REUNITED (Message In A Bottle)

     During the 1900's, two wonderful people, Eliza and Nicholas Gallagher, were traveling in a quaint, little sailboat. As two scientists, they had dreams of making new discoveries in the field of oceanography. They lived a simple, but joyous life. They were sailing by the south-east tip of Greenland and for a few beautiful moments the sunset made the ocean glisten, giving it a light that had never shown before, The water was calm, gently carrying the boat along the water. All of sudden, the sailboat started to shake as if an explosion was about to occur. To the side of the boat, a humongous shark shot up from the water chomping at the boat. Both Eliza and Nicholas were so frightened they took a spare bottle and a piece of paper and began to write. As fast as they could they wrote for help, hoping they would survive this attack. Nicholas threw the bottle, and as it plunged into the water he sent a silent prayer for help. Unfortunately, it was all too late and the shark had bitten Eliza so deep she passed away. As for Nicholas, he drowned trying to swim and carry Eliza to shore. No one bothered to search for the two and even though Eliza and Nicholas lost their lives, their hopes that someone would find their message lived on.


     About one hundred and seventy-five years later, a group of scientists and entrepreneurs had finally created a portal to an exact replica of Earth. This group of people was determined to make history and to do so their planet had to be better than Earth. The group of very intelligent scientists and aspiring inventors thought that for their planet to stand out from Earth it had to be clean, which meant no trash or pollution in the oceans and on land. The new planet they had created was the same size as Earth, so they would need much help to make sure it was spic and span for the grand revealing. The next day they requested for people they knew very well to help them create the perfect planet. Two people that were selected and agreed to make the new planet clean were David and Abby Montgomery. They were twins who were juniors in high school. They lived normal lives, but both excelled in the field of science. They were requested to help by their father who was one of the main inventors of the group. A gathering was held to introduce all the one hundred and thirty-seven volunteers who were going to help clean the newest planet. Abby and her brother were given the task of picking up all trash along the beaches that were located in Mexico and the Dominican Republic. People who were volunteering were giving breathtaking places to stay since they were doing the scientists a favor. All in all, this experience was something Abby and David thought would be an easy way to live a life of luxury for as long as they could, but things didn't go the way they had planned.

     They finished all the beaches of Mexico and they started on cleaning the beaches located in the Dominican Republic. Abby and David were working until they spotted something peculiar sticking out of the sand. They walked over calm yet nervous of what the item was and what it would do. Abby slowly bent over to take a look at the object and it turned out to be a bottle which contained a message. The bottle was old and dirty, covered in mud and small bits of sediment. Though the message was readable, it was written on an old, messy map which showed a travel path through the ocean. The message stated that two people were being attacked by a shark and needed someone to rescue them. The map was marked at the southeast tip of Greenland, leaving Abby and David curious as to why it was marked and who sent for help.

     That night when Abby and David went to sleep in their comfortable beds, all they could think about was what the map had meant for them and who sent it. Abby thought of how the bottle traveled through the different currents, all the way from where it was dropped to the Dominican Republic. She knew all the currents by heart, as her ambition was to be well-known oceanographer in the science field. She thought more about what the mark at the southeast tip of Greenland meant and finally she came to the conclusion that it was where the bottle was dropped. As moments passed everything rushed into Abby's mind. Then, she quickly grabbed her notepad and pen that she kept on her nightstand. Abby began to write down the currents the bottle had traveled through. She knew if it was thrown into the ocean at the southeast tip of Greenland it would have caught the East Greenland Current. After that, the bottle would have traveled into the Labrador Current and then it would have flowed into the Gulf Stream. Finally, it would have traveled into the North Equatorial Current. The North Equatorial Current pushed the the bottle onto the shore of the Dominican Republic. She was not only proud that she made the connection like a true scientist, but Abby couldn't wait to tell David about her discovery. All of the pieces finally were put together and made the perfect puzzle.

     As Abby was trying to figure out the route the bottle had traveled, David lay awake in bed thinking of the ocean. David couldn't sleep no matter ho hard he tried, so he decided to think about new events, in other words, the bottle. He pondered on the thought of the bottle and then realized that the bottle has no power which meant it was transported by currents. David's goal in life was to become an oceanographer, just like his sister, so he used his previous knowledge and his current observations and began to take notes. He grabbed a small notebook he kept under his pillow, along with a pencil and began to take notes. David drew a small sketch of the bottle and wrote how the currents carried it from where it was dropped to The Dominican Republic. David wrote what he knew about ocean currents, they are driven by wind, density, salinity, and change in temperature. He looked back on his previous notes to check the definition on each one just to make sure he was correct before he wrote more. It explained that ocean currents are a river of water flowing through the ocean. The page before said that salinity was how much salt is in a body of water and that density is how much stuff is packed into one space. As well as that, his notes said that wind affects the surface of the water because wind is in the atmosphere. David's notebook showed a diagram on how the cold water pushes the warmer water upwards causing a current. The warmer water rises because the molecules have drifted apart which makes it lighter than the cold water. Another diagram illustrated how salt water sinks in fresh water because salt water has a higher density. David looked back at all of these and finally realized he still didn't know where the bottle was coming from. He was slightly disappointed, but he was tired and was happy with all he had written about what effects ocean currents. David realized he knew all about the ocean and its currents and he was glad he put all the information together.

     Eventually, both Abby and David fell asleep and the next morning they woke up to the bright sunlight glowing at their window's. They got up and remembered they had news about the bottle to tell each other. Both of them sprinted into the kitchen trusting the instincts that the other person would be there. David volunteered to share his findings first and Abby watched, interested in every word he had to say. After David had finished speaking, Abby began to explain her theory on how she thought the bottle traveled to them. Finally, they realized that their ideas work together. The bottle traveled on the currents that Abby had stated and those currents were driven by wind, salinity, density, and change in temperature. Separately, Abby and David had good ideas, but together their theory worked perfect with the situation.

     Abby and David were so anxious to see who left this note, they came up with an excuse to leave the duplicate version of Earth for a few days.  David made the perfect excuse that he and Abby were going to see if there are any problems or things they dislike about Earth, so that the scientists and inventors can make the new Earth better. Along with the excuse Abby decided to add that they noticed something strange about Greenland, so that their dad would give them two plane tickets. David told his father and his dad believed every word he had said. Abby collected the plane tickets to Greenland and they were on their way. On the way, Abby made a great decision and stopped at a store to collect some supplies for when they are on the boat. Though it was a short boat ride Abby believed it's better to be safe than sorry. While Abby was gathering supplies, David examined the map and noticed lines of longitude and latitude. The coordinates of where the bottle was thrown into the ocean marked as 64 Degrees North and 51 Degrees West.

     When they had finally reached Greenland, the borrowed a boat a began to head to where the bottle was dropped. It took about a three days, but they reached the approximate spot the bottle had touched the ocean. They looked around the area, but nothing was to be found. David agreed to swim in the water for a while to search for clues, but Abby was worried due to the attack that had occurred to the people who sent the bottle. David swam around for quite a long time, but found nothing. He rose to the surface telling Abby that he had found nothing that would lead them to the writers of the message they received. They were heartbroken. Both Abby and David felt like real oceanographers making new discoveries and they had high hopes of finding the people who wrote the message.

     David and Abby decided to go home a forget this had ever happened. Abby was extremely mad because she wanted to prove that she could be a great scientist and that she should be taken seriously. Out of frustration she threw the bottle at the same coordinates it had been thrown before. Suddenly, the boat began to rumble as if it were about to blow up. At the side of the boat two ghostly figures that seemed to blend with the wind rose from the water. Abby, terrified, held on to Davids arm like it was her life. David , in a shaky tone, asked the two figures who they were. The one on the right boldly stated that she and the figure next to her were Eliza and Nicholas Gallagher. Her curiosity got the better of her and Abby asked them what they were doing. Both Eliza and Nicholas responded at the same time and said, "We are your great-great-great-great-great-grandparents, Abby and David."