilet was. Ah well, he would just have to see what this idiot wanted and then tell him to go home.
“Who’s there?” he shouted in to the almost total darkness.
No one answered.
“Show yourself if you want to live!” he yelled. This was a lie. He would never kill anyone even if his life depended on it. But no one knew that, so he could use it to scare whoever he wanted into doing what he wished them to do.
There was the sound of a stick snapping and then something large stepped out of the trees. It was his friend, the giant platypus who lived down by the creek.
“What do you want at this time of night?” he asked the platypus. “People will get suspicious.”
“I thought I would come and visit you,” answered the platypus.
“What? At this time of night?”
“Well there was something I needed to talk to you about.” The platypus seemed distressed and deep down, the kangaroo felt like something was very, very wrong.
“Come with me, my old friend,” the kangaroo said to the platypus. “I can sense something is wrong. You seem unhappy.”
They walked through the forest together to the kangaroo’s sleeping tree where they sat down on the bright green grass.
“What’s up?” asked the kangaroo once they had settled down.
“Well… it’s my wife,” began the platypus. “She hasn’t been feeling very good for the last few days and she doesn’t look great either.”
“What do you think is wrong with her?”
“I think she has a sickness that could kill her.” The platypus’s eyes filled with tears as he said this and he blinked rapidly to stop them running down his beak and onto the ground.
There was a silence in which the birds did not participate in; they tweeted in joy as the morning was born.
“I’m sorry,” mumbled the kangaroo, “about being rude to you when you came to find me. I really hope your wife’s OK.”
“I hope she is, too.”
There was another silence.
Suddenly there was a rumble.
“Was that you?” asked the kangaroo suspiciously.
“No. I thought that was you.”
“Don’t lie. It’s not truthful or loyal. I am your friend after all.”
“I promise I’m not lying.”
The kangaroo looked into the platypus’ eyes and knew he was telling the truth.
“What was it then?” he wondered out loud.
*
The kangaroo woke with a jerk after a very long sleep. He looks around to try to find what had woken him, but all he could see was the sun setting behind the tall gum trees and his friend the platypus lying asleep on the tufty, brownish-green grass. He hopped up and bounced into the darkening trees to search for food for brekkie. He spotted a nice patch of bright green grass and jumped over to it. He devoured fourteen mouthfuls in just a few seconds then stood up for a breath. As he breathed in the air through his nose, he smelled a very weird and disgusting smell. It was unfamiliar and scary because of that. All of a sudden there was that mysterious rumbling sound that he and the platypus had experienced last night. “What was it?” He asked himself. He and nobody else that he knew had ever experienced such thing happening around here. At least not for thousands of years. There were stories about rumbling and quaking coming from the earth’s heart, followed by gassy air and hotter than boiling ash explosions coming from the tall hill that overlooked the valley. He looked up at it in the darkness and it looked back down at him in a menacing and baleful way. The kangaroo shivered. There would have to be a meeting between all the animals to find out if the rest of them had experienced this as well.
Ten minutes later, the kangaroo was standing in a clearing, in the middle of a big circle of all sorts of animals. There were three wallabies, two other kangaroos, a giant wombat and four large possums. Sitting in the trees on the edge of the clearing were a few creamy white cockatoos, their crests sitting like yellow fire on their heads, and a couple of koalas eating the eucalyptus leaves lazily.
The kangaroo looked around at them all and he spoke: “I have called you all here tonight to discuss a certain and very serious matter.”
The animals didn’t seem too disturbed; the kangaroo almost always started these meetings this way and it was usually about something very unimportant.
“I am assuming that you have all heard the old stories about rumbling and quaking coming from the earth’s heart? Well, I called you all here because I have felt recent quaking and heard rumbling just like in the old legends and tales. I was wondering if you had heard them as well,” the kangaroo announced loudly and clearly.
This time all the animals sat or stood up straight and looked at the head kangaroo in fear as the truth of the preceding days dawned on them all. The giant wombat spoke up: “Yes.” He answered in a deep voice. ‘We have witnessed this rumbling as well. We haven’t been too worried. But now you have alerted us the meaning of this, we have realised how grave the situation is.” The wombat looked around at all the other animals then looked back at the kangaroo. “Surely you know of the next part of the old stories… the part where hot, orange lava spills out of the tall mountain and pours down the hillside, killing any living things that happen to be in its way!”
There was a silence that even the birds participated in.
Suddenly there was a thunderous rumbling noise, even louder than the ones the kangaroo had heard already.
All the animals jumped and looked at the kangaroo, afraid of what to do next. Then they looked up at the volcano and cried out in panic; ash was flying out of the volcano at top speed and floating down towards the valley… and towards them. Mayhem struck the animals as they ran off towards the bottom of the mountain; away from the burning, airborne ash.
The kangaroo stood still in shock as all his friends ran off away from the ash cloud. He turned his head towards the tall mountain and saw orange lava spilling over the top. He was just about to turn and follow everyone else but then he remembered his family and friends who were probably still asleep unknowing that their life and the lives of their friends were in danger. As soon as the kangaroo thought this he took off at once to the top of the hill. While he hopped, one half of his mind kept telling him to run away and forget about his friends and family. The other half was telling him to keep running to save the people he had lived with all his life. Right at the back of his mind something else was telling him to keep bouncing; the thought of his job as a boss. It was his responsibility to save everyone from any danger they could possibly be in.
After what felt like an hour (though it had probably only been a few minutes) the kangaroo arrived at the patch of grass where the platypus and himself had been sleeping the day before. The platypus was still lying asleep on the ground, breathing heavily. The kangaroo jumped over to him and shook him until he woke up.
“Wake up! Wake up!” he shouted.
The platypus stirred and stared up at the Kangaroo with bleary eyes. “What do you want at this time of night?” he mumbled grumpily.
“I’m here to save your life so get up!”
“What from?” the Platypus grumbled lazily.
“Get up and I’ll show you!”
The platypus sat up slowly and looked around. His unfocused eyes passed over the flowing lava twice before he realised what he was looking at. He squealed and shouted in shock and ran off. “I think he over exaggerated that a bit,” thought the kangaroo to himself and bounced off to save his other friends.
The lava was running down the hill at an alarming rate and the kangaroo sped up. He arrived at his other friend’s home and woke up their whole family. They all ran off as fast as they could down the hill. But, as the kangaroo turned around to look at the volcano, he almost fainted in shock and surprise; the lava was only about ten metres away from him and he could already feel the heat coming from it. He turned around and ran as fast as he could. He hoped all his friends would notice the lava and get away as quickly as possible.
*
The kangaroo ran down the hill at top speed. Birds were squawking and possums were squealing all around him. Smoke and ash was filling the air and it smelt of gas. As he ran around a large tree he got a gigantic shock and almost tripped over a root sticking out of the ground. Curled up at the base of the tree was a long, black snake. It had a red belly and a long, forked tongue. The kangaroo looked into the snake’s brown eyes and hatred swept over him. The snake looked up at the kangaroo and sneered. “Everyone is panicking so much,” he hissed. “What’s the big fuss?”