Exploring the cave
Paulie was shaking. He was convinced there was a monster at the end of the cave tunnel. I wasn’t scared, but I was being careful. The light we were seeing was coming from the very end of the tunnel, and it was getting brighter the closer we got to it. The walls of the tunnel were narrow in some places and wider in other places. Being the larger of the three of us, I had some trouble squeezing through some spots. But with the help of Alex and Paulie pushing me from behind, I made it through. After one push through a small opening, I led us into a larger room of the tunnel.
Paulie looked toward the side of the tunnel. “Did you see that?” he whispered.
I looked toward the wall, but didn’t see anything.
“Over there. Look!” shouted Paulie.
Again I looked and saw nothing. It was then that we started hearing some clicking sounds. We all stopped to listen. The clicking began to get louder and louder.
“The monster!” cried Paulie, as he swam to hide behind me.
There were more and more clicks, and they were getting louder. I looked at the end of the tunnel, and something swam in front of the light. It was very big, and it blocked all the light for just a moment.
“I don’t think it’s a monster,” said Alex.
Paulie was still hiding behind Eartha. He poked his head out, “Yes, it is. First it clicks. Then it eats you.”
Alex swam over the edge of the wall, “Look.”
Paulie peeked out from behind Eartha again, expecting Alex to get eaten by the monster.
“These are snapping shrimp. They make that noise when they snap their little claws closed,” explained Alex.
Paulie wasn’t fully convinced. He slowly swam over to where the shrimp were. Once he saw them, he smiled. “Aw, shucks,” he said. “You don’t look like a monster.” He stretched out with his fin to touch the shrimp, and it snapped its claw down on his fin.
“Ahhhh!” cried Paulie. “He’s got me! The shrimp monster’s got me.” He swam around, shaking his fin, trying to get the shrimp to release him. He shook his fin as hard as he could, but it wouldn’t let go. “It’s gonna eat me!” he shouted. The other shrimp were now clicking even louder. Another shrimp grabbed his tail, and then one grabbed his other fin. One even latched onto his front tooth. He spun round and round, trying to get the shrimp to let go. He swam backwards into the wall of the tunnel, and the shrimp let go—well, not all of them, one was still holding on to his tooth. He crossed his eyes to be able to see it, and then grabbed it with his fin and yanked it off.
I was glad the shouting was over. But I realized that someone else heard the shouting, too. I looked down the tunnel and saw that whatever it was that swam in front of the light earlier, it was now blocking all the light. And it was looking down the tunnel right at us.
Tags: loggerhead, parrotfish, sea monster, sea turtle, story, underwater cave
Posted by Dan under From Eartha | Permalink