Two Girls on the Shoals  (continued)

When we arrived at the dock we saw the boat. "Wow, its cool!" I thought when I saw the boat. It had a carpeted dining room. I leaned over on the dock to see the water. Wow! It was packed with minnows. The water was full of silver! We finally boarded the boat. It had three levels! I got lost many times. The boat trip was really fun. I soon found out the boat was going to Star Island which is a lot bigger island with a hotel. We waited on Star Island for my aunt and uncle. Finally, when they arrived we took a rowboat over to Smuttynose.

When we got there, there was a sign that said "Please do not disturb the flora and fauna." I asked Molly who Flora and Fauna were and she said they were the two ladies that were murdered. I felt embarrassed for some reason. When my dad came over I asked him the same question and he said that flora and fauna meant the plants and animals. Then I felt silly! It was hard work getting all the stuff up to the house, but we did it. When we entered the house we were welcomed by the smell of, what I thought, was a smell of cinnamon and apples. "Mmmm!"

The first thing we had to do was find a place to sleep. Molly and I wanted the loft in the barn, but Keegan, Michael, and Thomas got the loft. Molly put up a good fight though. We got the attic with my dad, Uncle Brian (Molly’s father) and Uncle Tom. My Uncle Dennis and Aunt Maryellen got the only bedroom.

The next thing to do was explore. Smuttynose had only one house so the rest is plants and animals (flora and fauna). There are so many seagulls that to keep them from attacking your head, you have to hold a stick over your head — because if they attack, which is rare, they will attack the highest point. So after we found our sticks we went for a walk across the small Smuttynose. It was scary at first because the seagulls fly in a circle above you and then fly up behind you. Then we saw baby seagulls. They were gray with black speckles, small, fuzzy, and cute! The parents squawked very loud every time we came across a baby. My dad said he felt like he was with a bunch of lawyers.

Uncle Dennis said that they red spot on their beaks and that makes the parents vomit and the babies eat it. Yuck! Soon after, we found a nest with no parents squawking at us. There was a baby there, but there was another baby hatching. I was worried. The baby hatching wasn’t making much progress. We walked on. Finally we got to a large stone pile (bigger than me). It had a lot of bird poop on it. There was even babies hiding in the rocks. Beyond that the ocean crashed against the rocky shore. I could no longer see the house. That was the end of the walk. We headed back. I came across the nest again. The hatching baby was still just wiggling around in its shell with only a little opening in the egg. My dad said it might be sick. I wonder what happened to the baby. Oh well.

CONTINUE to read the NIGHT ON SMUTTYNOSE