Marine+fiction

= = =__Coral's Big Adventure__= By: Tani, Carly, and Bethany

It was just like any other day. Mom came and got me up and I moaned, "Do I have to get up?" said Coral.

"You get your fin out of bed right now, Coral, Mister!" He did as he was told. After brushing my fins, Coral finally stumble his way downstairs to eat. Right when he got downstairs, he could hear his dad making breakfast. His favorite! Fried seaweed. It is the same old thing everyday until he gets to school. That is when he has the most fun.

Once Coral was in the school doorway, he was already informed that thay were going to read a story."Alright everyone!" Mrs. Sea, our teacher, said. "It's story time!"

"Yes! It's story time everyone, don't keep our teacher waiting!" shouted Seaweed,the book worm. All his classmates, my best friend, Kelp, Shelly (who is the stuck up...), Jaque, (the neat freak...)and Coral gathered around to hear the story.

Mrs. Sea was sitting in the big orange chair as she calls it. It was really red but none of them had the will to tell her.

When they all swam around Ms. Sea, Coral heard a whisper in his ear. It was Kelp, "Why are we reading a story when we could be out experencing it?"

"That is a good point Kelp. Where would you like to go on our feild trip?" After she said this you could hear squeals coming from the class.

"How did she hear that?" Kelp shrieked. Kelp sat up nice and tall and thought hard about this so he made sure that his choise was good. Next, in a macho voice, trying to act grown up, he said, "How about our very own home?" He paused for dramatic effect. He could see that it was working while everyone turned their heads away and whispered quietly to each other. Even Mrs. Sea had a puzzled look, like most starfish have. He finally continued his sentence,"The ocean?"

"Perfect Idea Kelp!" Ms. Sea yelled. "Why don't you all remember to write in your planner that you will go on a feildtrip to our home, the Ocean."

The day swam by! It was already 4:00 when the chest-bell opens, bubbles flost to the ceiling and the sea children race out of the sponge doors to greet their parents.

"Don't forget your lunches tomorrow!" Ms. Sea reminded them.

"Be safe on your feildtrip honey!" Shelly's mom made sure her child didn't run into danger of the Ocean. She knew how dangerous the deep waters could get. "Mom!" Shelly swims up to her mother hesitantly. She begins to explain. "Stop, your embarassing me in front of Coral."

"Right, I'm sorry sweaty. Don't worry, I will just, keep it real." Shelly quickly swam away from her mother, and lined up in the doorway.

"All right everyone, let us swim our way through the Ocean!" Kelp was the first one to swim ahead of the other children. One hour later, they arrive at the shoreline to observe some algae.

"Stay close kids, sharks may be lurking nearby." Kelp turns his face to look exactly in Coral's eyes.

"I hate it when you look at me like that." Coral says. "Either you have a really good idea, or you can't find a spot to go to the bathroom."

"Don't worry, just follow my lead when the time comes..." Kelp drifted off when he finished the sentense. Or Coral thought he had finished.

"Class! Gather around! there is a good chunk of algae floating above us." Ms. Sea and the class observe closely.

"Okay, Coral. It is time" Kelp says. "Follow me while, the class is still busy of course."

"Wait, where are you taking me?" I ask when we were far enough so the class couldn't listen. "I thought we had to stay close by, just like the teacher told us to?"

"Just follow me, we won't go far. I promise." Kelp didn't sound to convincing, but I was willing to listen, and follow.

A short while after, we come to a far away reef, and I peeked behind my fin, and I couldn't believe what I had seen. "Shark!" I yell to Klep. I quickly pushed Kelp into the reef and hide so the shark couldn't find us.

"What was that for!" Kelp was out of breath because of slaming into the side of the reef.

"Shhhhh! They will hear you." Coral whispered.

"Who will hear me? There is nobody hear but us. Right?" Kelp whispered back to Coral.

Coral was silent for a few seconds. Then he gave the biggest gulp. "The..." He was hesitant, but still continued, "Sharks!" When Coral said this, they both panicked. The sharks had heard them.

The sharks starred, just for a few seconds, and saw movement in the reef. "Fang, look what we've got here!" The shark said to his brother. "I think these little guys are lost."

"H...Hey there..." Coral's voice trailed off while talking to the big sharks. "My name is Coral, and this is my friend, Kelp."

"Hi Kelp, Hi Coral." The shark said, soothingly, "I'm Fred. This is my brother, Fang.

"So, what are you guys doing all the way out here in the open anyway?" Fang asked.

"Well, we-were-on-a-class-fieldtrip-and-Kelp-just-swam-away-I-tried-to..." Fred and Fang looked at each other with puzzled eyes.

"Wow, slow down little man!" Fred yells. "We can't understand a word you are saying." He made his voice soothing again.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I'll slow down a little." Coral said, "we were on a class feildtrip and Kelp just swam away, then I tried to get him back in class, but I couldn't. So, now we are out here, in the open ocean." Coral finished with a long sigh.

"Excuse me!" A high voice says, "What about me. You guys never introduced me to your friends."

"Sorry Jim." Fang said.

"Um, not to be mean or anything, but, who is Jim?" Kelp said.

"Oh, Jim is our friend. He always has our backs, or he is always on them. He is called a //Remora fish//." Fang explained to Kelp.

"Oh, I get it now. Wait, what's a //Remora fish//?" Coral asked Fang.

"A Remora fish, Coral," Fred tried to get Coral's attention back onto him, "is a fish that stays on our backs, and works with us to help us get clean."

"And what does he get out of cleaning you?"

"A free ride anywhere he wants to go and he don't have to woory about being eaten."

"Oh, that kinda cool" says Kelp " We better be getting on our way though."

"Fish sticks! I wan't to show you around." said Fang. He could feel Jim jump when he made this comment.

" Maybe next time " said coral.They said their good bye's and off swam Coral and Kelp. They swam for like seemed forever until they came to a stop.

" What should we do next?" asked Kelp.

"Go back to the class" replied Coral.

"Do you have bubbles in your brain!" answered Kelp " We can't just turn around now! We have to keep going to see what is out there. Once again off they went. As they swam they passed a group of Blennies that were making a new home in some Seaweed.This is a great example of Commensalism. While thay were swimming near the shore thay heard a strange noise coming from above. Coral knew the noise his dad had often told him about it.It was a seagull flying above head. As soon as he told Kelp it was to late. The seagull had spotted him and swooped down and grabbed Kelp! This is when Coral went into a stage of shock. The water began to swirl about him and he couldn't think straight. Next everything went black.

He woke up a few hours later to a loud sound. It was another fish except this one had split and crack skin. "Yo Hermen the kids awake." said the fish.

Coral had tried to get up but he was to dizzy. "Who are you?" He stammered.

"I'm Pea Wee and this is Hermen." When Coral heard this his heart skipped a beat. He had heard of these guys his mom told him that they were not good fish.

"whats wrong with your skin?" asked Coral.

" We have Argulus (fish lice). Do you have a problem with it?"

"No!" he answered as he thought to himself about how this was parasitism. "Can you help me find my way home?"

"Where ya from?" asked Hermen.

"Pink Scale Township"

"Yeah it is about a mile north form here"

"Thanks" replied Coral and he quickly swam away. As he was swimming that mile he thought about all of the things he had seen that day. Commensalism, Mutualism, Parasitism, and even prey and pretator with his best friend Kelp who was now gone. He also thought about how much he missed his parents and how long he had ben gone. It felt like years.

He had finnally saw the school come into weiw. He was home at last! His parents were so happy to see him and they wondered where Kelp was.

"He has gone to fish heaven" he said and that was it. He had a lot of fun on his adventure and he missed having his friend with him a ton.

THE END

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