Lawson Barnes is an 11-year-old boy, living with his mom and dad near Fayetteville, Arkansas. Lawson began communicating through Rapid Prompting Method in 2014 after studying with Soma Mukhopadhyay. Lawson is homeschooled, and his interests are art, movies, travel, and Harry Potter. Lawson is a light and an inspiration to all who know him. Lawson wrote The Voyage to Africa and illustrated the book in collaboration with his mom, Leslie Barnes, and his art tutor, Cassie Sanderson.

Preview audio:

storyj.mp/afjaqu3d5bp4

A chicken, an elephant, and a gorilla lived on an island.

They had a boat wreck on their way to a zoo in Africa. Lightning struck the boat and blew the circuit.

Time went by, forty years.

They didn’t have a coal mine on the island, so they used solar power to run their TV.

One day, they intercepted a signal from outer space. The chicken understood the signal because chickens are Martians that came to earth years ago. He told the others that they were going to be rescued by aliens. They happily packed to go home.

But the space ship did not show up. They realized the chicken was lying. He was trying to call his Martian family, but he contacted bad Martians instead.

One day they noticed happy insects eating a piece of wood. The wood was in the water, and it was floating.

The gorilla said to the chicken, “I have an idea! I think we can build a boat.”