The Boat Ride to New York by Hunter David Miller

About This Story Series
This story is part of a special series written by students in Stephanie Christopher’s 4th Grade Class at Elkhorn Elementary. After reading Hatchet by Gary Paulsen, students were challenged to write their own personal narrative in which their main character must survive in an extreme setting. Using Paulsen’s writing style as inspiration, they crafted exciting tales of adventure, danger, and resilience.

Out of all the submissions, six standout stories were selected to be published in the Excelsior Citizen. We hope you enjoy these incredible student-written survival stories!

The Boat Ride to New York

By Hunter David Miller

My name is Aiden, and I live in Florida, and I am 25 years old. I am going on a boat ride to see my friends in New York. I am leaving right now.

We are on the ocean now. I saw some jellyfish swimming, and some fish, too. We had fun and played games. Most of us jumped in the water. I saw something grey in the water. I didn’t know what it was but I hopped back on the boat, and we started moving again. I saw a speedboat, and it was as fast as lightning. I got soaked and splashed, but I dried off. Everyone was going to sleep. I was asleep, all of the sudden, I woke up and my body was no longer in the bed. I was on the walls.

I got off the boat with a lot of people. We swam away from the boat. We were still a little bit scared, but we swam further and further still hundreds or thousands of miles until we saw land again.

I felt tired and fell asleep, and when I woke up I was underwater, so I swam back up, and I saw people swimming in different directions. I saw some small fish, some crabs, and a big blue whale. I heard birds, and they sounded like a song that I knew.

I started to feel hungry, but then I realized I could catch fish for food. I swam underwater to catch fish, and I caught one. I saw something grey so I said “slow down it might be a shark.”

A few minutes later it was gone, and I started to see mountains. They were so pointy like a cactus, or claws, and I felt water on my back. It felt like ice, and some got in my mouth. It tasted gross. I started to swim faster and faster, and I saw a boat, and some people shouted for help, but he didn’t hear them. I saw some buildings. I started to wonder if people will know that we are here? We swam and swam and finally, finally, we made it to the shore. My friends were there to pick me up. We went to Titan’s house and we went to sleep. We woke up the next morning and got ready for our next adventure.