A w.h.a.l.e.v of a Tale

7/29/2019 A w.h.a.l.e.v of a Tale

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A W.H.A.L.E.V. OF A TALE


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Water lapped against the side of the smallred fishing boat called The Seahorse . Rays of sunlashed out against the peaceful Hawaiian coast,Jonah smiled as the boat pulled away from thedock. The small boat sped across the waves untilit reached a calm spot a mile, or so, away fromthe beach.

Jonah and his family, vacationing inHawaii, had decided to rent a boat for the dayand spend it in order to catch their breath fromtheir busy vacation and just relax. Jonah leanedover the edge of the boat watching the tropicalfish dart back and forth across the sparklingwater.


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Jonahs mom , Mrs. Lindemood, came up tohim with a bottle of sunscreen Jonah, please put this on, she said. Jonah sighed, he didnt li kesunscreen but he would do it anyways. He took the sunscreen, popped open the lid, and startedto squeeze some onto his hand. But as he did so,the sunscreen bottle slipped and flew into the

rippling waters below.Mom! Jonah exclaimed his Mrs.

Lindem ood turned around in a panic I droppedthe sunscreen in the water! Can I jump in afterit?

No, its fine, Mrs. Linde mood replied, Idont want you to get hurt. She turned back

around to sit down, but before she could, sheheard a splash. Jonah had already jumped in andwas swimming towards the shiny, white floatingtube of sunscreen.

In the midst of towering waves and hismoms yells , Jonah made his way towards thecontainer. He bobbed up and down as if in a

wave pool. But the chaos was too much, and hislife jacket slipped off. He tried to put it back onbut in the rocking waves the life jacket slippedfrom his hands . He couldnt keep his head up andslowly pulled him towards the bottom of theocean.

He was dazed, his eyesight was blurry,

and worst of all Jonah didnt know which waywas up. The bright underwater colors taunted,


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challenging him to find his way back to thesurface. His breath was running out. He wasscared. But right as he thought it was the end,out of the corner of his water-filled eyes, he sawa large mass approaching. A black blobapproaching. The blob slowly engulfed him, andbefore he knew it, he was out cold.

Jonah woke up to the sound of alarms anda voice of an intercom. We have a humanoid boyin Sector 5. I repeat, we have a humanoid boy inSector 5. I repeat repeating, we have a humanoidboy in Sector 5. I repeat repeating repeating, wehave a okay now Im just confusing myself.

Jonah sat up as the intercom shut off, and

rubbed his dizzy head. He looked around. Heseemed to be in a metal room with two doors oneither side. Suddenly the intercom came on oncemore. Hello, humanoid child. Welcome to theWondrous Helping Aquatic Luminescent Excursion Vehicle (W.H.A.L.E.V for short) wetried to make the acronym WHALE but it didnt

work out that way. Anyways, my name is CaptainTimothy The Tortoise. Im a turtle; yes there is adifference. My middle and last name are actuallyThe Tortoisedont ask. We noticed youstruggling in the water and decided to help,hence the name W.H.A.L.E.V. Unfortunatelymarine animals dont breath the same as you do,

so you will have to put on this oxygen suit. It isover to the left.


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Jonah looked to the left and saw a neonpink oxygen suit. He wasnt really a big fan of pink but put it on anyways. He could never let hissister know he actually wore something pink.Captain Timothy seemed to of read his mindbecause, once the suit was on Timothy said overthe intercom Im sorry its pink. A lost fisherm an

took our male suit last year; it was neverreturned. Please return this one. Still not understanding what was going on, Jonah barelymanaged a nod.

Good, Timothy continued. Seymour, fillSector 5 back up, with water.

Cascades of water burst into the room

through two large holes at the top of the room.Jonah felt the cold water at his feet, then hiswaist, then his neck, and then he was covered inwater head to toe. When the room was filledwith water one of the two doors opened and aturtle swam through the entrance. Jonah onlyassumed it was Timothy. Hello, humanoid boy.

Im Timothy, the turtle said. Whats yourname? Uhh Jonah barely muttered still in

awe.Well Uhh, Im glad to see you on board. Uhh Jonah could hardly speak.I know your name, Uhh. You can stop

sayi ng it. Let me show you around.


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The cold, rusty, metallic halls of the W.H.A.L.E.Vwere very empty. They reminded Jonah of emptyschool halls, empty and not very exciting. But forsome reason, Jonah was still amazed. He swamdown the halls; Timothy at his side explaining tohim how every nook and cranny was built.

This is when they reached the first room.

The doors, to the left of them, opened and theyentered it, inside was a school of fish. There werehundreds even thousands of bright green fishspeeding around as if having drunk a millionMountain Dews. This is a school of fish we arehelping. They are very vulnerable in thesedangerous waters and need all the help they can

get migrating to a small reef off the HawaiianCoast. Jonah smiled glad fi sh were helping otherfish out.

But this made Jonah think of home, hismom, his dad, his sister. He just wanted to bewith them. He continued his smile but hiddenbehind it, tears welled up in his eyes.

They continued down the halls into asecond room. It was a large room, filled withtubing and other machine parts. But thestrangest aspect was at the other side of theroom: a large octopus clung to the walls, histentacles wrapped up inside the maze of tubing.This is Octavius, our engine if you will, th e

W.H.A.L.E.V is ink powered. So we use Octaviushere to run it. Timothy said.


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Im pretty much a slave, Octaviuscomplained to Jonah.

We pay you, Timothy countered. But I cant use the money if Im always

strapped up to this thing. Octavius said histemper seeming to grow.

Thats true, Timothy said realizing what

Octavius had said I never thought about it that way

Jonah was still confused so for the first time during his time on the W.H.A.L.E.V. he spokea clear complete sentence . How can asubmarine be ink powered?

Well thats a very good question, Uhh,

and I have asked that many times myself. But unfortunately I can never get a straight answerfrom the scientists. Sometimes I think they dont even know.

But they invented it, how can theyforget ?

Well , the scientists were goldfish, and

goldfish have a very short memory.


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Jonah rolled his eyes and they left theengine room leaving grumpy Octavius to hiswork. They continued down the way into the last room. The door opened and inside was thecommand deck. There were two desks in thecenter of the room and a large window at thefront showing the beautiful ocean floor. Behind

one of the desks was a shrimp. Jonah guessed theother desk was Timothys And last but not least is Seymour, our resident military genius. He is incharge of any battles we may come across. Timothy introduced.

Seymour turned and saluted to Timothy.Is this the humanoid? Seymour asked.

Yes it is, Timothy answered his name isUhh and we need to get him back to his family.

Very well but we should return the fishfirst. They needed help earlier than he did,Seymour stated.

Timothy made a tiny nod. My thoughtsexactly.

Why cant I just go back to my family?They are probably worried about me right now.Jonah asked wondering if he would ever see hisfamily again.

Well, Uhh , underwater we set prioritiesand take turns. The school of fish needed helpfirst and we will help them first. You will just

have to wait your turn. Timothy answered.


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But before Jonah could reply a loud alarmstarted. Jonah shook in fear. What was going on?Captain we have a shark approaching us at 10oclock! Seymour exclaimed. Jonah and Timothylooked through the large window and sureenough there was a great white shark approaching quickly. That is not good, Timothy

muttered. He then pressed a small button on hisdesk and yelled This is your Captain. A shark isapproaching. I repeat a shark is approaching. Irepeat repeating a shark is nevermind! Longstory short, man your battle stations!


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The shark approached. It was mainlybright gray with a white belly. Jonah was scared.What are we going to do? he asked in a panic.

Fight! exclaimed a now battle hungrySeymour.

Not even a second after he said it Octaviusburst out from the corner of the window and

charged at the shark. With ink trailing behindhim he wrapped around the shark and spun thebeast around trying to confuse him. The ink oozed from Octavius tentacles and fogged up thewindow making it hard to see.

Octavius is struggling, said Timothy. I can see that, Seymour sarcastically

replied.I think we need to call upon P lan H.

Timothy continued getting his point across.No, not Plan H! Seymour exclaimed.

You are going might get lost in the oceanforever. Remember what happened to yourfather!

Timothy sighed. I know what happened,but he was helping someone as well. We all needto help people.

No! Seymour argued You cant do that!I have to, Timothy grimly stated. He

started to swim out of the room and said Good -bye Seymour. He closed the door behind him

and within no time was in the ocean charging at the monstrous shark. He pulled his body into his


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hard, stone-like shell and lodged himself into thesharks mouth, right as the shark was going tobite Octavius. The shark tried to close his mouthbut couldnt. This gave Octavius a chance toescape as he swam as quickly as he could back tothe W.H.A.L.E.V.

The shark wrestled with Timothy still

lodged in between his crushing teeth. Then theshell broke. A large cracking noise soundedthrough the ocean and the Jonah went silent ashe saw the shark gain victory over Timothy andpush the now limp turtle out of his mouth. Theshark, not gaining success from his attack swamaway defeated.

Seymour pressed the intercom Octavius,begin the recovery procedure.

Jonah and Seymour both watched asOctavius swam out, wrapped his tentaclesaround Timothy and swim back in. There was abuzz over the intercom and Octavius voice cameThe captain is alive. He is knocked out but still

alive. No thanks to you guys. The last complaint made Jonah roll his eyes in an almost disgustedmanner.

Well now we need an acting captain.Seymour said.

Jonah now saw an advantage Ill do it.He said, hoping this would get him home.

Are you sure? Seymour asked.


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Yeah, Im sure, Jonah said with a moreconfident tone.

Well then , what is your first orderCaptain Uhh?

Jonah looked at Seymour and walked overto the intercom button, pressed it, and said Thisis your acting captain speaking, set a course for a

boat called The Seahorse . But sir we should deliver the school of

fish first. They are our top priority, Seymourargued.

I am now your captain and I want to gohome, Jonah countered. This is my call. Jonahwas stubborn. The only thing on his mind at the

moment was his family. They were probablyworried about him. He had to go find them.

But sir, Seymour argued back. Its likewaiting in line. You are cutting the school of fish.Thats wrong.

This struck Jonah. He never liked it whenpeople cut him in line at school. But his family

was worried about him. What should he do?Jonah sighed, having made his decision. Hepressed the intercom button. Scratch myprevious message. Lets continue our originalroute. Lets return those fish!

The route through the rest of the oceanwas a visual delight. Bright yellow fish darted

back and forth. Intertwined between them wereother colors of fish: red, green, blue. It was a


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rainbow underwater. Other visual candyengulfed the window as well. The disorientingsunlight, the dusty sand covering the ocean floor,the bright colored plants that the rainbow of fishdarted in and out of.

They finally reached the destination andlet the school of fish disperse into the ocean. The

high-energy fish shot out and blocked thesurrounding ocean with their shear numbers. It was a very unique sight that made Jonahs jawdrop a little.

Once they had cleared Seymour said,Okay, now we can return to your mom.


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Mrs. Lindemood paced back and forth, aworried tear swelling up in her eye. Was hereson gone? Where was he? How could she livewithout him? Then as if from nowhere there wasa voice

Hey Mom. Mrs. Lindemood spun around and there

was Jonah standing on the edge of the boat as if nothing had happened.

Jonah! Mrs. Linde mood exclaimed witha sigh of release and ran to hug he r son. Wherehave you been?

Jonah then weaved a fantastic story about fish, a submarine, a shark, helping, and an

octopus with an attitude. But as he told his storyMrs. Linde moods expression only got angry.

Jonah Linde mood! You never lie to melike that! Ive been worried sick, you at least oweme the truth!

But Mom, Jonah argued back It is thetruth!

It is, maam, came a voice from t he floorof the boat. Mrs. Lindemood looked down andstanding there was a small shrimp, the shrimpturned to Jonah. Excuse me, Uhh but I have togo. I just got a call. Theres a clownfish lookingfor his son, sounds dire. The shrimp then ranand jumped off the boat.

Mrs. Lindemood could only mutter onesound Uhh


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About the Author

Jeremy Sexton is in 11 th grade at RockyMountain High School. He enjoys writing fictionstories with a light sense of humor. The first major story he wrote was in 4 th grade. The storywas called Cheeselock Holes. It was not as goodas some of the work Jeremy writes today but nonetheless it was a start. He also loves movies,TV shows, bacon, and just story telling in general.He finds it fascinating how people perceive theworld differently. Jeremy also loves good well-developed characters and has tried to work withstructure and descriptive detail all this year. Healso has won awards at speech and debatecompetitions and hopes to incorporate that intohis writing or his writing into his speeches.

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A w.h.a.l.e.v of a Tale