ELLA'S MESSAGE IN A BOTTLE
Ten-year-old Ella lives in a quiet seaside town in Australia. Swimming and collecting shells on the beach are her favorite activities. Her grandfather owns a small fishing boat, and on Saturdays they often sail out together. Ella loves those days at sea. On the boat, she helps her grandfather catch fish and watches the dolphins* that follow them.(lines 1–5)
Ella had never written to a stranger before. But one windy afternoon in January 2025, out on the boat, she tried something a little strange: she put a letter into an empty bottle and dropped it into the sea.(lines 6–8)
Ella kept the bottle a secret for a whole year. One morning, a worker at the town post office phoned her father. A big package with Ella's name on it was waiting there, so Ella and her father went to collect it. "Somebody found my bottle!" Ella cried. On the way home, she explained to her father why she had written the letter: she hoped to make a friend in another country.(lines 9–13)
The stamps on the package told Ella's father that it was sent from New Zealand, over 2,000 kilometers away. Inside were Ella's old letter and a note from a fisherman* and his daughter, Ruby, who found the bottle near their house. They asked Ella for two things: to write back to them and to send them a photo of her town.(lines 14–17)
Ella wrote back that week, and her teacher helped too: the class sent letters to the children at Ruby's school. Ella wanted her whole town to know about the bottle, so she phoned the local newspaper. Soon newspapers in Australia and New Zealand told her story, and Ella and Ruby spoke together on a radio program. In this way, thousands of people heard about the letter in the bottle.(lines 18–22)
Some months later, Ruby's school invited Ella and her parents to visit. People in Ruby's town collected money to help with the flights. In New Zealand, the family finally met Ruby and her father. Together they all sailed out on the fisherman's boat and visited the beach where Ruby found the bottle. It was a wonderful day.(lines 23–26)