1. Story written by LENA from POLAND (class 8a)
Students from Germany will illustrate this story
A long time ago on the edge of the world there was a fishing village. Fishermen there were very wise ang had very fine boats. It was in times when few fishermen lived on Earth so The Sea was graceful to them and always warned them when there was a storm to come.
They lived in peace with The Sea. Thanks to this they always had something to eat and The Sea was given gifts by them in exchange. Life was easy and happy for them.
One day The Sea said: „Tomorrow an hour will come, when all the biggest and strongest fish will come to the shore, so that you will see them, but won’t be able to touch them unless you leave the harbour. Don’t be deceived. The moment you sail so far that you won’t be able to escape, the greatest wave you’ve ever seen will come and you will regret ignoring my advice”.
Fishermen planned to obey The Sea, but they were greedy. Just when they saw all the finest fish, they sailed off the shore. Only one, the weakest and oldest of them stayed in the harbour.
The first of the fishermen was the one who managed to grasp his fishing pole before they saw it. It looked like a wall of water, higher than any of their houses and wider than the seashore. It hit them so quickly that they didn’t have any time to react or escape. It sank their ships with them on deck.
All the villagers were terrified, only the old fisherman looked at The Sea with respect. He turned his head to the people and said: „See? You can never let yourself think you’re better than The Sea, something, that was in this world for far longer than we’ll ever be and something, that gives us fish, its property, so that we wouldn’t starve.”
Just then The Sea stranded all the strongest fish right in front of him. It said: „You’re the only one that listened to me, respected me. But I learnt today that men are greedy. When you see a treasure, you don’t think but run for it like animals. That’s why I won’t talk to you ever again. Every time you sail off the shore, you will worry that your boats will sink. You will fear me and respect me. All these fish are for you, but know that this is the last time I give a man any gifts. From now on I will protect every fish from you and I will punish anyone who angers me.”
Just when The Sea finished talking, the waters calmed. There was no sign of the big wave, no sign of the sunk boats. The only sign they had to believe what had just happened were the fish lying in front of the old fishermen. Only the old man lived in affluence for the rest of his life. But people were upset. They stopped calling The Sea with respect, now they would say just „sea”. They starved and had to build new boats, because the sea sank them. People’s bond with the sea is never to be recovered.
2. Story written by Marlene and Pamela, GERMANY (class 8d)
Students from Greece will illustrate this story
Once upon a time there were four fishermen with their boats. It was on a Tuesday. And like every evening they sailed out for fishing.
Suddenly it started to rain and a thunderstorm came with lightnings. The sea was rough, the waves became higher and higher.
The four fishermen thought to return to the village with their boats but they needed the fish for dinner. The storm was getting worse and worse and their boats swung, floated. No possibility to return to the harbour of the village! The men spent Tuesday night on their boats.
The waves had become quiet over night, but the fishermen lost theit direction. After many efforts they finally found their way back home. After more than four hours of navigation they arrived back to the harbour of their home city. They had their families back, could even enjoy their dinner alltogether, butthis dinner was without fish. It wasn‘t their major thought to take some fish when they were with the waves and thunderstorms in the middle of nowhere. How good it was to be back alive with their families!
3.Story written by Candice, Emery, Inès and Mathilde from France
Students from Poland will illustrate this story
The Torchon family was leaving the Pacific Ocean for a nice day out when suddenly the rain began to fall and little by little the clouds arrived.
They hit a rock and slowly the water infiltrated the boat.
Nobody had noticed... John, the youngest son went to his father and told him that there was water in the boat but the father didn't understand anything.
The man left the helm and went to the hold where he saw it was flooded and understood the boat was going to sink.
The grandmother suggested they found a stone, large enough to serve as a dry floor for the family.
John's sister remembered a small island they had just passed.
On the way they met a giant shrimp which asked them,
- What are you doing here ? The storm is coming soon, you should find shelter.
- We are going to the little island behind the cliff, said the father.
- Come, I'll come with you to show you the fastest way and to help you find a shelter.
- Thank you very much madam Shrimp.
The storm was getting closer and closer, the rain began to fall sharply and the family was still not at the shelter the shrimp had promised them.
The shrimp had found a shrub that was large enough to hold the whole family. Suddenly, the shrimp became a lot more aggressive and asked everyone to kneel and put their hands on their heads.
She explained she had been sent by the master of her planet, Venus, and that she had to exterminate them.
The family was afraid and started howling, the shrimp began to eat them one by one. She began with the father, then the grandmother, and the mother and next the sister. Everyone had been exterminated except John, the youngest son of the family. He was wondering why he had not been eaten too when the shrimp came and said
- Hello John, I was waiting to talk to you, only you and I...
- But what do you want from me ?
- Oh, don't worry about it.
Then the shrimp ran away and left John, the little boy, all alone on this island...