Nobody likes a bully
As Alex and I made our way along the edge of the coral reef, our peaceful journey was interrupted by a colorful fish zooming past and yelling, “Help!” Following it were two silver fish. One was thin, and the other was more round. They raced by, chasing the colorful fish who continued to shout, “Help!” as he swam.
“What was that all about?” I asked Alex.
His eyes were wide. “I have no idea. But I think we should check it out.” I smiled.
We took off as fast as we could after the three other fish. Around the bend and through the coral arch, we raced to catch up with the others. We stopped at a seaweed patch and looked around.
“Which way did they go?” asked Alex. I looked around, not knowing which way to go. I floated up a little and saw a small cave at the edge of the seaweed patch.
“This way!” I shouted as I darted off. Alex did his best to keep up with my speed. At the mouth of the cave were the two silver fish. I knew this type of fish. They are called barracudas. The barracuda is an ocean fish that has long, fang-like teeth. “Leave that fish alone!” I demanded. The two fish spun around to face me, their sharp, pointy teeth visible now.
“Who are you?” asked the skinny fish.
“My name is Eartha. Who are you?”
“My name is Crunch, and this here is Nibble,” replied the skinny fish, pointing at his partner.
“What do you want with that other fish?” I asked.
“Nothing. We’re just having a little fun; that’s all.”
“Well, play time is over. Leave the little fish alone,” said Alex, finally catching up.
Crunch kicked up sand at us. “Why don’t you two go collect shells or something and leave us to our fun.”
Alex was about to approach Crunch when I held out my flipper and stopped him. “I think that’s a great idea.” I said, smiling down at Alex.
I swam away while Crunch and Nibble laughed. They turned back toward the colorful fish and asked, “Where were we?” But just as they began to swim back into the cave, they heard a voice behind them.
“I’m back.” It was me, and in my mouth was a huge clam shell. Crunch and Nibble spun around and cried out as I covered them with the large shell.
From under the shell I could hear them shouting, “Let us out!”
I shouted so the two trapped barracuda could hear me, “What’s wrong? We’re just having a little fun.”
Alex giggled. I flipped the shell over. I pointed my flipper at Crunch and said, “Nobody likes a bully. Now, scram!” He and Nibble didn’t hesitate. They swam away as fast as they could.
I approached the cave. “You can come out now.”
Slowly exiting the cave was a small parrotfish. He was very colorful and had very large front teeth. “Are they gone?” he asked nervously.
“Yes,” I told him.
The parrotfish looked around, making sure the coast was clear, then swam up to me and hugged my head. “Thank you!” He then swam to Alex and was about to hug him, too, but stopped when he saw Alex’s stinger. Alex lowered his stinger, and the parrotfish proceeded to hug him.
“What’s your name?” I asked.
The parrotfish smiled and said, “My name is Paulie, um, but my friends call me Paulie.” Alex and I looked at each other and chuckled.
… To be continued! …
Tags: loggerhead, parrotfish, sea turtle, story
Posted by Dan under From Eartha | Permalink