A Sea Story
by Karen Miller and Brenda Miller
*Whistling*
"Hello, my name is Kyle and this is a story about me."
"Hold up a second! Before you get too far I would like to point out that this is my story, NOT your's," interrupted Nick who was Kyle's best friend.
"Um, no, as I recall it happened to
me."
"Nope it didn't. You are totally wrong, it actually happened to
me!" Nick shot back.
"Wait! Ok, I have a good idea," stated Kyle, "Nancy! Come here." he shouted to Nancy-a friend of theirs.
"Yes?" she asked as she was coming over, "What's up?"
"We're having a problem. Kyle here thinks that this story is about him, but it's NOT! This is my story." said Nick who was getting slightly agitated.
"Hold up guys," Nancy put in, "You are BOTH wrong actually."
"Huh!!??" questioned Nick and Kyle at the same time.
"Yes. You heard me correctly. You are both wrong. It actually happened to....me!" she stated with a grin.
"Nutuh! You are wrong ... it happened to
me ... no me ... " Kyle and Nick went back and forth disagreeing completely
with what Nancy had said until finally Charles (another friend) heard some
arguing and decided to come over and see what all the shouting was about and
who was doing it. When he finally arrived he overheard some of what was going
on and then proceeded to state, "GUYS! You shouldn't be arguing because it
happened to BOTH of you. Not Nick-not Kyle-NOT Nancy at all- but both Nick and
Kyle."
"Oh! Really?" they replied slightly confused but seemed to be okay
with that idea.
"Yes," put in Nancy who went on to explain that she had just said it was about her to confuse the other two and get an argument going-which was her specialty-over absolutely nothing.
But Charles was the one who would always butt in and stop the argument because that is one thing that bugged him the most- arguing over nothing.
"Well then, why don't we both tell the story together?" Nick asked Kyle, who was a little disappointed that he didn't get to tell the story himself, but he said yes because they were best friends and knew that it wasn't worth getting all mad about something such as silly as telling a story or who it was even about.
"Who wants to begin?" asked Kyle.
"Go ahead," said Nick giving Kyle
the privilege of beginning 'their story' because it was Kyle who started it in
the first place and Nick thought it would be polite (and nice) for him to
start, so he did.
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"Ok," began Kyle, "It all started when I told my parents that a
new 'kid' was starting school ..."
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"Mom! Guess what!" exclaimed Kyle with overflowing excitement, "A new fish is starting school tomorrow!" he shouted, without even pausing to allow his mother a chance to guess.
"That's wonderful dear. What kind of fish is he?" she asked.
"Um...we don't know yet. All the instructor told us was that his family moved up here, to the top of the reef, from down at the bottom where they used to live, because his dad need a new job." replied Kyle almost completely out of breath, "seems the economy is going down hill down there." Which Marcia (Kyle's mother) knew very well already and was half afraid the 'bust' would reach them. "Oh, that's nice dear," she replied.
"So can I have him over for dinner tomorrow night? Can we go to McFurry's for dinner tomorrow night when he comes over?" quickly questioned Kyle who was so hyped up with excitement that he could barely contain himself.
"I don't know honey. I can discuss it with your father later, but right now you need to go electrolicitate your bed so it'll be ready when you go to sleep tonight, okay. Now hurry along, make sure you wash up too, dinner is almost ready."
"Ok." said Kyle who wasn't exactly pleased to hear his mother's response, because usually when his mother said, "I'll talk to your father..." that meant no, but decided it was probably best.
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"Yeah, and isn't this where I come in?" asked Nick, who was too
excited about narrating a story about himself and couldn't wait until Kyle was
finished with the beginning even though he said he could go first.
"No, not yet. Just relax." said Kyle
in response, "first I have to go to the morning schedule ...
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"Kyle! Kyle!" shouted Nancy from across-the-way. Kyle came swimming
over, "What?" he asked.
"Aren't you excited about the new kid starting today?" she asked with excitement.
"Yes! I can't wait! Is he here, is he here, is he here?" he questioned quickly.
"No. Relax little man. He'll be here in an hour." said a familiar voice behind the two standing there. Kyle and Nancy turned around to find Charles, who had been listening to them chat, standing right behind them. "And guess what?" he also put in, "My dad heard he's a nobody. He doesn't know anything because he's had to move so much down on the bottom, his dad's job is really unsteady, that he hardly learns anything when he's at school. And besides that, ....he's.... " Charles paused and motioned for the other two to join him in a small huddle so no one else would hear what he was about to say, " ... he's .... an octopus!"
Kyle and Nancy let out the biggest gasps you could have ever heard and couldn't believe what they just heard through their ears.
Octopuses were eight-legged creatures that
were entirely creepy in a way only they had. They were like no other fish
around. In fact they weren't even fish themselves, but rather some odd animal
that lives in water. The smaller and younger fish at the schedule weren't
taught much about octopuses because they were such strange creatures, but one
thing they knew with most certainty-stay away as much as you can! If you were
even seen talking to one you would be banished from the 'club' at school which
was titled, 'The Fish Club-no Octopuses allowed!'
Not too much longer after that rumors started and other fish got drift of
'stuff ' about the new family and when it finally got back to Kyle and Nancy
they were utterly shocked at what others were saying about the new kid that no
one has ever even met yet.
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"Yea, and you know what!" Nick butt in, "you even started
believing what the others were saying, didn't you? Come on, admit it."
"Well,...perhaps.... but hey, can you
blame me, once you hear something long enough you start to get brainwashed in
which you start believing it." Nancy replied.
"Fine, you win. I can see your point. But nonetheless, you shouldn't just
believe something someone says just because they supposedly 'heard a rumor'
about it." stated Kyle.
"Guys, can we please get back to the story now. I'm sick of all the extra comments. Let's move on and get to me!" interrupted Nick.
"Hold you horses," said Charles, "This isn't just about you; it's about all of us. About how we became friends." he reminded them all.
"Oh yeah. Right."
"Okay."
"Fine, get back to the story... about all of us."
"Ok, where was I... oh yea..." Kyle remembering where he left off, went back to telling their story...
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"NO WAY!" "Are you kidding me!?" "WOW!!" All
different kinds of fish were getting the 'scoop' on the new kid and no one even
knew his name yet. Rumors were going around and 'brainwashing' everyone who
actually believed them.
"Nancy, what's his name?" asked Kyle.
"Ha! beats me. I don't have a clue. Charles, what's the new kid named?"
"What? Who's name? Oh, the new kid...Nick." replied Charles, who somehow always seemed to get the actual information that no one else at school could get, so in fact Charles knew the most about him. He says that he has 'connections' to finding out facts.
"You know what I heard..." someone said as they walked by talking to their friend.
"Ok-enough! I can't take it anymore, this is just rude!" exclaimed Charles angrily. Kyle and Nancy were a little astonished at this reaction-he didn't usually get upset.
"I'm going to put an end to this! Listen
up everyone!" he shouted but no one seemed to hear him, so he shouted loud
enough for everyone to hear him, "HEY!!!!" and then he went on to
say, "No more gossiping about Nick-the new kid. None of us have even met
him before and here we are all having preconceived ideas about him. No more.
It's better to get to know someone than to just hear and repeat nasty things
about them without even knowing them yet. We are going to meet him and get to
know him."
After giving that 'speech' Charles stepped
down and was slightly shocked at himself for standing up and saying that
because he was more of the quiet type when it came to talking in front of
people, but he felt good about doing it. And so that's exactly what happened
until Nick showed up.
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"Alright! Now it’s my turn to tell the story" said Nick.
"But I am not finished yet!" proclaimed Kyle.
"Well it sounded like you were to me." said Nick.
"Can we please just get on with the story?" Nancy asked, getting very annoyed.
"Yes, we can. If we don't have any more interruptions......?" said Nick, motioning to Kyle with his head. "Now. We were living down there since before 3 generations ago. (Well, that is as long as I remember.) I had a lot of cousins, friends, and family; and Dad's job was thriving! We were living just great."
"Oh yeah?! Then how come you guys moved up here?" Kyle asked as he interrupted just to annoy Nick.
"I was just getting to that! Now just be quiet and listen! We were living great until that one day when the mortgage guy came swimming up to our door and told us that we weren't paying our bills. Even though for a fact we were. So Dad had to go find another job. He finally found one after two months; however he didn't know any thing about it at all. And because of this he was fired on his first day. From that point on, I just knew that my life was going to change. I knew that all of the kids were going to tease me about Dad getting fired. So one day I asked mom to not make me go to school."
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"Mom, please!
"No son. You know that you have to go to school. Just like your father goes to work." Sarah stated.
"But Mom..........!"
"NO buts about it! Now go and get your school bag and wait outside at the 'Sponge Stop'!"
"Mom! I don't want to ride the sponge to
school today! Mom, please?! Look. I am down on four knees, please!" begged
Nick.
"NO! I already told you! You have to go to school" his mother insisted.
"Alright. I will go. But I won't be happy about it at all! I'm gonna get teased by the other kids at school about Dad." Nick said sadly.
"Now go and ink up your pens before you go to school; and don't be late!" said Sarah. After that his mother didn't say a word, she just kept working on her anemone garden. Nick had given in to his mother in obedience and went to school.
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"Man. You weren't a very good listener!" said Kyle.
"Hey, you wouldn't want to go to school either, would you?" asked Nick. Kyle didn't say a word. He just looked at Nick.
"Kyle, shhhhhhh. I want to hear the rest of the story." said Nancy, "go on Nick."
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A few weeks had passed and Nick's father still
hadn't found any work. Then one day he was looking in the paper and called in
his wife to look, "Sarah, look at this." said Daniel. "It’s a
job that I could actually do! It is at the top of the reef though. We wouldn't
be around our friends any more." Sarah came over to look.
"Let me see" she said. "It will just have to do I suppose. Oh,
what about Nick. How do you think that he will take it?" she asked.
"Probably not very well." said Daniel. "But we have to tell
him."
"Ok." said Sarah. "I will go and get him." Sarah went up to
Nick's room. Nick was listening to his clam shell. "Nick." said
Sarah.
"Yeah, Mom?" Nick asked.
"Your father and I need you to come down stairs for a few minutes. We need
to talk to you about something."
When she said that, Nick looked up from his bed and slowly walked down stairs.
He wondered what they were going to talk to him about.
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"You never thought that you would end up
here, did you?" said Nancy.
"You probably never thought that you were going to meet us either."
said Kyle. Charles and Kyle looked at each other and started laughing. They
were both thinking that whoever wanted to be friends with them must really be
desperate!
"That is true. After I found out what was going to happen, I didn't think that I was going to have any friends either." said Nick.
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After Nick and Sarah both got down stairs, they sat down. "What do you
need me for?" asked Nick.
"Do you like our home here?" asked Sarah.
"Of course I do! Why do you ask that?" wondered Nick. Different ideas
started coming into his head and he didn't like any of them.
"Well, as you know I haven't been able to find any work around here that I
can do. And I found an ad in the paper for a nice paying job that I could
easily work at." said Daniel.
"Why does this concern me?" asked Nick. Everything was silent in the
house for a moment. Nick was waiting for his parents to say something.
"Well......." said Sarah. "This new job that your father found
is at the top of the reef. That means that we have to move again." Nick
didn't say anything, but he didn't like that idea at all.
"What do you think about that?" asked Daniel.
"I don't want to move! I love our home here. I like my friends that I
have. If we move, then I will have to make new friends, and I know that will
never happen!" said Nick. He was getting louder and louder each time he
said something, "we just got settled from the last whirlpool that came
through last month!"
Sarah was going to say something, but then she stopped, and instead Nick's
father stated, "I am sorry Nick, but this is the only work that I can find
and I need a job!"
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"I didn't even feel like pleading that time. I just felt broken." said Nick. "But I am sure that if Dad didn't find work, then we would be broken."
"I don't think that your mother was going to let you even start to plead that time!" said Nancy as she was half laughing. Then they all started to laugh. After the laughing finally died down Nancy asked, "Don't you think that it is kinda babyish...to plead like that?"
"Not at all!" Nick said, raising his voice a little. "I don't think so."
"Actually.......it is kinda kiddish." said Charles. "But that's ok. You weren't very old at that time."
"I was about..... who knows." said Nick. "Oh, who cares. At least we are still friends!"
"Hey guys....can we get back to the story?" asked Charles.
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They ended up moving up to the top of the reef
and Nick wasn't allowed to bring a lot of things with them. He had to sell them
at a sale that they had. One thing that he was happy to still have was his clam
shell. He loved listening to music in his room or anywhere for that matter.
One day Nick went to the fish market to get some things for his mother. Some
small fish saw him and started laughing. That made him mad. He swam home as fast
as he could. He didn't even get the things that his mother wanted. That night
as he lay in bed he just thought. He was thinking about what had happened that
day. He hadn't even gone to school yet and fish were laughing at him already.
That made him not want to go to school even more. Shortly later his eyes slowly
closed and he fell asleep. The next day Nick still didn't want to go to school.
But no matter what he said his mother made him get up and go.
"Get up Nick," said Sarah. "It's time for your first day of
school and you don't want to be late do you?" Nick lay in bed and didn't
move. "Come on lazy. Get out of bed." Nick turned over.
"I don't want to go to school mom! Do you remember what happened to me at
the fish market yesterday?" asked Nick.
Sarah didn't want to hear complaining and told Nick that he'd better just get
up and go, and so he obeyed and went.
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"Ok," Kyle butt in, "it's my turn now."
"Guys, will you please quit all the arguing. I'm about ready to tell it myself if you don't stop all the interruptions." Charles said.
"Alright-back to the story...."
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"Did you hear?" questioned a small
fish to Charles (who was the 'plant genius'), "Nick-the new kid is almost
here! Fred saw him and his parents talking with the mayor and said Nick will be
here in about 20 minutes! Spread the word!" he exclaimed with excitement
as he swam off to tell someone else what he knew.
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"Guys, guys! He'll be here in a few minutes. Planky just told me."
Charles said as he was filling his friends in on the latest scoop, and just as
he said those last few words an unfamiliar voice came up behind Charles and
said, "Hi!" with pleasure.
Before Charles even turned around he knew who was behind him after seeing Kyle and Nancy's mouths drop open wide. He quickly turned around and greeted him, "Hello, my name is Charles, "he said, "and these are my friends, Nancy, and Kyle."
"Hello, I'm Nick. We just moved here." the new kid said.
"Yeah, that's what I've heard." said Kyle.
"Wanna swim to 'class' with us?"
asked Nancy being polite even though that was the last thing in the world she
wanted to say right now.
"Yes. Thank you." replied Nick very appreciative.
So the four of them swam off. They talked for a while and got to know a little about him. When Kyle and Charles were alone after first class Kyle asked, "Charles, what do you think of Nick?" because he didn't want to share his ideas first.
"I'm not too sure. When I first saw him I was a little shocked-I mean an octopus! Those creepy creatures and he's even a weirder one because he knows how to speak shark and whale."
"Yea, I know. I asked my cousin Dory (who
speaks whale) when I saw her earlier about him and she said that's it's unusual
for octopuses to speak whale." replied Kyle.
"But not only that he's got teal spots on him!" said Charles.
"Yea he's a strange one, but I like him..." said Kyle in Nick's defense because he was afraid the conversation was going to go in the opposite direction he wanted it to, "...his glasses give him a scholarly look." he finished.
Over the next few days and weeks to come, Kyle started spending a little time with Nick and got to know him fairly well.
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"But your parents never like me." Nick put in, "they thought that just because I had spots and was an octopus we couldn't be friends."
"I know." replied Kyle, "But you're interrupting again."
"Well you seem to be telling it awfully slow. Can't you speed it up a bit?" asked Nick.
"If you don't like it, why don't you give it a try then?"
"Fine, I will. Where were you?... oh yea... "
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"Hey do you wanna come over for dinner? Nick asked Kyle, Nancy, and Charles.
"I would love to!" replied Nancy with gratitude but she had to decline his offer because her parents already had plans to go visit her 'grammy and grampy'.
Charles thanked him for the invitation as well but also refused the offer because he and his dad were going worm hunting for their annual 'worm dinner' every year, which was a big hit among the relatives.
However, unlike Charles and Nancy, Kyle accepted Nick's offer, thanked him, and quickly swam home to tell his mother.
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"Nick! We will NOT be going to dinner with octopuses! Absolutely NOT!" said his mother.
"But mom, I already told him yes..." begged Kyle.
"Honey, listen carefully, we don't eat with strange fish you know that but are especially weary about them because they're octopuses. In fact, I want you to stop playing with him all the time."
"Mom, he's not like that!!!" Kyle tried to explain to his mother, but she wouldn't hear any of it.
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"Yeah, my mom wasn't too happy about my being friends with you." Kyle told Nick.
"I know" he replied.
*giggles* "yeah, it took us a while before I could actually convince my parents that your family were actually very nice animals." Nancy stated.
"Did you end up going to dinner with them that night?" asked Charles who hadn't heard the outcome yet and was anxious to find out.
"Actually yes. It was hard for mom to say yes, but once dad came home and told us that we might be moving across the way mom decided we might as well welcome the 'newbies' in because we'd be leaving soon" said Kyle, "so we did. I still remember that night, I ordered the seafood platter and got sick and couldn't go to school for 3 whole days after that."
"Yeah, fancy that," said Nancy who was awaiting her turn to say
something, "and we had a use your brainday at school one of those
days in which you got to skip out on."
"Guys-isn't there a lesson we can learn from this?" questioned
Charles who was getting a little aggravated at all the interruptions.
"Actually... "they all sat thinking for a while until finally coming to the conclusion, "yes, there is. In fact there are a few different things we can learn from it."
"You shouldn't get preconceived ideas
about someone before you even meet them," said Kyle, "because then
you won't even want to meet them and not so nice things will be said about them
that may not even be true."
"You should get to know someone before you make judgments," said
Nancy.
"Just because someone is different doesn't mean you can't be their friend(s)," said Charles.
"Be kind, even if people don't treat you
very nice or say bad things about you," Nick kindly added.
"Nice job," said Planky. Everyone turned around in astonishment to hear someone else's voice.
"Planky!" they all shouted together. "What are you doing here?" they asked.
"Well, I got the scoop (like usual) that you guys were going to be retelling your story to recap everything and I wanted to hear it. Sorry if I was eavesdropping." he apologized.
"Don't worry about it." said Charles.
"Yeah, it's not like it's gonna be famous someday or something. It's just a story about all of us meeting each other." said Nancy.
"Well... actually... "Planky reluctantly stammered, "see... I have this tape recorder..." he pulled out from behind his back and he went on to explain that he was going to give it to the newscaster to air over the blue waves (which was the radio broadcasting station on the reef).
"What!" "NO!!" "Come back!!!" they all shouted after him as he swam off into the abyss as fast as he could go so he could share the story to the entire reef.
The others finally stopped chasing him and
laughed about it and just realized that no matter what-they all had terrific
friends.
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"Hey guys…right before we close I think I ought to tell you all something..." Nick admitted reluctantly, "I was the one who told Planky and gave him permission to record it."
"WHAT!" the other three shouted.
Then all that was after that was laughter, because they figured why not share
their story with others, it was their testimony and we're told to share with
others things that happen to us so others can know and learn. And that's
exactly what they did.
Their story aired on the public radio station and many different animals, mostly
sea animals, got to hear of the wonderful friendship they all made together and
learned it's not a good idea to judge someone before you get to know them or
meet them.
They finished school and then moved on-but
stayed terrific friends.
Nancy got a job working for a company that fixes up homeless reefs so people can live in them again and she moved to the next reef over the hill. She had made new friends but she still missed her old ones. Every once in a while she would come back to visit them-which was her favorite time of the year :)
Charles grew up to be a photographer and got a job taking pictures for the weekly paper.
Planky loved listening and recording conversations and grew up to be a reporter for the local news. Not only did he become a reporter, but also a professional checkers player, in which clams were a primary part in the game as the checkers. He ended up moving to the top of the reef where he absolutely loved the overlooking view of the entire coral reef where he grew up.
Kyle stayed in his home land, moved to his own
home, and got a fantastic job working for the electric plant electricitating
mattresses for different fish.
One of his favorite things that he got to master in his job was pulling pranks. And the best person to pull a prank on was Nick. And that was one of their good old pastimes as well.
Nick grew up, bought himself a nice home, and began film directing with the local theatre. He became famous for his film directing.
Everyone one of them loved their jobs and lives, but missed their good ol' days that they spent together growing up and making memories. But one of the most important ones they had and all remembered was the day they got to retell their story of how they met. It was an amazing friendship!
THE END