World Literacy of Canada

“The Adventures of Matt Cruse in Outer Space”

Matt got off his knees, brushed off the dirt, and trudged toward the village. He hoped the people could help him.

The village contained about thirty mud huts with neatly thatched roofs. The village appeared empty, but after a few minutes, Matt noticed the first sign of life.

It was an orange, ostrich-like bird. Other ostriches followed behind it. They were all different colours of the rainbow, including some colours he had never seen before. Matt thought they were the most beautiful birds he had ever seen.

Matt decided to name the place Ostrichville.

After a few days of living with the ostriches, and studying their way of communication and behavior, Matt could talk fluently to the ostriches in their sign language.  Matt soon realized that the ostriches were very intelligent.

Because they liked each other, the ostriches decided to accept Matt into their herd.  Soon, Matt forgot all about fixing his airship and returning to earth.

Matt Cruse rode on the ostriches backs, helped them find food, and during his free time, he played their games.

One day, a terrible storm came and destroyed the entire village. To Matt’s relief, nobody was hurt.

The ostriches asked Matt if he would help re-build the village. He accepted immediately, knowing that his two hands could do the work of fives sets of clumsy ostrich feet.

When the ostriches handed Matt the tools he would need to re-build, Matt gasped. There was a hammer, nails, wrench, and more! Perfect for fixing maybe a…crashed spaceship!

After two days of hard work, the town was finished. Matt asked the ostriches if they would lend him their tools and help him fix the spaceship. They agreed, but were sad he would be leaving.

Once his airship was finished, Matt said goodbye to his ostrich-friends and returned to Earth to tell his story.

Emily Van den Hoogen is from Mabou, Nova Sotia