The Message in the Bottle

Ellie was twelve and lived in a small fishing town in Nova Scotia, on the east coast of Canada. Every Sunday she walked along the beach with her dog, Pepper, looking for interesting things that the sea had brought in. Usually she found shells, pieces of wood and plastic. One cold morning in April, Pepper started barking at something green that was half buried in the sand.

It was an old glass bottle with a cork in the top. Inside, there was a rolled piece of paper. Ellie ran home, and her mother helped her take the cork out with a knife. The paper was yellow and a little wet at the edges, but the words were still clear. It had been written in blue ink, in careful handwriting.

"My name is Siobhan Kelly," the message began. "I am fifteen years old and I live in Galway, in the west of Ireland. Today is the 3rd of June, 1994. I am throwing this bottle from my uncle's boat. If you find it, please write to me and tell me where it has traveled." At the bottom there was an address.

Ellie could not believe it. The bottle had been in the sea for thirty years, and it had crossed the whole Atlantic Ocean. Her mother said that Siobhan had probably moved a long time ago, but Ellie wanted to try. She wrote a letter to the address and told Siobhan how she had found the bottle. She also posted a photo of the message online and asked if anyone knew the writer.

For two weeks nothing happened. Then a man from Galway left a comment under the photo. He said that he was Siobhan's neighbor and that she still lived in the same town. He told Ellie that Siobhan was a grandmother now and that she would be very happy to hear the news. A few days later, Ellie received an email.

"Dear Ellie," it said. "My neighbor showed me your photo, and I had to sit down. I had completely forgotten about that bottle. I remember that my uncle had laughed at me. He told me that nobody would ever find it, and that it would probably sink in a week. He died many years ago, but I wish I could tell him that he was wrong."

Siobhan explained that she had become a teacher and that she had three grandchildren. She said that she had told her class the whole story, and that her students wanted to write to Ellie's class. She also asked Ellie if she would keep the bottle. "It belongs to you now," she wrote. "It chose your beach."

That summer, Ellie's class and Siobhan's class exchanged letters every month. In September a parcel arrived from Ireland. Inside was a new bottle, and a note in the same careful handwriting that Ellie knew so well: "Your turn. Throw it from somewhere special, and let's see where it goes."