by Sarah Hinds
7th Grade at The Harpeth Hall School (Nashville, TN)
Third Place
“Bye Mom, bye Dad.” Ruby Rogers held back tears. This was far different than going to college. She could just imagine the future headline: “22-year-old, Nashville Girl Found Dead in the Ocean While Traveling the World” Ruby wrestled with her mind. I cannot think like this, she told herself.
Ever since Ruby was a young child, she displayed a love for animals and cameras. Realizing her passion, she made a vow to herself that when she turned 22, she would sail the world and practice wildlife photography. After much contemplating she told herself, Now or never. Here I go!
After flying to San Diego, California, she entered the harbor and sauntered onto the dock with a bag containing necessities. Bobbing in front of her was the boat called The Jolly Rogers that had been given to the Rogers family by Ruby’s late grandfather. The vessel was the only possession she had from him.
Suddenly, Ruby heard a voice from the boat. “I am Captain Oliver Griffin. The first thing to know about me is that I am not the ‘touchy-feely’ type. And with my title comes strict responsibilities, and, therefore, I will not tolerate any rowdy teenagers. Are we clear?” After one last look at the harbor, Ruby nodded and entered the boat. Nothing could prepare her for what was to come.
Captain Griffin would rarely talk and smile. The only thing that Ruby could crack out of him was that he had been best friends with her grandfather. “He was a good man. When I couldn’t get a job anywhere else, your grandfather took me in and appointed me his captain. I’ve been here ever since.”
The next few weeks were a blur. They stopped in the Galapagos Islands to photograph turtles and birds, but soon disaster struck as the duo rounded the continent’s tip.
Ruby was yawning and trying to rub the sleep from her eyes as the sunshine peeked behind the curtains when The Jolly Rogers abruptly jolted. A realization descended upon her: the boat was capsizing. Quickly, she sprinted to the control room where Captain Griffin was slumped in his seat with a gash on his forehead. A rock had pierced through the bow of the ruined vessel. After Ruby picked up the unconscious captain she grabbed her bag full of necessities. She took a leap out the door into the water with Captain Oliver Griffin in her arms just as the boat disappeared beneath the surface.
Catching a drifting piece of the boat’s remnants, Ruby draped the captain over the makeshift floatation device. She gazed up and noticed an island about two miles away. With her submerged bag around her arm and the captain hanging onto the boat piece, Ruby started to kick as hard as she could toward the sliver of hope. Suddenly, the captain awoke and stared at Ruby with softened eyes as he attempted a smile. “I do not know what to say, Ruby. You saved my life. Thank you.’” Ruby watched, amazed at the captain’s change of heart. “You cannot keep going like this. My injured body is a burden on you. Save yourself.”
Ignoring his words, she said, “Why would I do that? After all you have done for me, please let me do this in return.” Arriving on land, Ruby and the captain collapsed. She lifted her heavy head and sighed as Captain Griffin sputtered, “Thank you, my girl.” Ruby went to the captain and hugged him, and he squeezed her tightly. She could have sworn a smile had spread across his face.
“Just like your grandfather,” Captain Griffin whispered.
A few days later, after building shelters using the scarce materials upon the island, the team ran into a large problem.
“We are out of water!” shrieked the captain. Ruby’s heart skipped a beat. They would die without water. Asking herself what goes into removing salt from seawater, she started to imagine possible solutions.
Finally, she had an idea: a water purifier. But after telling the captain her potential solution, he chuckled and said, “Only scientists can accomplish what you are trying to do. Don’t waste your time.” However, Ruby’s throat screamed for water. I must do something! But...how?
Ruby realized that her elementary school days had paid off. Condensation! That’s it! she thought to herself. Ruby decided to use objects available to her. She went inside her damp bag and took out two cups. Then, Ruby stacked the metal cups inside each other; the black, light-absorbent one, which was full of seawater, inside of the white one. She took a stray pencil from her bag and stood it up in the middle of the cups. Finally, Ruby took off the Saran Wrap protecting their leftover sandwiches and covered the cups, the wrap clinging to the outside. The pencil made the wrap form a dome so that when the sun beat down and evaporated the water, the vapor would rise, and the droplets would slide down the dome into the second cup. This invention would desalinate seawater when she left it in the sun. But when Ruby checked on her contraption, there was only one drop of water in the outside cup. She had to find a way to heat the water so that the condensation process was quicker. Then it came to her: My toiletry bag! Ruby took out her bag and found a compact mirror. She knew this one was concave, which would focus the sunlight into a certain spot. Ruby placed it at an angle next to her invention. The mirror would concentrate the sunlight, causing the liquid inside the cup to boil. When she checked on it some time later, a few ounces of water were in the outside cup. Ruby’s solution had given them fresh water!
The next few days were dependent on her creation. On the seventh day of being stranded, a plane flew by. Ruby took her compact mirror and waved it up to the sky. It glinted the sunlight toward the plane, and the plane saw the pair. They swooped down and landed. The pilot brought Ruby and Captain Griffin back to safety.
Before Ruby departed, Captain Oliver Griffin said, “Boy, I really misjudged you. Thank you, and I’m so sorry.” He pulled out a pin that had ‘Captain’ engraved on it and set it into her hands. “Because you are the true captain of this crew.” And they went their ways, a grin plastered across both of their faces. Ruby, satisfied, returned home with the story of a lifetime.
Annotated Bibliography
Simple uses of concave mirrors
Aenne, R. (2019) Retrieved January 11, 2019, from Sciencing website
This site helped me understand the uses of concave mirrors. I needed to make sure that the concave mirror in my story was used realistically.
Chemical engineer
(2019). Retrieved January 11, 2019, from EngineerGirl website
This website did a great job of helping me understand the career of a chemical engineer so that I could incorporate this into my story.
Saline water: Desalination
(2018, July 19). Retrieved January 10, 2019, from USGS website
This website helped me to clarify the phenomenon of desalination. My invention was influenced by the information provided by this website.