002-The Children Meet Huey

The Children Meet Huey

After a while, Cy got tired of lowering the bucket. The others wanted to give up, too. Cy let out a deep breath. “ That’s it. There’s nothing else down there, ” he said, emptying a final bucket load. ” Wait, ” cried Panther. ” Look at this! ” She picked out an unusual shell covered in mud.

” What is it?” Jane asked, looking closer. Panther wiped off some of the mud and held it up. It was beautiful. " I think it’s a seashell, ” she replied. She began wiping off the rest of the mud. Suddenly the shell began to giggle. Panther was so shocked she almost dropped it.

" It laughed! ” Bobby shouted loudly. " Something’s inside . ” He knocked on the shell. " Ouch! Stop that! ” the shell cried. The children all looked at each other. Then the most amazing thing happened. A creature poked its head out from the shell. It had the face of a seahorse.

On its neck and back were shimmery fins that opened and closed . As its head circled left and right, the fins glowed and shone . For the first time in their lives, the children were speechless. " Well?” the creature asked in an irritated voice. Finally, Panther spoke up .

" What are you?” The creature gazed at them . " Let me get this straight, ” it began . " You throw things on me and wake me up. ” It glared at Jane . “ You start taking away my things . ” It looked at Cy. “ You tickle me. ” It stared at Panther. “ Then you bang on my shell! ” Bobby looked down at the ground .