Discovery of the New Dodos by Misty Gerber (14, Illinois)

​On the coast of Ireland, there were five kids all in high school, all friends, and all wanted to find something new in their lives. It was the middle of May in the year of 2056. One of the five friends was named Isabella, she was the bravest of them all and was smart and creative. There was also Lea, Simon, Max, and Dylan. Lea was adventurous and the kindest out of their group. Simon, he was nerdy and clumsy. Then there was Max who was slightly like Simon but Max was weird, not nerdy and he was also very fast. So with all five of them being friends since preschool, they were all really close. 

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One day, when they were all bored, they decided to do something that sounded like fun, so they decided to get a boat and sail where no one has ever sailed before. They were sailing the Atlantic Ocean for about two days and when everyone was asleep they heard something, something really loud when they woke up. They saw that they were trapped in a storm. They tried really hard but had no luck to get out of the storm. Then they hit something, something really big. It was so big that it wrecked the boat that they had. They were just swimming in the water because they did not know that they had hit an island because of the fog. When the fog cleared up they all saw an island and swam to it. When on the island Lea and Max started to build a fire while Dylan, Simon, and Isabella tried to rebuild the boat, but they needed better stuff to make it. All five of them went to search for stuff to rebuild the boat. When on the island they found something rather odd. They found a bird that did not act normal nor look normal. Then with Dylan and Simon being smart, they noticed that they were Dodo birds. That was really weird because they are extinct and native to Mauritius which is east of Madagascar. 

They saw them and got close to them because the Dodo birds were not afraid of them. They got so close that they were able to pet them. There were about fifteen of them all just eating rocks or berries. They got distracted by them so they had to get back on track and go looking for the stuff they needed to rebuild the boat. Now, while looking for the stuff that was needed, they started to get lost since they did not know the island. They did not know that they were getting lost at this point. About two hours later, they realized that they were lost. Since they were lost they sat and thought about what to do next.

Then Isabella saw something, it was a girl! She followed the girl to find out who she was. The girl said her name was Rebeka and Rebeka heard them talking about them being lost so she decided to help them. Isabella brought Rebeka back to the group to introduce her to her friends. They all liked her so she took them to the place where she lived so that she could help them back to their boat. 
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Now at Rebeka’s house, she is showing them around. Dylan, Max, and Lea were all really curious about a lot of things. She answered all of their questions, then showed them the way back to their boat. When Rebeka got to their boat she was shocked about how wrecked it was. She asked them if they needed help fixing it and they all shouted in unison, “Yes!” With Rebeka living there all by herself she knew how to do that. They asked her if she could fix it enough so they could go home. Rebeka said that she could, but that she would need some stuff to fix it with, so they got her the stuff that she needed and then she fixed it right up. When done, Lea asked if she wanted to come with them because she was there all alone. Rebeka agreed so they brought Rebeka and one Dodo bird back to prove what they found on that island. They got back home and they showed some people what they found. It took a few days but they got people to put the island that they found on maps and also got people to help the new Dodos. Now instead of the Dodos being extinct, they are an endangered species. The Dodos were put into a place to keep endangered animals safe and the kids visit them every day, including Rebeka.