Fourth Update

Birdie was taken to Nicholas's island called Calista. He gave Birdie a tour of the island and then they went and said hello to Nicholas's worker, Bajo. Birdie saw him as some sort of quiet little monster and was afraid of him. The island was small with a beach on one side and cliffs on the other. In the middle of the island was a collection of old farm equipment with a big cobble stone well. After the tour, Nicholas put Birdie on his black yacht and locked her in. Even though he locked her inside the hot, stuffy boat, he supplied her with magazines, food and drinks.

While Birdie was locked in the yacht she started thinking about why she was kidnapped. She came up with a list and wrote it in her private journal. Nicholas had specific rules for Birdie to abide by. The main rule was that if she was down in the yacht she had to radio Nicholas before she came up onto the deck. One day while she was down in the boat she thought she heard Nicholas call to her so she went up onto the deck. Nicholas saw her and came running down. Birdie had heard a bird and got punished for breaking the rules. After Nicholas threw Birdie overboard she had an asthma attack and luckily Nicholas had seen her inhaler in her mother's suitcase and ran to get it. After the punishment, Birdie was allowed into Nicholas's work room and was laid down on a cot next to his desk. When she woke up from her nap, she noticed that he was typing on a brand new orange Mac that was sitting on top of a pink case that had a girl's name on it. Birdie thought this seemed strange but she didn't know what was going on.

Some days when Nicholas was in a good mood he would take Birdie snorkeling or they would relax on the beach together. Birdie had confused feelings for him; some days he would punish and beat her other days he called her his princess and said he would never let anything bad happen to her.

One day Nicholas had some business to attend to so he locked Birdie in the cabin of the yacht where all the rooms were located. He told her this time he wouldn't be back for a couple of days. He left her with plenty of food and stuff to drink. He also left her his orange Mac. He told her he wanted a story about him by the time he got back. She was amazed he left his computer with her. After Nicholas locked her in and went to carry out his business, she spent hours and hours trying to figure out his password to access the internet. If she could send an email out to her family and friends, someone would for sure come look for her. She spent long amounts of time trying to guess the word without any luck. While she was locked in the yacht she heard a helicopter land near by. She knew they were looking for her. However, Nicholas had changed his appearance and was very good at lying so that the people in the helicopter didn't suspect anything and flew away. Nicholas came and informed Birdie that she was going to have to stay down her for awhile longer, maybe a couple more days.

Birdie noticed a girl had came to visit Nicholas. She was a very pretty girl. Birdie watched as the girl and Nicholas sat on the beach. She saw them kiss and figured that must be his girlfriend. The next morning the girl was gone along with her white sailboat. Birdie was having another asthma attack because the boat was extremely hot. She radioed Nicholas over and over and finally he came and let Birdie out. He was in a very good mood. They went down to the beach together and Nicholas wanted to hear his story. Birdie had written the story in her private journal. When Nicholas picked up the journal and looked inside, he saw all the notes where Birdie had tried to figure out why she had been kidnapped. She also had reminders to herself that Nicholas was a very bad person. Nicholas didn't get mad when he read all this however, he just laughed it off. He was beginning to be such a weird person.

Nicholas became anger at Birdie and shoved her in the boat again and locked the door behind her. He told her she smelled bad and demanded she take a shower. He informed her that he was going to have Bajo build her a new home to live in, then he was gone. Birdie liked the idea bathing. She loved baths back at home and took them every night. While she was in the bath she was thinking about the password to the orange Mac. Then finally it came to her. She realized that Nicholas had said money was the reason she had kidnapped her. MONEY. That was the password. She had no sense of time or how long she had been in the bath. She got out as quickly as possible and went to the computer. She typed in MONEY and was instantly accessed to the internet. She typed in the email addresses she remembered from the top of her head. She started writing her email when she heard Nicholas outside the boat. She hurriedly finished the email and sent it. However, she didn't have enough time to erase it or tell everyone she sent it too not to send an email back. When Nicholas entered the boat, Birdie was standing there completely naked.

As Morgan was on her way over to Calista to visit Nicholas, a helicopter flew overhead. She didn't think much of it the first time. When she arrived on Calista there was a coast guard helicopter landed on the island. As she tied her boat up, Birdie saw her and tried screaming as loud as she could but Morgan couldn't hear or see her. Morgan got very worried and scared about the helicopter. She thought they had found out that she didn't legally own her sailboat. The helicopter flew away right as Morgan had landed, however. She walked up to Nicholas with a worried look on her face and he asked if she thought the coast guard was after her. Trying to hide behind a facade face, she said no. Then he explained how the coast guard was looking for a missing girl.

Morgan and Nicholas went up to his house and filled out all the needed documents to make Morgan the rightful owner of the white sailboat. After they settled all the legal stuff, Nicholas took Morgan down to the beach for a relaxing night. Nicholas was charming Morgan with his great looks and smooth talk. Then they kissed. Morgan was overwhelmed by the first one and kissed him back again. Then Nicholas got forceful and wasn't giving Morgan a choice to stop. Morgan kicked him in the ribs and ran for her sailboat. Nicholas wasn't able to catch up and Morgan got away and sailed out into the sea.

Third Update

Birdie had arrived at the St. Maarten airport. She and her family took a taxi to the ferry that they were going to take to St. Petts. When the Sidwell's got the the ferry, there was nothing there but a sign that said 3-TIME-A-DAY FERRY TO SANTE PETTS. The family sat on their suitcases under the hot sun for nearly an hour when a man on a yacht called the Cheater introduced himself. He said his name was Nicholas Rigby. He offered a place for their luggage on his boat until the ferry came. Birdie and her mom decided they wanted to go check out the local stores while Henry, Birdie's father, decided he just wanted to work on his laptop in a shaded area. They took Nicholas's offer and placed their suitcases on his boat. When Birdie and her mother were done shopping they went back to her father. His shaded area was right in front of the ferry's station where he was watching for their ride to St. Petts.

Birdie wanted her camera that was still in her suitcase on Nicholas's boat. She went to go grab her camera while her parents watched from under the shade. When she got to the Cheater, she politely yelled out "Permission to come aboard?" Nicholas invited her on to his yacht. He told her he had to run over to the fuel tanks. She was waving at her parents when she realized they were headed to the open sea. Nicholas was kidnapping her. He poisoned her and therefore she couldn't remember how long she had been with him. Nicholas was acted almost protective of Birdie and nicknamed her Bugs.

After Morgan set out by herself, she realized she needed federal papers showing she owned her sailboat and didn't steal it. She remembered her parents had gotten some official paperwork done by a man named Nicholas who lived on an island called Calista. She looked up his number in her family's log and radioed him. She asked him if she could come visit him and get help with her legal issues. Nicholas said that would be great. Morgan expected to arrive in approximately two and a half days.

Second Update

Birdie's family was getting ready to leave for their year long vacation in the Caribbean. The Sidwell's had a going away party at the school. Birdie's friend, Kirin, arrived at the party late and was drunk. Kirin always had to be the center of attention. The Sidwell's were very excited to start on their new life in the Caribbean. Birdie's family went to the airport and got on their plane to St. Maarten, where they had to switch planes.

Morgan was out on the sea all alone. She was enjoying herself and the wide open sea when she spotted a black-hulled yacht. Morgan went to her radio and contacted the people from the boat. The black-boat's name was the Engelberta. The old couple on the Engelberta and Morgan said their hello's and went off in opposite directions. Morgan kept calling for her sister Oona, especially in moments where she got afraid or lonely. She called for Oona's opinion and help in sticky situations. Morgan was having a rough time dealing with her sister's death. Morgan went to a small island for some supplies. She decided to climb onto a little hill and sit and watch the village. On the other side of the hill was a young girl who was tending to her camp (house).

The girl was cooking a big meal, probably for her older brothers. Morgan stayed and watched the girl for a while longer. Then along came a group of three boys. The boys went into the girls camp and started harassing her and her little chickens. Morgan didn't like what was happening, so she came running down the hill and tackled the boy who was holding the girl's chicken like he was going to kill it. Morgan ran the boys off and offered the girl a ride to her aunt's house on another island. The girl's parents were no longer around. Morgan took the girl to her aunt's house and then set back out onto the open sea.

Reading History

I have read quite a few books in my seventeen years of life. I read almost all the Roald Dahl books when I was in elementary and middle school. My favorite Dahl book was Danny, The Champion of the World. Some other good, interesting books that I have read include: Ink Heart, Abarat, The Merlin Trilogy, The House of the Scorpion, and of coarse The Twilight Series. I really enjoyed reading Stephanie Meyer's books. Meyer's four books from The Twilight Series were by some of my favorite books. Gap Creek, by Robert Morgan is probably my favorite of all the books, however.

The worst book I've read was All Quiet on the Western Front. We read that book freshman year. I honestly don't remember any of it so it must have not been that good because it didn't leave a lasting impression. I still read quite a bit, but probably not as much as I used to when I was in middle school though. I usually read in bed before I fall asleep, and on days off or on weekends. If I really get into the story I can read all day long.

First Update

In my Honors English class we are reading a book of our choice. I choose the book Deep, by Susanna Vance, published in 2003. So far this book is about the lives of two different girls. The book is written in alternating view points between the girls. One girl, Birdie Sidwell, lives in Riverton, Oregon. She is trying to write an amazing book but nothing exciting ever happens to her. She complains that her entire life is only about rain. When she was in elementary school her best friend, Kirin, got sent to a private school. The private school only went up until middle school. When Kirin came back she was a completely different person. Birdie's best friend was never the same, she left that day in elementary and never returned. Birdie and her family are planning to go on a year long vacation in the Caribbean. She is hoping something atrocious or gruesome occurs while she is down there that way she can write what she knows. She is very excited to do something else with her life for a year.

The other girl, named Morgan, lives with her parents on the ocean. She had an older sister, Oona, but she got thrown off the sailboat during a horrible storm and was never seen again. Morgan also would have a younger brother but he was born dead. Morgan's father blamed her mother for the death of their son. She tried to go through labor and deliver the baby all alone. Her parents started fighting and drinking excessively. The mood on the sailboat became awkward and sad. The family decided to go visit an island to get more supplies. Morgan's parents decided to stay a couple nights and that is when Morgan decided to steal the sailboat and go out to sea by herself. So she left her parents and traveled out to the dark sea in the middle of the night while her parents were in the town bar drinking away their miseries.

Right now I am on page 82.