9 Telling the Story

9 Telling the Story Finally, the hugging and crying and laughing died down. The villagers started walking back to their huts. Jack and Annie followed Boka, Kama, and their parents. “ We felt the ground shaking, " said Boka and Kama's father. “ We knew a big wave might follow! ” “ Jack saved us! ” said Boka. “ He read in a book and found out about the big waves. ”

“ What's a book?” asked his mother. “ Show them, " Annie said to Jack. Jack reached into his pack and took out their research book. “ It tells about the big waves in here, " he said. “ Books give lots of information. " “ Ah, ” said Boka and Kama's mother. “ A book is a good thing. ” “ Books tell stories, too, " said Annie. “ That is impossible, " said Kama. “ The book cannot move its feet or wave its hands. It cannot sing or chant. " “ That's true, ” said Jack, smiling. “ Now we should do the hula, ” Boka said to Annie, Kama, and Jack, “ and tell our story. " “ I'll watch, ” said Jack, stepping away. Boka and Kama's father called for music.

The villagers gathered around. A man started to play a pipe. A teenage boy knocked two sticks together. Some women began shaking rattles. Boka, Kama, and Annie waved their hands in time to the music. They stepped from side to side. They swayed their hips. Kama chanted about going out into the water. She, Boka, and Annie waved their hands to show how they paddled out to sea. Kama chanted about how Jack had warned them. She and the others waved their hands to show how they rode their surfboards to shore. Then Jack surprised himself. He waved his hands to show how he rode his surfboard like a bird soaring through the air. The next thing he knew, he was stepping from side to side. He was swaying his hips. He was doing the hula!

Kama chanted about how the water had pulled away from the shore-and how they had climbed to safety-and how the giant wave had crashed against the cliff.

As Kama chanted the story, all the villagers joined in the dance. The tall grasses swayed. The palm trees swayed. And all the hula dancers swayed, too. When the story ended, everyone clapped. “ Thanks for helping us, ” Boka said to Jack and Annie. “ We're a good team, ” said Annie. “ We are best friends, " said Kama. “ Yeah, ” said Jack. “ I'm sorry I said mean things. ” “ We're sorry we laughed at you, " said Boka. “ I'm sorry I grabbed the book, " said Annie. “ Our mother says friendship is like riding the waves, ” said Kama. “ Sometimes you ride low, gentle waves. Sometimes you ride high, rough ones. ”

Annie gasped. She looked at Jack. She repeated Morgan's rhyme: To find a special magic, build a special kind of ship that rides the waves, both high and low, on every kind of trip. “ Friendship! That's the ship! " said Jack. " And we built it! " said Annie. She and Jack burst out laughing. Boka and Kama looked a little confused, but they laughed, too. “ We have to go back to our own home now, " Annie said to Boka and Kama. “ It's time to say good-bye, " said Jack. “ We never say good-bye, " said Kama. “ We say aloha when we greet our friends. And we say aloha when we leave them. "