Jack opened his eyes. A gentle wind brushedagainst his skin. It smelled sweet and fresh.
Annie looked out the window. "Nice!" she said.
Jack looked out, too. The tree house had landed ontop of a tall palm tree. The palm tree was at the edgeof a flowery meadow.
On one side of the meadow, a cliff dropped down tothe beach and ocean. On the other side of themeadow were the rooftops of a small village.
Beyond the village were tall gray mountains. Mistyclouds hid their peaks. Waterfalls gushed down theirsides.
"I told you I loved Hawaii!" said Annie. "Don'tyou?""I have to learn about it first," said Jack. He pushedhis glasses into place and opened their research book.
He read aloud:
Hawaii is a chain of islands in the Pacific Ocean.
The largest island is Hawaii, which gives its name tothe whole group. The islands were formed millions ofyears ago by volcanoes. The volcanoes erupted underthe ocean. Over time, their craters rose above thewater.
"Wow," said Annie. "We're on the. top of avolcano.""Yeah," said Jack. He read on:
The volcanic rock crumbled and turned to soil. Overmillions of years, wind and birds dropped seeds onthe islands. Plants and trees began to grow, and birdsand insects made their homes.
"Cool," said Jack. He took out his note-book andpencil and wrote:
wind and birds brought seedsAs He read some more:
About two thousand years ago, people first caine toHawaii. They came in canoes from other islands inthe Pacific. They rowed for thousands of miles acrossthe ocean, guided only by the wind and stars.
"Hey, listen," said Annie.
Jack put down the book and listened. Sounds ofmusic and laughter floated on the breeze.
"There must be a party in that village," said Annie.
"Let's go.""What about building that ship?" asked Jack.
"We'll figure that out later," said Annie. "Let's meetsome people at the party. Maybe they can help us."She started down the ladder.
Jack heard a whoop of laughter in the distance. Theparty does sound fun, he thought.
He packed up his things and followed Annie downto the ground.
The sun was low in the sky. They walked throughthe meadow toward the village. Everything wasbathed in a golden red glow.
"Oh, man," breathed Jack.
There was beauty everywhere: purple flowersshaped like bells, white flowers that looked like stars,tall, feathery ferns, green spiky plants, big orangeand-black butter-flies, and tiny yellow birds.
When they got close to the village, they saw anopen area filled with people. Jack and Annie slippedbehind a palm tree. They peeked out at the party.
There were about fifty people, including grown-ups, teenagers, and little kids. They were all barefootand wore wreaths of flowers around their necks.
A woman was chanting. hler word~ rose and felllike waves. She chanted about a vol-cano goddessnamed Pele.
While she chanted, other people played music.
Some blew on pipes that looked like flutes. Othersshook gourds that sounded like baby rattles. Some hitsticks together to make clicking sounds.
Most of the villagers were dancing to the music.
They stepped from side to side - They swayed theirhips and waved their hands.
"They're doing the hula," whispered Annie. Shesmiled and waved her hand~, too.
"Don't get carried away," whispered. Jack.
He took out their book and found a picture ofHawaiians dancing. He read:
The early Hawaiians had no written language.
They told stories with hulu dancing. The hula is ablend of dancing and chanting poetry.
Jack pulled out his notebook. He started a list aboutearly Hawaii:
no written languagestories with hulaSuddenly Jack heard loud laughter and clapping. Helooked up. Annie was gone!
Jack peeked out from behind the tree. Annie wasdoing the hula with the dancers! But no one seemedsurprised. Everyone just smiled at her as they keptdancing.
A girl caught sight of Jack. She looked aboutAnnie's age. She had long, shiny black hair and a big,friendly smile.
"Come do the hula!" she called to him.
"No way," Jack breathed.
He slipped behind the tree again. But the girldanced over to him and took his hand.
"Join us!" she said.
"No thanks," said Jack.
The girl didn't let go. She pulled Jack into the open.
The music got louder. The dancers and musiciansnodded and smiled at Jack.
Jack stood still. He didn't know how to do any kindof dance, let alone the hula! He stared at the ground,clutching his backpack and notebook until the musicand dancing ended.
The Hawaiians gathered around Jack and Annie.
They all had friendly, open faces.
"Who are you?" the young girl asked.
"I'm Annie," said Annie. "This is my brother, Jack.""I'm Kama," the girl said. "This is my brother,Boka." She pointed to a boy in the crowd who lookedabout Jack's age.
The boy stepped forward. He grinned a big grin justlike his sister's. He pulled off his wreath of red fluffyflowers. He put it around Annie's neck.
"A lei to welcome you," Boka said.
Kama then pulled off her lei and put it aroundJack's neck.
"Aloha, Jack and Annie!" everyone said. |