Here are the stories from Poland:

The Warsaw Mermaid

A long time ago, in the place where Warsaw tenement houses now stand, there was an underwater town where sirens lived. One day, two sisters wanted to know the world, one of them sailed in one direction and the other into the Vistula river basin, then into small rivers and so it sailed to Warsaw. Every evening, when no one was at the shore, she would lay down on a rock and sing, but it wasn't just singing. That singing was so magical that no one could resist it.

One evening two fishermen noticed a mermaid who was humming her song. The next morning they went to one of the old fishermen, asking him what to do with the mermaid. An old fisherman told them to catch the mermaid and bring it to the prince.

They listened to the old fisherman and they did exactly what he said. Early in the morning, they hid a rope on the shore, where the mermaid always sat down. They waited until the evening and caught the mermaid. Then the fishermen took the mermaid to the old fisherman's shed, where he was supposed to watch her.

Unfortunately, the mermaid charmed the old fisherman with her singing and asked him to untie her. The moment he did so, the mermaid jumped on her tail and escaped to the Vistula river.

The mermaid said she sang for the people she loved, but she would not sing on command. She added that she preferred to hide in the Vistula forever.

And so, after many years, the town of Warsaw was founded on the site of the village, with a mermaid in its emblem.

The legend of Wars and Sawa

Wars was a young fishman and he liked resting in the nature. One day, when he was lying in his favourite place by the lake in the evening, he saw a beautiful creature getting out of the water. She wore a robe made out of shells, she had long hair, blue eyes and… a fish tail covered in silver scale. At first he couldn’t take his eyes off her. Since then he watched her for a year and he fell in love with her. When Wars was ready to confess love, a mermaid didn’t show up. When she leaned out of the water, he immediately swam to her. Scared mermaid tried to escape while the fisherman tried to stop her - and he succeeded. During their conversation it turned out they are in love with each other. After the mermaid said she loved him, Wars jumped into the water and kissed her. She transformed into a woman. In honour of this adventure, nearby colony was named “Warszawa”. The name of Polish capital comes from names Wars and Sawa.

Diary entry - Saving the land of Poland

(fiction - written by students)

September 1939 in the morning, Gdańsk. I was woken up by the sound of gunshots and people screaming. I looked out of the window and saw a beautiful rainbow, but when I looked down I saw a terrifying sight - the battleship Schleswig-Holstein was firing at my beautiful city. Seeing this gruesome scene, I pulled out a scroll with a water spell. I said the magic formula “Janus Paulus Wodus 3". Momentarily, the water on the sea was raging, and a wave in the distance appeared in the shape of a Polish textbook. It crushed the battleship, like a book an ant. The German crew rescued themselves and swam away. 

That's how I defended the Polish lands. Satisfied with myself, I admired the sight of the drowning battleship. Suddenly I woke up. It turned out I fell asleep on the beach. Fortunately, it was just a dream. When I recovered, I looked at the beautiful Baltic Sea and, still a bit dizzy, I immersed myself in the warm waves. I had never had such a pleasure before.

The Legend of Vistula

Legend has it that Vistula River was created thanks to Białka and Czarnosza - the daughters of the former royal couple - king Beskid and his wife Borana - the queen of forests. They also had a son called Lan. After king Beskid had died, the queen fulfilled his last will and handed over power to her children. Lan was supposed to look after the fields and meadows, take care of their fertility and make sure the people living near them are happy and prosperous. The sisters got the power over the water. They were supposed to irrigate the fields and meadows belonging to Lan and provide water to people and animals so that they could drink at all times. They were also supposed to make the valley never hit a drought.

Białka was glad with the received gift, running from the mountains into the valley, she immediately sent a stream. Careful and thoughtful Czarnocha, slowly descending from the mountains, also left a stream behind her. The sisters decided to leave the mountains and go north together, but knight Czantor prevented them from doing so. He said that the north is very dangerous, and then suggested that instead of going further, they should send a wave that will look at those areas and come back with some information. The sisters agreed. The first wave she had sent called Wyszła. Wyszła, enchanted by the charms and beauty of the surrounding nature, forgot about her mission and flowed forward, joining in each other river. In the end, delighted by the Baltic Sea, she let herself be caught by its sea waves and did not return. Białka and Czarnocha sent several more waves, but none of them returned, because the charm of the Baltic Sea kept them permanently. With time, two mountain rivers were called Biała and Czarna in honour of the royal daughters, and the river created from their connected streams is called Wisła from the name of the first wave sent by the sister.

Magical water

Piotrek lived with his mother in a small village at the foot of Sobotna Góra. When the woman fell seriously ill, he ran to the herbalist Odrzycha for help. Older brothers, Kacper and Jan, brought the doctor from the city. The doctor gave no hope of recovering his mother. At that time, Odrzycha told the brothers about Sobotnia Góra /Saturday Mountain/, where there is a source of magical water beneath the golden tree. However, until now, no one who went to Sobotnia Góra returned. To reach the source of living water one had to go straight to the top and not look back. First, the older brothers set out - Kacper, the soldier, and then Jan, the organist. Kacper strayed out of the way, Jan looked back. They were both turned into stones. The only hope remained in Piotrek. Odrzycha gave him a magic bell to warn him of the danger. Piotrek set off, overcame all obstacles and reached the top of Sobotnia Góra. The Magic Bird gave him a jug of magical water. On the way back Piotrek disenchanted brothers, and then saved his mother's life.

A trip to the lake
 

In the morning we went past a mountain pass and found ourselves in front of a big lake situated in the valley. It filled the space between the mountains. The sky was clear and cloudless. The sun rising from above the tops threw rays of light into the calm surface of the water and illuminated it in such a way that it seemed as if the whole surface of the water was made of a shiny, flawless diamond. In the depths you could see colorful fish and swaying plants. We were delighted with this view, we have never seen anything so wonderful before. We decided to stay here longer to admire the beauty of this lake. There was total silence all around, all we could hear was our breath. We spent a few hours here, all the time staring at the water. We spent the whole day there. We decided to stay there for a while. . . to see the sunset. It was the most beautiful view we've ever seen. Unfortunately, the time had come to return, so we quickly set off on our way back. It was definitely a successful day, even though we did not do much except look at the lake. I will never forget the view of this lake and the sunset in my life.

Written on the basis of: https://sciaga.pl/tekst/95337-96-moja_przygoda_nad_wielka_i_czysta_woda

Dear Diary!

I finally feel the coming summer. In the morning I got out the house to eat oatmeal looking at “my” lake. Unfortunately, those awful mosquitoes started to show up. They actually didn’t prevent me from admiring the view of golden sunrise with its reflection on the mirroring surface of the water. I love mornings like this one. Warm air whispers that the summer is coming. It was one of these dawns you see in Hollywood’s movies. I don’t like to turn on my TV in the morning. I go on the beach and watch “Nat Geo” on the opposite side of the water. I see animals looking for their breakfast. It’s incredibly beautiful view because the green colour of the woods is even more delightful thanks to the shining sun. Reflecting in the water forest makes “my” lake seem snugger. I love the place I live in because it gives me the positive energy since the beginning of the day.

Dear Diary!2

Today was some joke! It’s Monday, I overslept for school and while eating my breakfast I almost died from choking with a piece of bread because of that rush! I ran for my bus as fast as I could but obviously something had to happen. My foot slipped off and I fell into the lake. To make things worse, I was attacked by mosquito cloud and since then everything itches and my arms looks like bubble wrap for packing the porcelain. After all of that what happened I changed my clothes and dried myself and when I was finally ready I made a second attempt to go to school. Of course I didn’t even think about the bus so instead of walking by the road I chose to go through the woods. While wondering how I’m supposed to explain me being late I tripped over an invisible branch that was waiting just for me! I fell into some stupid hole and barked my knees off. This is how i came to school late, whole in bubbles and with barked knees. All day long I thought about slipping in the quilt with a bar of chocolate or pizza and watching Netflix.

Flood from 1997 (facts)

The flood of the millennium - a common name for the flood that occurred in July 1997 in southern and western Poland, the Czech Republic, eastern Germany (Lusatia), north-western Slovakia and eastern Austria, leading to the death of 114 people in the Czech Republic, Germany and Poland and material damage amounting to nearly 4. 5 billion U. S. dollars. In Poland, 56 people died and the damage was estimated at approximately USD 3.5 billion. The waters of: Bóbr, Bystrzyca, Kaczawa, Kwisa, Mała Panew, Nysa Kłodzka, Nysa Łużycka, Odra, Olza, Oława, Skora, Szprotawa, Ślęza and Widawa, as well as of the upper Vistula and Elbe rivers burst out of their banks.

Reasons 

The flooding in 1997 was caused by two consecutive waves of heavy rainfall, caused by a meteorological situation known as Vb, which created a low pressure zone in northern Italy rather caused by an influx of cool air from western Europe. Than it moved northeast, heading towards the Balkans, this system caused an influx of hot air masses of sea origin from the Black Sea and the Mediterranean to the north. The encounter of warm humid air with cool air from the Baltic Sea caused abundant precipitation on the border of both air masses. From 4 to 8 July 1997, in the area between Wrocław, Katowice and Brno, precipitation exceeded 200 mm and in part over 300 mm; the highest precipitation was recorded in Pradziad - 455 mm and in Racibórz - 244 mm. At the Czech station Lysá hora in the Moravian-Silesian Beskydy Mountains fell from the morning of 4 July to the morning of 9 July, 586 mm, of which 510 mm in 72 hours. In the area where the flooding occurred (from Poland to Austria), monthly precipitation fell within a few days and in the mountains even two months. Two weeks later, from 18th to 22nd July, the Czech Republic was in the low pressure range from the centre over Italy. The low temperatures caused longterm precipitation mainly in the Karkonosze Mountains and the Jizera Mountains. In the period from 18 to 21 July, 139 mm of precipitation fell on Praděd, 116 mm on Wieluń and 115 mm on Częstochowa, which is also equivalent to the sum of monthly precipitation in these places. Throughout July, total precipitation exceeded the monthly average three or four times, and in the mountains even five times.