Fifth grade writing prompt by Dayanara:
Second Draft:
Dear Diary, November 9th, 1620
Today is the first day I will board on the Mayflower with my husband, Stephen, and my baby. (I am pregnant.) I had to get away from England as fast as possible since I desperately wanted my own religious church. When me and other Saints started to have secret meetings, we were caught by the Anglicans, unfortunately. So now me, my husband, and the other Saints went to Holland to have a better life there, but we were planning on going to the New World after we went to Holland because we didn’t want our kids to forget how to speak English. I am very worried about going into the Mayflower. What if the boat sinks? What if the ship hits a storm!!? What if I lose the baby while on the ship? I could get seasick and maybe even die… I just realized that the more I think about it, the more worried I could get.
. . .
I am on the Mayflower now feeling very uncomfortable. The speedwell boat for the other passengers was leaking. Half of those passengers had to get on the Mayflower and now it is very crowded. I felt very frightened of the Strangers. For some reason, Saints and Strangers dont get along together since Saints are religious and sing Christian songs while Strangers sing regular songs and don’t ever pray to God. This is sometimes the cause of the arguments.
. . .
Oh no, I feel waves hitting the ship. I went all the way upstairs looking for my husband. I had to say a lot of “pray pardon me”while running to my husband. (I had to go a little bit slow since I don’t want to risk losing the baby.) When I found Stephen,he was at the dock fixing the main beam which looks like it is broken!! I panicked!! I fainted!!!
. . .
When I woke up, I was on a very hard floor with some beer at my side. (I didn’t drink it because everyone knows that any drugs or other bad things are not supposed to be consumed if someone is pregnant.) I turned around and I see a lot of people with very pale skin. They are seasick! This condition is very gross since people vomit all the time!! I just remembered that I fainted in the middle of a storm without telling Stephen to go downstairs quickly. I sat up and went to look for Stephen and I found him reading a book. He looked up smiling and said that boat was going to sink, but he fixed the Mayflower and it didn’t sink. I went back to the front deck and I read a very exciting book. My hobby is mostly reading in a nice quiet spot.
. . .
Agggghhhh!! I feel very sweaty and very hot. I go to the doctor and he says that the baby is coming RIGHT NOW!! The doctor brings me to a place where I could have my baby. Here he/she comes!!!
. . .
The baby is a boy and I name him Oceanus because he was born aboard a ship, in Atlantic ocean. Right at that moment Oceanus was born, we were already in the New World. It was a huge miracle. Everyone was saying “huzzah” to me and Stephen.
. . .
When me and the other passengers got off the Mayflower, we explored the New World which did not have many people. Before we all got off the Mayflower, all the adult men had to sign the Mayflower Compact which was the very first set of laws in America that said the majority should rule. The Mayflower Compact is very important since it gave equal and fair promised laws. Everyone celebrated when the Mayflower Compact was signed. It was the best day of my life since now we could have our own country and have our freedom to practice our religion. Everyone was so enthusiastic. Well now it is turning late and I have to go put Oceanus to sleep. Fare the well.
Sincerely,
Elizabeth
