WWII Plane Story
by Austin Wong 6B
This is a scene-writing assignment in class. Students were instructed to write one short scene about a group of friends being stranded in the desert. The students needed to quickly show their main character and their problem in one scene.
“Congratulations, Dave and Peter! You had passed the assessment!” the general said. They glanced at each other and saluted to the general. They solemnly took the certificate and stepped back. They can’t wait to fly-- but they can’t imagine what is happening in front of them.
At the moment they were shopping, they were having a little chat.
“Hey, I think we are going to be late for navy practice.” said Dave’s brother, Peter.
“Yeah, we better finish shopping as soon as possible.” answered Dave.
When they went home, every channel of the television had changed to “Breaking news: Pearl Harbour being attacked by Japanese aircraft”. They gazed at each other and understood that they must be a part of the country to defeat the Japanese.
They gazed at each other uneasily. They knew that the country needed them to defeat the Japanese and get them away from the peaceful, gracious America. They high-fived. They had each other’s backs. The next day, they were going to attend the army-- the first thing they needed to do was to be on time.
Dave tossed and turned around and around. Although the stars were shimmering and everything seemed not to be happening, leaving his brother, parents and girlfriend behind caught his mind. Bees zoomed around his brain. He tried hard but it seems that nothing could keep him asleep.
Peter’s situation was not much better than Dave’s. He just couldn’t sleep, maybe it’s because of the navy thing. Apparently, killing and the risk of being killed really concerned them. Uneasily, he fell asleep. He dreamed of being hit by the Japanese fighter planes, his jet was on fire. He screamed and crashed the plane-- but in real life, he was slammed his head against the wall.
They woke up before dawn the next morning. Although they were tired, they carefully packed their things. Their last breakfast at home in a short period included steak, fish fillet, fried potato chips… Whatever they wanted, it was prepared on the dining table.
They marched towards the barrack but they faced a gridlock. They were trembling because they couldn’t even imagine what would happen if they were late. As expected, the clock is ticking. 30 minutes, 20 minutes, 10 minutes, 5 minutes… the situation simply didn’t improve much. Ah, wait, the barrack was still kilometres away from their car.
On the first day of their training in their lives, THEY WERE LATE. The general didn’t stop scolding them. The endless, strenuous training was just at the beginning.
Half a year later, they were informed that they needed to fight. “Eventually,” they thought. They had some boring days on the warship, as expected. Suddenly, they had a feast as breakfast. A war was coming.
Soon, they were sent to their aircraft. According to the map, they were near an island named Midway. They followed their squad captain on their (last) journey. He was the first to take off. Three, two, one, go! The sky was glorious, the Japanese warships hadn’t discovered them yet. Except the Japanese had four battleships and they had three, everything was on their side. By then, a destructive thing occurred to the Americans. The squad captain crashed his plane into Pacific Ocean. He can’t make it to the ship anymore.
After some 10 minutes of reorganization, the deputy commander had finally succeeded in taking off. Dave and Peter followed him. Unfortunately, storms and gales ruined their effort. The only objects around them were clouds and each other’s fighter planes. They had only got a pencil and map and they were low on fuel. Suddenly, the commander saw a rainbow just above sea level. This may be the last hope of their team.
They headed to the rainbow, as they guessed the rainbow may be caused by the reflection of the battleships’ waves. They went there and passed the Japanese air defense easily. Both American and Japanese warships were there. And of course, they bombed the Japanese warships. Two of the three warships were hit. They swooped across the sky and signaled each other to leave. The Americans seemed to be unbeatable, they thought proudly.
DAVE
Dave chose to hit the third Japanese battleship before leaving. Due to his outstanding flying abilities, he dived deeply into the Japanese air defense. Now, all cannons were aiming at his plane. Waves and waves of bullets slightly passed his jet. When he was aiming at the battleship, his plane shook a little bit, causing him to miss his 1st shot. 2 to go. He tried his best dodging the bullets from the battleship and the Japanese planes, and he made his 2nd attempt.
“Bang!” the bullet hit the oil tank of the ship, caused it to SINK.
“I will be promoted,” he thought, as he retreated, but he was distracted by that.
In his vision from his side mirror, Japanese planes were heading towards him and his homeland’s planes were helping… Countless bullets were flying across the sky. Suddenly, his plane signaled him for a lack of fuel. He immediately chose the shortest route to head towards his battleship but he made the wrong decision. The Japanese knew what he was about to do...
“Boom!” Dave’s plane was hit by a bullet. It fell to the sea surface like a comet.
PETER
Oh, my brother is being a hero again… Dave and his plane were in the Japs’ defense and to be honest, I don’t think he could make it. But I’ll still put my faith in him. Hopefully, he could come out alive. Oh, wait, what??? The Japanese ship was on fire! He made it! He made it! Flee, right now! The fighter planes are coming. The Japanese better surrender!
The fighter planes are dueling… one Japanese knockout… two… three… oh, Dave’s plane was on fire! I can’t believe he was hit! (Peter landed his plane on the sea surface, trying to save Dave, who fainted) Wake up, you fool! Wake up! (But he didn’t seem to be conscious) As long as you are breathing, I won’t give up on you. (He carried Dave to his plane but his plane was hit. He got to the battleship as fast as he could, but his plane was on fire when he landed) “Save Dave! I won’t make it! Save him! Tell him that I will continue to support him!” Then he ended his last breath.
A PRIVATE ON BOARD THE USS
“Come, he’s awake!”
I don’t know who said that, but everyone came towards his bed and asked him questions.
“Why did you choose to bomb the battleship?” “How did you dodge all those bullets?” “How many bombs did you hit the battleship?” There were loads of questions and the questions didn’t seem to stop.
After a while, the person who knew Dave most seemed not to be here. “Where is Peter?” he asked. The squad exchanged anxious glances. No one wanted to be the person to tell him that Peter sacrificed his life to save him but he soon found out about that. He quitted the navy because of sadness, and I have never seen him again.