PARAMETERS FORM
Write a Book in a Day
TEAM DETAILS
STATE: DIVISION:
QLD Middle School
SCHOOL/GROUP:
Hillcrest Christian College
TEAM NAME: TEAM ID:
Lumos 8 767
PARAMETERS AND RANDOM WORDS
Parameters Primary character 1
el… ive.r.y..d …D… ..r.i.v.e..r.................................
Primary character 2
ha… uf.f.e.u …C… ..r.......................................
ro… ne............................................ Non-human character …D…
Setting
igh th.o..u.s..e...................................... …L… …
Issue
ox… in..t.h.e …B… ...s.h..e..d................................
Random words ine… ap..p.l.e................................................. …p… lue…b.o..tt.l.e................................................ …b… ifes… av.e..r.................................................. …l… ig … bro..t.h.e..r............................................... …b… am… ily..................................................... …f…
Copyright Published By Lumos 8, Hillcrest Christian College, 21 Bridgman Dr, Reedy Creek QLD 4227 Written by Ava Lillywhite, Amelie Hemmings, Zahra Lowien, Olivia De Silva, Ella Henderson, Ella Kerry Copyright © 2021, Hillcrest Christian College.
All rights reserved. This book is copyright. Apart from any fair dealing for the purposes of private study, research, criticism or review, as permitted under Copyright Act, no part may be reproduced by any process without written permission. Enquires should be made to the publisher.
This book is dedicated to the kids currently fighting their battles against cancer. You’ve got this. You will win.
In the Beginning Rocco felt the soft white sand wriggle in between his toes. “Ugh, I hate sand,” he mumbled surreptitiously to himself. His younger sister Stacey, overhearing, grinned ruefully at her brother. “Kinda hard when you live in a lighthouse on the beach, big brother,” she reminded him. She was right, of course. Living in the Byron Bay lighthouse certainly had its perks, like unlimited surfing and late nights, but sand was just one of those things you could not escape, no matter how hard you tried. She wriggled her toes in the sand, gazing out at the surrounding landscape. The lighthouse was surrounded by thick vegetation, which gradually got sparser as it approached the water’s edge. There were many rock piles scattered around the beach, most likely to prevent erosion, but they added to the appeal of the quiet beach. The sun smiled down at them, glittering off the jewel-blue sea as snow-white tufts of clouds floated by. Paradise on earth, Stacey reflected sentimentally. She loved her life. Stacey and Rocco had been living at the lighthouse for two years, ever since Stacey had turned fifteen and Rocco eighteen. They loved living by the beach because as they were kids, they use to always go swimming in the waves. Rocco had always had a strained relationship with their parents and their family had eventually fallen apart because of it. One heated argument after another eventually became one too many and in a fit of rage, Rocco had stormed out and never came back. Stacey, refusing to be left behind with the direct wrath of her furious parents, had been quick to follow him out and their life living free from parents, homework and curfews had begun. Now, Stacey swept her long blonde hair out of her eyes and surveyed her brother, who was groaning and generally carrying on about the hot sand. Rocco was a tall, gangly boy, who had the appearance of someone who hadn’t quite grown into his body yet. He was prone to acne and had what Stacey considered to be the most annoying habit of tying his chin-length, shaggy brown hair up in a top knot on his head. Stacey loved Rocco, but she showed her affection in a strange way, as she always teased him and never actually admitted she cared for him. Regardless, the two were very close, since they had lived with only each other for two entire years. That is, just each other, and one other being. Stacey had found a drone the previous summer, a Lifesaver X 2000 who she christened ‘Lifey,’ which immediately decided that its main goal in life was to help her in every situation. There were a few drawbacks of having a drone constantly following you around while continuously buzzing, but Stacey found she welcomed the additional company. Rocco loved his little sister very much too, but likewise showed his affection for Stacey in a very subtle way. However, he knew that she had his back and he had hers, forever. Now, as Stacey looked down at a little rock pool on the beach near the lighthouse and stared down at her reflection, smiling down at her blonde hair, green eyes and paint splattered overalls, she felt truly happy. It was the weekend, so she wasn’t chauffeuring the snobby rich boy that she worked for around and Rocco wasn’t currently required at his job, delivering flyers and parcels on his rusty bike. Yes, she was happy. That was until -
Blue's Clues “Why did I have to come? You know I hate sand!” Rocco whined. “You need fresh air, you nerd.” Stacy replied. As they continued walking along the beach. Stacey brushed the hair out of her face as the wind danced through. The wind blow the sand and it brushed up against their legs. The sun beamed down onto their faces. “I hate the sun too,” Rocco whispered to himself quietly. “You hate the sun and the sand, I think there is a problem with you because we live on the beach!” Stacey said confused “Look! There is that annoying kid I chauffeur,” Stacey whispered. “He is so annoying and if he sees me, he will just keep talking and talking and talking and never stop. We need to go and hide quickly before he spots us! Follow me.” Stacey grabbed Rocco’s arm and ran and hide behind a large rocks wall. “Oww, that hurt! Why did you do that?” Rocco yelled at Stacey. “Oh, be quiet. You are fine, stop complaining.” Stacey said in an angry manor. “Hey, this is when we need Lifesaver to chase him away.” Rocco whimpered. “Don’t be dumb, Lightsaver is not there to chase people away, he is there for when you need help.” Stacey sighed. “Has the boy gone yet?” Rocco poked his head around the conner of the rocks to see if the boy had left. He had run halfway down the beach with his mum The little boy was having a tantrum, he was screaming and yelling at her. The boy started throwing sand and putting it in his mum's handbag. The mum yelled something at the boy, but Rocco and Stacey were too far away and didn’t quite catch what they were talking about. “Lucky, they are going away.” Stacey inspected the many, many rocks. “What is that?” she asked. Rocco crawled over and looked too. “What is that?” “I don’t know dweeb, how would I know if I asked you first,” replied Stacey, annoyed. “It... it looks like a bottle. A... blue bottle?” “It has a note in it,” Stacey pointed out. “Read it,” urged Rocco. “Calm down, I will,” said Stacey, She popped the cork of and pulled the paper out of the bottle. She began to read the note: ‘To whoever is reading, this is a trail of clues. Follow it to find your surprise. This will be the most exciting adventure of your life. So, follow the clues given and good luck! The other clues will be found in a blue bottle just like this. Your first clue is: ‘Go to the door of something tall. You keep everything here including the next clue.’ You will find the prize when you complete the hunt. See you soon!’ “What? How is this any helpful!” cried Rocco.
At the Lighthouse “So, where can we find the next clue?” asked Stacey. Rocco looked surprised. “Um, I think... well, I’m sure it will be... wait, that would be weird...” Stacey sighed. “Fine then. I’ll look for it myself.” She quickly walked away so she would avoid getting mad. Although Rocco was her older brother, he was a real hopeless case. “I don’t need him,” Stacey muttered to herself. “He’s no help at all. I’m going to find the second clue in less than ten minutes. And so off she went, searching everywhere for the next clue. She walked along the entire beachfront, scanning every grain of sand, but had no luck. “There’s nothing here. Where am I supposed to look now?” “Maybe try the lighthouse,” a voice replied from behind. “Woah!” Stacey jumped in surprise. “Rocco, you scared me!” “Sorry,” Rocco answered sheepishly. “But I really think you should search the lighthouse. I’ll come with you too, because when we work together, we can achieve anything,” he said, smiling at Stacey. “Fine. Are you coming?” Without waiting for an answer, Stacey started sprinting towards the lighthouse. Rocco followed at his own pace. A few minutes later, Stacey reached the lighthouse. “ROCCO, COME LOOK! ON THE DOOR!” Rocco caught up and scanned the note on the front door. Rocco began to read. The note said: Well done, you have found the first clue. To find the next clue, you must look within the tower where the light shines brightest. “It’s in the Lantern Room at the top of the Lighthouse!” they both yelled at the same time. They started rushing up the many, many stairs until finally reaching the top. They looked around for a while, but after about thirty minutes, they still hadn’t found the clue. “I’m beginning to think it isn’t in here,” declared Rocco. “I guess, but where else would it be?” Stacey asked. Rocco shrugged. “Let’s just...” Suddenly the door slammed shut with a loud bang. They heard the door lock, just as the lights started to flicker, eventually turning off. Stacey and Rocco were left in complete darkness.
Trapped in the Lantern Room “What happened? Rocco, where are you?” “I’m here!” called Rocco. A few seconds later, Stacey and Rocco’s eyes adjusted to the darkness so that they could slightly see each other. “Don’t worry, I am sure it is just a blackout or something,” Rocco said while sprinting straight to Stacey’s side. Stacey rushed towards the door. She pulled with all her might, but the door wouldn’t budge. “It’s locked. We’re trapped in here.” “What do we do now? We are probably going to be trapped in here forever. Unless we call someone. Do you have your phone with you Stacey?” Rocco asked, panicking. Stacey shook her head and crossed her arms. Rocco took a seat on the dusty floor. He looked towards the bright lamp where the light was produced. He titled his head and stood up, not taking his eyes off the lamp. “Hey, it looks like there is something in here.” “Wait a second, it makes sense now, the clue didn’t say it was in the Lantern Room, it said it was where the light shines brightest. And the light shines brightest in the lamp! Stacey walked back to her brother. She opened the glass barrier around the light and pulled out something blue. “It’s a bottle! You found the clue!” Rocco told her with excitement. Stacey pulled out the note and read it to Rocco. Good job, you have found the second clue. To find the next clue, you must first open the locked door. Once you have done this, the clue will be right in front of you. To open the locked door, you must add all these and put them in the lock: The dates of when you were put on this planet with the first letter of each of your names. “That means it would be 23 for you and 14 for me. And then it would be R and S,” Stacey told Rocco. He grabbed the lock and entered the key: 2312RS. CLICK! The lock opened and Stacey pushed open the door. “Yes, freedom!” she exclaimed. Rocco stepped outside and picked up another blue bottle lying on the floor. “Here is the next clue...”
The Box in the Shed Stacey stared at the note. It read: Trouver le cabanon. “Ok, this says that we need to… find the shed? “Find the shed? What does that mean?” Rocco scratched his head. “Wait... is it talking about that creepy old shed over there?” Stacey pointed towards a shed in the distance. “Probably...” “Well, I think it is, so let’s go!” Once again, Stacey took off, Rocco close behind her. After what felt like miles and miles of walking but was more like 100 meters, Rocco and Stacey stood in front of the shed. “The clue must mean it is in here,” Rocco said to Stacey. “Ok, so go on then, find it Rocco,” replied Stacey. “I am not going in there. The shed is like a thousand years old and is probably haunted.” “Fine, scaredy cat. I’ll go in then,” Stacey rolled her eyes. “Step back and let the brave person do it,” she told Rocco. Stacey stepped forward and reached out to the shed handle. She twisted and twisted but the handle wouldn’t budge. “It’s stuck,” said Stacey. “It’s locked. We need a key,” answered Rocco. “But where do we find a key?” asked Stacey. Rocco scratched his head in confusion. “Umm, well…” “Look!” Stacey pointed out. There are words on the lock! Let's read it.” Rocco stepped forward and leaned over, his eyes bright with curiosity. The clue to the lock is: Sous le gros rocher. “Oh no, it’s in another language. Looks like French again,” he sighed. “I’ll read it,” said Stacey. “Sous le gros rocher, this means… umm... oh yeah, that’s right. It means under the big rock.” “Under the big rock?” Stacey and Rocco stood in their places, full of confusion. Suddenly, Stacy took a few slow steps towards the garden. She glanced at everything and then something caught her eye. Under the big rock, she thought to herself. “Hey Rocco, come over here. Under the big rock! The big rock in our garden!”
“You’re a genius!” Rocco said to Stacey. The siblings stepped over to the garden and scanned for the big rock among the abbundance of flowers they had planted a few weeks ago. Rocco placed his hands around the huge rock and slowly lifted it up, throwing it onto the luscious green grass. “A blue bottle!” Stacey grabbed it and twisted off the lid. She reached down into the bottle and grabbed the note. “The key to the lock 1720,” she read aloud. “That’s our ages!” Rocco cried. “Oh yeah! Let’s see if it works.” Stacy stood up and strolled over to the lock. She entered the number 1720 and twisted it. CLICK! “Yes, it worked!” Rocco nodded and signaled for her to enter. Stacey twisted the handle and opened the shed door. It creaked open and Stacey took a step inside. The shed smelt of dust and many cobwebs covered the walls. She started to look around. It was mostly full of garden supplies; strangely enough, there was a broomstick and teacups. Then she spotted a bare cardboard box. Stacey gulped. “I think I found it,” she called to Rocco. “Bring it out then!” ‘What if there is a dead body or something?’ Stacey thought to herself. Apart from the people who lived in the lighthouse before Rocco and Stacey found refuge there, no one else had been in this shed before. Or had they? Stacey took a deep breath and lifted the box. It didn’t feel light but wasn’t that heavy either. She took one more glance around and then walked out of the eerie shed. She looked at Rocco and then placed it on the ground. “What next?” asked Rocco. Stacey took a deep breath and set her mouth in a determined line. “Now we open it.”
Flipping out, Flipping a Coin “Go on, open it!” Rocco said. “I got it out of the shed, you should open it,” Stacey replied. “No, you do it,” Rocco insisted. “You’re older!” “You’re stronger!” “You’re smarter!” “You’re braver!” “You’re so scared to do it, but you’re a delivery driver for goodness sake! You open boxes all the time!” Stacey hollered at Rocco. Rocco came back at Stacey with a clever comeback, “I reckon chauffeuring all those rich people in your car is driving you mad!” “Let's just get Lifesaver to flip a coin,” Stacey suggested. “Ok, fine. Oi, Lifesaver ol’ mate, come here!” called Rocco, clapping his hands. Lifesaver did nothing. Stacey grinned, then sweetly asked, “Lifey my dear, would you mind fetching a coin for us to flip? Lifesaver promptly came bursting through the garden clutching a coin. “I call heads!” cried Stacey. “Ok, I’ll go tails then.” Stacey nodded at Lifesaver and then the drone dropped a coin. Both their heads dropped as their eyes followed the coin. It landed on the grass and somehow landed on neither heads, nor tails. The coin stood up on its brim in a perfectly even position. “I’ll just flip it myself,” grunted Rocco. “Serves you right for trusting technology.” He flipped the coin again and again, but the coin somehow miraculously managed to land on its side. “Are you kidding me?” he yelled at Lifesaver. “Hey, don’t talk to sweet Lifey like that,” Stacey demanded. Rocco pouted. “Ugh, let's just get Lifey to open the box.” “Finally, you actually have a good idea,” Stacey smiled, seeing the wide grin on Rocco's face, showing his pride at being complimented. They shakily shuffled over to the cardboard box in the centre of the shed. Stacey called Lifesaver over, who hovered curiously near the box, butting at Stacey’s legs.
“Off you go mate.” Stacey said, a slight tremble in her voice, scared for her precious drone's life. Lifey moved slowly towards the box, almost as if he was scared too. His trapdoors unlatched, releasing his robotic arms. He timidly carefully cut open the dusty tape and slit open the top of the box’s carboard lid. A terrible odour arose from the box, smelling of rot and dust. Lifesaver backed away slowly, leaving room for Stacey and Rocco and they timidly stepped towards the box. Rocco glanced at Stacy, who was staring at the box, not quite able to see inside. Her wispy hairs that had fallen out of the quick bun she had put up when they were about to enter the shed shielded her face from him. Rocco reached over to her and grabbed Stacey's hand, gripping it very tightly. Stacey’s first reaction was to shake his hand off, but she fought the urge since she knew he was terrified. She realised that she too needed the reassurance that it was going to be alright, so she squeezed his hand tightly and smiled at Rocco, who smiled weakly back towards her. Her heart was thudding so loudly she thought it was about to explode; she was surprised Rocco couldn’t hear it about to pound out of her chest. She looked at Rocco and nodded. He nodded slowly back. They stepped in unison towards the box and taking a long, drawn-out breath, looked inside. Sitting in the centre of the box was a terrifying, bone chilling, bloodcurdling...
The Elusive Box …. pineapple! Rocco and Stacy gazed at it in utter bewilderment. Infront of them stood a prickly, yellow, green leaved fruit. Stacy reached in and grabbed the pineapple by the crown. “What on earth?!” Stacey exclaimed. Rocco reached into the box and pulled out a small rectangular card. On it read “PINEAPPLES R US. Come down to Byron Bay PINEAPPLES R US and pick up a pineapple for 50% off with this coupon!” “What!?” Stacey wondered with uncertainty. “Oh yeah! I picked up a delivery order for PINEAPPLES R US a while ago and they said they were promoting their pineapples through a scavenger hunt! They must have set it up while we were gone!” Rocco laughed. “Rocco, you fool! You scared me!” Stacey scolded. Rocco's smile turned into a frown at his sisters critism. “What do we do with this now?” Stacey asked. “I have an idea!” Rocco smirked. A few minutes later, the two siblings sat side-by-side on the beach, the sun beaming down on their backs. The wind was blowing gently through their hair, they were holding delectable pineapple slices and the salty smell of beach and happiness was wafting up their noses. They spent the rest of the afternoon resting on the beach, watching the blue waves gently lap against the shore. Lifesaver hovering beside them. “I hate sand,” Rocco murmured. “We know!” Stacey exclaimed. They stared into the sunset, munching on pineapple, peace at last. watching the blue sky turn rose, ten black. The stars lit up the ocean like fairy lights scattering the water. The wind died down and the air had a crisp chill, they went inside and snuggled up next to the warm, crackling fire. The colours in the fire shifted and mixed. Peace at last.
This book is aimed towards children aged 8-14. Join Stacey and Rocco on the adventure of the Stacey and Rocco will take you on their adventure, as they hunt for the big surprise. When siblings Stacey and Rocco find a secret message in a bottle washed up on the Byron Bay shore, they are sent all through their lighthouse home and the surrounds on a seemingly neverending scavenger hunt to try to find the “prize” awaiting them. Caution and trust will lead them through as they scour to find who is behind everything and what the mysterious prize truly is.