Young Writers Society

The warm midday sun shone upon the youths as they sat at a table in the park. The seaweed on the beach, which was only a short stroll away, made the air smell like a sushi bar, and the sound of crashing waves calmed them as they settled down to eat.

“We’re all sharing these, remember.” Justin, the eldest of the group by four years, placed a paper package of hot chips on the surface.

“Just so long as I get all the crunchies,” his sister, Ebony, said as she began unwrapping it. Pretty soon there was a pile of salty, greasy, delicious potato chips staring up at them. Justin and Ebony quickly gave in to the temptation and grabbed a handful. They were followed by their cousin, Amanda, and her friend Rebecca.

“Pass me my hat, would you?” Justin asked his cousin, who was in charge of carrying a polka-dotted beach bag with all their essentials inside. She unzipped the bag and handed him the hat, which Justin placed upon his burning head.

“Thanks.”

Becca shoved a full chip into her mouth and then proceeded to lick the chicken salt from her fingers. “These are so yummy,” she grinned with a mouthful of mashed potato.

“I just hope the seagulls don’t come over.” Amanda looked wearily at a flock of white birds which were circling over the water.

“Don’t jinx us, Mandy!” Becca ordered.

“Well they’re not getting any of my chips if they do.” Ebony had already managed to get a substantial amount of grease soaked into her flowery summer dress; she was using it as a bowl to hold her precious ‘crunchies’.

“Mum’s going to kill you,” Justin observed the small mess on his sister’s dress, “and then she’ll kill me for not supervising.”

“You are supervising,” Amanda smiled. Justin was by far her favourite cousin, and she didn’t want him to feel inadequate. But, just to be sure he didn’t get into trouble, she reached into the beach bag and retrieved a packet of hand waves. “Here, Ebony. For when you’re finished.”

“Oh,” she grabbed it with her greasy fist, “thanks.”

“Uh oh.” Becca pointed at the sky and the group all turned their heads to follow her gaze. Amanda clearly had jinxed them, because now the flock of seagulls were heading straight for their little wooden table. They were in an arrow formation, the head seagull squawking threateningly at them.

“Don’t feed them,” Justin told the girls, “that’ll only make them crazier.” The girls continued casually eating their lunch as the birds landed on the grass around them, but they cast wary glances over their shoulders. “Just pretend they’re not there.”

“Easier said than done.” Ebony gathered the crunchies in her dress protectively.

Becca shrugged, fitting three chips in her mouth at once.

“Hey!” Amanda shouted as a seagull landed in front of her on the table. It looked at her with its two beady eyes and squawked. Justin instinctively grabbed the chip paper and slammed it over the precious food, accidentally squashing a few chips in the process.

“Mine, mine!” Becca giggled, teasing the bird by waving a chip around. “Mine, mine, mine!”

“Becca!” Justin snapped, he knew that would only provoke the birds further, and they didn’t want to do that. The seagulls on the grass were edging closer and closer to the table and their screeching leader.

Ebony got scared and jumped back from the table, letting go of her bundled dress as she did so. Her crunchies flew in all directions, landing both on the table and the lawn. That was all the encouragement the birds needed- in a cacophony of squawks and shouts, the birds flocked to the table and the youths abandoned their base.

Luckily, Justin had the chip package under his arm as he ran from the table, avoiding the seemingly hundreds of flapping wings.. Becca and Amanda followed closely behind him, waving their hands in the air to scare the birds. The seagulls were no longer interested in the children, though, only in the crunchy chips they’d left.

Ebony was far ahead of the group, having already run for her life to a different table. She waited for them, breathing heavily and shaking like a wet dog.

“Calm down, Ebony.” When Justin reached her, he placed the chips on the table and grabbed onto his sister’s arms. He knew exactly what to do when she had a panic attack; the doctor had trained him well. “It’s okay. Can you find something blue?” Her eyes flicked up, looking at the sky, then she tilted her head to the water. “What about pink?” That took her a little longer, but she raised her hand and pointed to Amanda’s pink shirt. “Green?”

“The grass,” she said, rolling her eyes as if that was obvious, “duh.”

“Good,” he let go and patted her head, “welcome back, my sassy sister.”

“Can we finish lunch now?” Becca and Amanda had climbed onto the table, and now Becca was unwrapping the chips, not at all phased by the bird attack.

“Sure.” Justin repositioned his hat, which had slipped over his eyes. He grabbed a chip, “Bon appetiit.”

“Here, Ebony,” Amanda passed her cousin the last few crunchies, before taking a handful of thicker chips for herself.

“Thanks,” she smiled, wiping a couple of tears from her eyes. “I hate those birds.”

“Don’t look up then,” Becca groaned. Their lunch was almost gone; only a small pile of fried potato graced the paper. But the few crunchies that the bird’s had claimed were completely gone, quickly devoured by those ravenous creatures. Now they were coming back for more. The youth could hear the flapping of wings above them; the seagulls were circling.

“Someone gimme a gun,” Amanda waved a fist at them, “and I’ll get ‘em!”

“You’re too young for a gun,” Justin said seriously, but his attention was on the birds. Suddenly, the leader squawked and dived straight at him. Ebony screamed, covering her head with her arms. Becca gasped, Amanda threw a chip at it (which was quickly devoured by another bird), and Justin watched, frozen, as the seagull used its beak to lift his hat into the air.

“Oi!” He made a desperate grab at it as the seagull lifted back into the air, his hat going with it. “Come back with my hat!”

He pushed himself away from the table and sprinted across the grass, after that ridiculous seagull and his hat. Becca joined the chase, running behind him, and Amanda watched the table, sounding like she might die with laughter. The other birds seemed equally thrilled by the spectacle; they hovered in the air, squawking and screeching, but didn’t bother with the remainder of the chips. That was just as well, because Ebony was crouched behind the table, eying them nervously.

“Get him, Justin!” Amanda was now standing the table, jumping up and down. “You can do it!”

But he couldn’t do it. Panting, he slowed down and halted to a stop at the end of the grass. The bird was over the beach now, and far too high, even if he could keep up with it. His trusty hat flapped in the wind as it was carried in circles over the sand. Becca skidded to a halt moments later and watched the circling creature.

“You know what it wants, Justin,” she reasoned. “The chips for the hat.”

“You have got to be kidding me.”

“Nope.”

“A bird couldn’t be that clever.”

“But,” Becca laughed and shrugged her shoulders, “here we are.”

Justin looked at the bird, teasingly swooping up and down with his hat, then at the table, from which Amanda was waving. He thought it was a crazy idea, negotiating with seagulls, but he was in a crazy situation and Becca’s plan did sound plausible.

“Hey, Mandy!” He shouted to his cousin. “Bring the chips, over, would you?”

“Sure thing!” She called back. The agile girl jumped off the table, grabbed the paper package, and ran across the lawn until she was side-by-side her friend.

“Just let me have one more before we hand them over.” Becca, mind always on food, poked around the paper until her fingers found a chip, which quickly entered her mouth. Satisfied, she passed the bundle to Justin.

“How do we even do this?” He unwrapped the paper, holding the small pile of chips.

“I dunno,” Becca grabbed another for good measure, “just throw them or something.”

“Guys!” Ebony shrieked. She was on all fours under the table, sheltering from the flock of birds which had since grown bored with the hat. The seagulls must have smelt the grease on her dress; they’d landed on the wooden surface and were pecking at it as if they knew Ebony, and the scent of hot chips, were hiding below. “Help!”

If Justin didn’t get those birds away from his sister, he definitely would be in trouble when he saw their mum. Without any delay, he threw a chip towards the table. It landed on the grass nearby, and the seagulls instantly abandoned Ebony and flocked to the food.

“Now at the hat,” Becca prompted. He threw another, this time at the seagull who had his sun hat. The creature squawked, but didn’t give in. So he threw another, and another, until it began spiralling down to the sand where they’d landed. The troublesome seagull landed gracefully, placing Justin’s hat in a pile of seaweed.

“I’ll fetch it!” Amanda said, sprinting towards the prize.

Becca took the remainder of the chips from him and, as the pair walked back to the table, she threw them to the flock of seagulls who had since been fighting over that single chip. They squawked in thanks, each getting a fair share of potato,

“Alright, Ebony?” Justin knelt down and peeked under the table, She nodded, laughing nervously.

“That was one crazy lunch.” Becca sat on the grass and soaked in the sun, watching the birds eat up their chips. They suddenly burst into the air as a gleeful Amanda ran right through the middle of them, hat in hand. She handed it to Justin, who triumphantly placed the prize back on his head.

“Now that that’s over...” He took Ebony’s hand and helped her climb out from under the table. “...How about I treat everyone to an ice cream?”

“Just as long as I don’t have to share with them,” Becca said, pointing at the birds. Everyone laughed and the four youths walked to the ice cream stall, happy to leave the flock of seagulls behind them.