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 Train Collision
By Hayden Robert Ross
I got on a train to West Virginia from Missouri and the trains collided and my head slammed against the seat. I got so dizzy I threw up all over myself and it felt like I was going to die. My leg was stuck under a piece of metal from the train. It felt like an elephant was on my leg. It was bleeding and it was so bloody and red. I tore my sleeve and tied it around my leg to stop the bleeding. It hurt but I had to do it. And I lay there all day long it felt like my leg was on fire it hurt so bad.
But then I saw a little dog in the corner of my eye. It came up to me and licked my face and I smiled. I still could not move my leg but the dog laid next to me and I saw a vulture getting lower and lower, getting only about 20 feet above me, and swooshed down and tried to eat my eyes out of my body! But my new dog jumped up and ate of its tail and it fluttered to the ground and my dog finished the job.
The next day I lifted the piece of metal off my leg and it was so heavy my breath quickened and I groaned in pain but I eventually lifted the metal off my leg. Then I had to think about making a shelter but all I had was a hatchet in the middle of nowhere.
He knew he had to make a shelter whether he liked it or not. If he didn’t, he would get attacked by the pack of coyotes, even with his dog as protection. Hayden goes to look for wood by where the trains were laying. It knocked over a couple of big tall trees for his shelter. Then he cut small notches in it then laid them on top of each other and made a tiny shelter. He lives there until a different train comes down the tracks. He hides because he wanted to stay in the wilderness.
