Jacko's Special Day

My name is Jacko, and this is the story of my most special day ever.

- Lea Daniel

I woke up too early that day. It was dark, and I heard snores coming from Grandma’s bedroom. I didn’t want to wake her, so I closed my eyes and thought about the otter video we’d seen at school. It showed otters sliding down a riverbank and splashing in the water. Otters are excellent at swimming and fishing, but I know one thing for sure: otters are animals that CANNOT FLY! So here’s the weird thing—almost all the planes that fly into Nain, the town in Canada where I live, are called Twin Otters.

I get the twin part because the planes have two engines, but wouldn’t a bird name, like gull or goose, be better than otter?

Planes are super important in Nain because we don’t have roads that go to other towns. Boats can reach us in summer after the ocean ice melts, but in winter every person and every thing that comes has to come by plane. If there are too many bad weather days when planes can’t fly, the stores run out of things. It’s good my dad always keeps our freezer full of food.

That morning I was hoping and hoping for good weather because it was the day my mom was supposed to fly home. It was hard to stay in bed waiting, but Grandma was still snoring, so I snuggled down and pulled up my quilt. I thought about Mom. Maybe she was awake too, packing and getting ready to go to the airport.

I remembered when I flew down the coast to stay with my cousin in Hopedale. I’d had to fit all the things I needed into one suitcase. The plane looked big to me, but Dad said Twin Otters are small. They can hold 19 people. Some jet planes can hold hundreds! You’d need a much bigger airport than Nain’s for those jets.