The Old Man and the Sea By: Ellen Pulukchu
Once upon a time there was an old man named Santiago. People knew him as a very unlucky man because he was never able to catch anything. He once fished for more than 80 days in a row. This is a little silly, right? But the man was a very determined old man. He knew that one day he will catch the biggest fish ever caught, but for now he wasn’t able to catch anything.
This man had a friend who was a small boy, Manolin. To Santiago, Manolin was a very good boy who helped the old man around. He would feed, take care, and fish with Santiago. He loved this old man very much and they got along very well.
“So what will we be doing today?” asked Manolin. “I have a good feeling about my chances of catching a fish today,” replied Santiago. “Well what are we waiting for?” Manolin happily jumped. Gathering everything they needed for fishing, they walked to their boat near the sea.
“Where do you think you’re going?” Manolin turned around to come face to face with his father, another fisherman. Manolin knew what his father was going to say. As he thought this, his father spoke the exact same thing. “Although Santiago may be your friend and a kind old man, he is full of bad luck. I want this to be a good fishing day for us, so lets not bring bad luck to our boat. You will not be able to fish with the old man today.” “But ---!” started Manolin. “No buts, you're going to fish with me,” finished his father.
Manolin felt really bad when he had to leave Santiago to fish alone for the entire day. “It’s okay, Manolin. I totally understand what these fishermen think of me but you should understand one thing: my determination gets me where and what I need,” explained Santiago to the little boy. “But what do you mean?” asked Manolin. “You’ll see,” replied Santiago with a smile that brightened his whole entire face. The boy then turned around and followed his father with his head down low.
The old man gathered up his things and headed towards his boat again. He took his fishing pole into his hands and headed to the middle of the sea. Santiago loved being out at sea, he felt peaceful, calm, and happy. He loved hearing the birds chirping, the geese squawking, and the fish splashing.
Over the side of the boat, Santiago threw the bait. While waiting, he noticed the sad looks he got from other fishermen. They were giving the looks because they knew how unlucky he was with fish. Meanwhile, it was getting closer to noon. Instead of looking at the other men at sea, he thought about the fish he knew he was going to catch today.
Before Santiago knew it, he was very far out and it was getting dark. He didn’t see any of the fishermen anymore. The thought got interrupted by a tug at the line. “Is that just my imagination or was that an actual tug?!” shrieked the old man out of happiness. “I really hope that is an actual fish. From the weight and tug of it, it seems to be a fish.”
To his surprise, it was actually a fish attached to the bottom of the fishing line. He was really surprised because he hadn’t caught a fish in more than eighty days in a row. It was dark out now and Santiago was getting cold and hungry. But most of all, he wanted company. He missed the boy; he was never without him. Santiago let the thought go because he had to really had focus on this fish.
Santiago was determined to get this fish as his own because he knew how many days he would go without catching one single fish. At the last tug, he saw something huge - a shark! He moved away the fishing pole a little so the fish that caught on wouldn’t be too close to the shark. The shark waited a little and then swam away. The old man stayed very still so the fish wouldn’t let go. “Whew, that was a close one,” Santiago said as he ran a hand across his forehead. Finally, thinking it was time, Santiago gave one last tug at the pole and pulled out the fish.
With the fish in the boat, Santiago knew exactly what his determination brought him. The old man then took his oars again and started back to the shore to get a goodnight’s sleep. The next day, the old man showed Manolin the fish that he caught. “I told you my determination gets me where and what I want,” said the old man. “So that is what you meant the other day,” replied Manolin. “Exactly,” said Santiago. “Now grab a fishing pole and lets go fishing and see where your determination takes you and what it will give you.”
The End
About the Author My name is Ellen Pulukchu and I am 16 years old (a sophomore). I was born on December 6, 1998 and live in De Pere, Wisconsin. For all my school years and my freshman year, I attended public schools in De Pere. For my freshman year, I went to De Pere High School. This is my very first year in eAchieve but I might go back to De Pere High School. I am from a family of 14 people including myself and my parents (all biological). I play the violin and used to play the piano. I love any kind of sport but some of my favorite are: volleyball, tennis, and football. A neat fact about me is that I know how to speak four different languages fluently: English, Russian, Gagauz, Ukrainian, and just some of Spanish. I have to admit that I am a very talkative and outgoing person who will talk to anybody. In my opinion, laughing is the best thing which is why I do it a lot!
My Family
My sister and I