How Snails Got There Shells.

Do you ever wonder where snails got their shells? They are small insects (that can be big), and hermaphrodites, which are both boys and girls. They are slimy, and only walk on one foot! This is my story about how snails got their shell.

Once upon a time, 2,000 years ago, there were no snails. Only  slugs. They were the weakest of prey. The birds could see them a mile away (meaning of speech). They had no defence at night and no shelter. They were dying out quickly. By 16 A.D, there were 5 million slugs. By 17 A.D, there were 2 million slugs. By 18 A.D, there were 5 hundred thousand slugs left. On 20 A.D, there were only a few hundred left.

There was a plant called the Curling Stalk. It was like a koru, but the roots were coming out at around the neck. They were weeds. They killed other plants to take the water and to reproduce. People decided to kill all of the Curling Stalks because they were destroying their food. They cut the head off of the plant right under the roots and left the head there to rot.

A slug called Ngata was wondering around, when suddenly, a bird was screeching above him. He looked for some shelter to hide in, and he saw a Curling Stalk head. He ate the inside and curled up inside. After a few minutes, he heard the screeching fading away. He poked out his head and saw that the coast was clear. He tried to climb out, but it was too tight. It stayed on him. He decided to walk back and show his friends. Some of them thought it was a good idea, and some of them thought it was a terrible idea. They stayed as slugs. People called the new creatures snails.

How Kapiti Island Came To Be

Have you ever wondered how Kapiti Island was made? Well, let me tell you. But first things first. I need to describe the island. It is a beautiful island of nature and native birds. And you when you live in Waikanae, it looks like a man lying down with a blanket over him. Now let's get on with the story.

Once, there was a huge giant. He was a Maori Giant. No one knew what his name was, but he was very unusual. His father was a giant and his mother was a normal person. He lived in a tribe called the Ngati Poneke.

He made friends with many children in the Ngati Poneke. But the parents did not trust him. They thought of a way to get rid of him. They asked a nearby tribe called the Te Ati Awa to see if they can kill him.

What the Ngati Poneke didn't know was that the Te Ati Awa were looking for land. They didn't have enough land to plant food.The Ngati Poneke had lots of land and lots of food, so the Te Ati Awa decided to trick the Ngati Poneke. The Te Ati Awa will kill them instead. They decided to attack the next day.

The Te Ati Awa were surprised that the Ngati Poneke had such amazing warriors. The Ngati Poneke were fighting valiantly and were filled with determination. They were beating the battle. The only unlucky bit was that sadly, the giant's mum was killed in the battle. The giant was extremely upset. His mother died, The parents from the Ngati Poneke did not want him. He wandered out to sea and cried. He weaved a blanket while he was crying and he finally made one big enough to wear. He pulled the blanket over him so the world wouldn't see him. He cried so much, he turned to stone.

The children were also mortified. They decided to call the giant stone, Kapiti Island. And that was how Kapiti Island came to be.

How Sand Was Made

This is a made up myth, so I don’t know what culture it would be in, but this starts with the goddess of water, Aguac, and the god of land, Tierres.

There were rocks on the shores, rocks in the water, and rocks which form islands. Aguac wasn’t really happy that Tierres was putting his land in her ocean. They had an enormous argument.

“Rocks should be there so people who swim can actually stand on it!” said Tierres.

“Yeah, but your turf is in my area! It’s an ocean! Not a landcean!” argued Aguac.

This went on for days and days. The humans near the coast had the worst of luck. Then one day, a brave girl had enough of the bickering. Her name was Layla.

“Stop fighting. Just ground the rocks into smaller rocks but they are much easier to carry and people can still call it an ocean and people can actually walk on things. Seriously, it’s that simple!” said Layla.

They both agreed to her idea, so Tierres cracked most rocks of the world to create sand for the ocean. Aguac let Tierres have islands in her ocean and they were friends again. For now.

Soldier’s  Warfare

“Guys! Get under cover!” yelled Jack. Gun fire was whizzing past our heads. Most of their comrades were still shooting at the enemy.

“There are too many! GET DOWN!!!” shouted Jack.

“AAAAAGH!!!”. A man had 3 bullet holes through his helmet and head. He laid there motionless.

“We need more ammo!” yelled Paul.

“No, we don’t. We need more men to survive!” replied Jack. Two more men were shot down.

“Keep on fighting, men! GRENADE!!!” yelled the general. The battle in Austria was a massacre. The 1940’s were horrible times for war. Shells, gas, guns and bullets, all of them created chaos. Spitfires & Messerschmitt were shooting each other down, which crashed into the battle field.

Most of it was too much for some soldiers. But not Jack. He was a really bad fighter. He cared for his comrades. He did not care about how much a bad mo they have. He cared for how many lives were at stake, friend or foe. This war started at a game of chess. Yes, a game of chess. The competitors were the Queen of England and the Emperor of Austria. The Queen of England won, but at that time, the Emperor was an extremely sore loser. He declared war toward the Queen. She knew her forces would win, But it was quite even in this war.

At the base, Jack and Paul were thinking of a plan.

“These Austrians are too strong to attack head on. They have the weaponry, ammo and men.” said Paul.

“But they are completely defenceless from the back. The Emperor is horrible at defence. Probably why he lost at the game of chess.” said Jack. They talked till 2200 and in the morning, they told the general their plan.

“This strategy might actually work. Where will we get all of these materials though?” asked the general.

“I saw a village a few kilometres back. We can get enough resources in about 3 hours.” answered Paul.

The next morning, they placed scarecrows down on the ground at 0330. They put guns and uniforms on them to make them look like soldiers. Then they connected string to each of the triggers, so one soldier can pull the string and they act as the are shooting. In two hours, the Austrians woke up and saw many men pointing their guns at their direction.

“FIRE AT WILL!” yelled the Austrian general. The men started shooting down the “soldiers”, and the “soldiers” started shooting at them. Surprisingly, none of them fell down and they killed 20 people at the most.

“They are invincible!” yelled some Austrian soldiers. They were not expecting dozens of soldiers coming from behind, killing them with knives and guns. After a few minutes, nearly all Austrians were dead, and the survivors were taken hostage. Jack and Paul were declared heroes.