The Polar Bear Express

by Debbie Dadey

  Shelly and Echo touched Kiki on the back. “We heard what happened,” Shelly said. “Why is Pearl being so mean?”

  “Because she’s Pearl!” Echo said sadly.

  “What are we going to do?” Kiki moaned. When the Rays had agreed to help Nestor, Kiki thought that their troubles were over. Now the Shark Patrol might take the polar bear away before they could even have the concert!

  “We’re not going to give up,” Shelly said. “I may not have visions, but I do have a feeling that if we keep working on the concert, everything is going to turn out totally wavy.”

  Kiki hoped Shelly was right.

  Later in class Kiki tried to keep her mind on schoolwork, but she couldn’t stop thinking about Pearl’s threat. Would she really go to the Shark Patrol? What if they did something horrible to Nestor?

  Kiki had stayed up very late the night before making posters about the concert, which she had hung all over school. At lunchtime, every merkid in the cafeteria was whispering about them. Every merkid except Pearl, that is. She just glared at Kiki.

  “I’m totally going to be there,” Rocky bragged. “Maybe I’ll even get to go onstage with the Rays. After all, my dad is the mayor of Trident City.”

  After lunch, Mrs. Karp made an announcement. “All poems must be finished today. You may use some class time to work on yours.”

  When Kiki had to sharpen her sea quill pen at the quill sharpener, she floated by Pearl’s desk. Pearl was hard at work on her poem song. And that was when Kiki got an idea. It was a fabulous, stupendous idea. In fact, it was the best idea ever!

  Totally Wavy

  I WONDER WHEN PEARL IS going to the Shark Patrol,” Echo said to Kiki and Shelly after school. They were floating in Trident Academy’s huge front hallway with hundreds of other students.

  “Do you want me to talk to her?” Shelly asked. “Maybe I can keep her busy until after the concert.”

  Kiki smiled. She knew her friends would help in any way they could. “Nope. I think I have the Pearl problem taken care of—at least, I hope so.”

  “How?” Echo asked in surprise.

  “I’ll tell you later. Right now let’s get to the People Museum and help collect money!” Kiki replied.

  Echo, Kiki, and Shelly had worked very hard the evening before to transform the museum into a concert hall, adding hundreds of rock seats and even a small stage. Luckily, Grandfather Siren had everything they needed in his many storage closets. And Echo’s dad, who owned Reef’s Store, had donated stoplight loosejaw fish that would put spotlights on the singers. Echo’s mom and Crystal had even volunteered to sell tickets.

  “It’s so wonderful that everyone is pulling together to help Nestor,” Kiki said, wiping a happy tear from her eye as they swam through MerPark. “I just hope we can raise enough shells to send him home.”

  Even though the concert wasn’t going to begin for several hours, Grandfather Siren had told them that merpeople would show up early to get the best seats, and he was right. When they arrived at the museum, a line had already formed outside the door.

  Kiki was so surprised! Almost every merkid and teacher from Trident Academy was there. Mrs. Karp was one of the first in line! And Kiki had to blink several times before she could believe her eyes: Pearl was there too! After how mad she had been at school earlier, Kiki didn’t think Pearl would come. Before long the entire museum was full; they even had to turn merfolk away.

  “Oh no!” Echo said, pointing toward the Manta Ray station. Three serious-looking guards swam toward them. “Pearl sent the Shark Patrol after all.”

  But the large guards weren’t there to lock up Nestor. “We heard about the fund-raiser and we’d like to help. No baby—even a polar bear—should be lost. Do you need us to control the crowd?” one of them asked.

  “Sure,” Kiki said. She was so happy that the guards weren’t going to take Nestor away that she felt like giving them a great big hug.

  There was only one problem: the Rays hadn’t arrived yet. Had they forgotten? Had they changed their minds?

  Suddenly Kiki’s eyes grew cloudy and her ears felt like they were clogged. She was having another vision! In her mind she saw the Rays above her, with something large and white floating between them. After the vision passed and her mind was blank again, she looked up.

  “There they are!”

  The Rays were swimming down from the water’s surface. With them was Nestor!

  “We thought that the polar bear should be the star of this show,” Alden said.

  “At least for a few minutes,” Teddy added as he winked at Kiki. Kiki’s heart skipped a beat. He was so cute and so sweet!

  When the Rays and Nestor went inside the museum, the whole crowd cheered. Shelly, Echo, and Kiki stood to the side of the makeshift stage, while mergirls screamed and threw sea tulips at the four merstars. Kiki was glad the guards were there to help tame the rowdy audience.

  “Let’s hear it for Nestor!” Alden yelled. “He’s the reason we’re here!”

  A huge roar of approval came from the crowd. A girl’s voice rang out, “We love polar bears!” Kiki giggled when she saw that it was her classmate Wanda who’d yelled.

  Nestor waved as he floated back toward the surface. The Rays sang “Shake Your Tail,” along with “Shark, the Sharpnose Sevengill” and their first big hit, “Oh, Barracuda.”

  When the Rays finished performing, everyone clapped and cheered. Pearl’s voice squealed above the rest, “I love you, Teddy!” The guards helped the Rays get away from the crowd.

  Kiki, Echo, and Shelly met the cute merboy band backstage. It was time to count the number of shells they had raised. Would they have enough to buy a ticket to the Arctic Ocean?

  Kiki’s tail was trembling as she and her merfriends counted the shells. What if they didn’t have enough? What would they do then?

  But they did it! They had collected enough shells to equal four jewels—the exact amount needed to send Nestor home.

  “This is fin-tastic!” Kiki squealed.

  “Come on,” Harmon said, grabbing Kiki’s hand. “We have a polar bear to save!”

  The seven of them swam over to the Manta Ray Express Station. Kiki bought a first-class private ticket for Nestor on the largest ray available.

  “Don’t worry,” the agent said. “We’ll get your little polar bear home faster than a humpback can breach.”

  Echo giggled. “It’ll be a polar bear express!”

  Nestor dived down from the surface and climbed aboard the ray. The bear waved and waved. “Thanks, my merbuddies!” he called as the ray zoomed toward the surface and the bear’s home.

  “Bye, my polar buddy,” Kiki said, with a tear in her eye. As happy as she was that Nestor was going home, she was going to miss her furry friend.

  When Nestor was gone, Shelly tapped Kiki on the shoulder. “Now will you tell us how you changed Pearl’s mind about sending the Shark Patrol after Nestor?”

  “Oh!” Kiki gasped. “Thanks for reminding me. I almost forgot!” She pulled a folded piece of seaweed from her orange shell purse and handed it to Alden.

  “What’s this?” he asked.

  “It’s a poem song written for you by one of our classmates, Pearl Swamp,” Kiki explained. “I promised her I’d give it to you.” She turned to her friends. “And in return,” she whispered, “Pearl promised to leave Nestor alone.”

  Alden glanced down at the words and started humming a tune. “Hey, this isn’t bad.”

  Kiki grinned. “If you like it, maybe you can make it your next song.”

  Echo rolled her eyes. “If you do, Pearl will be bragging for the rest of her life.”

  Kiki laughed. She didn’t care if Pearl did brag. She was just glad that Nestor was on his way home. She closed her eyes. In her mind, she had a vision of the little bear and his mother hugging. It was her favorite vision of all.

  “Are you all right?” Shelly asked Kiki.

  “Yes, I am totally wavy!” Kiki told her. And she was.r />
  Class Poems

  POLAR PAL (AN ACROSTIC POEM)

  By Shelly Siren

  Playful friend

  Our polar buddy

  Lost and hungry

  Away we go to

  Rescue our pal

  PEOPLE DREAMS (A CINQUAIN POEM)

  By Echo Reef

  Humans

  Mysterious

  I dream of seeing one

  Do you think a human wants to

  See me?

  FOOD FIGHTS (A HAIKU POEM)

  By Rocky Ridge

  Food fights can be fun

  Especially at lunchtime

  Splat! Right in the face!

  LOVE PIRATE (FREE VERSE FOR A RAYS SONG)

  By Pearl Swamp

  Hidden deep beneath the sea

  A secret lies with me

  Treasures rich beyond compare

  But do I dare?

  Love pirate

  You are a love pirate

  Will you steal my heart?

  Or bring me gold?

  LOST (A HAIKU POEM)

  By Kiki Coral

  My polar buddy

  So lost in the great ocean

  He needs a way home.

  REFRAIN:

  Let the water roar

  Deep down we’re swimming along

  Twirling, swirling, singing the mermaid song.

  VERSE 1:

  Shelly f lips her tail

  Racing, diving, chasing a whale

  Twirling, swirling, singing the mermaid song.

  VERSE 2:

  Pearl likes to shine

  Oh my Neptune, she looks so fine

  Twirling, swirling, singing the mermaid song.

  VERSE 3:

  Shining Echo f lips her tail

  Backward and forward without fail

  Twirling, swirling, singing the mermaid song.

  VERSE 4:

  Amazing Kiki

  Far from home and f loating so free

  Twirling, swirling, singing the mermaid song

  Author’s Note

  WHEN I WAS YOUNG, I passed by the same poster every Sunday. I read the poem on the poster each time I walked by. It was:

  I never saw a moor,

  I never saw the sea;

  Yet know I how the heather looks,

  And what a wave must be.

  I never spoke with God,

  Nor visited in heaven;

  Yet certain am I of the spot

  As if the chart were given.

  Because I read it every week, I learned this Emily Dickinson poem by heart. Maybe you can do the same thing. Write a poem out and hang it on your wall. Read it every day and soon you’ll remember it by heart, even when you are old like me!

  Hope you’ll have a good time trying to write your own poems too. Visit my website, www.debbiedadey.com, for more writing fun.

  Your mermaid friend,

  Debbie Dadey

  Glossary

  BARRACUDA: The fast great barracuda has needle-sharp teeth and a long body. Eating even a tiny bite of barracuda meat can make a human sick.

  CRAB: The tiny pea crab lives inside a mussel shell and eats the plankton that gets trapped inside.

  DOLPHIN: Bottlenose dolphins are often seen following ships and even bodysurfing on the ships’ waves.

  LONGHORN COWFISH: This fish gets its name from the long, fleshy horns above its eyes.

  MANTA RAY: The manta ray is the largest of all the rays. It can grow up to twenty-six feet from the tip of one wing to the other. Luckily, it only eats plankton and small fish.

  OCTOPUS: The Dumbo octopus lives in the deep sea and has two large fins that look like ears.

  OLIVE SEA SNAKE: This snake lives in the water near Australia. It has short fangs and toxic venom.

  PADDLE WORM: This green worm lives in shallow water and on the shore. If you see something green about the size of a marble near the water, it might be a cluster of paddle-worm eggs.

  PARROT FISH: This brightly colored fish has teeth that form a parrotlike beak.

  POLAR BEAR: The polar bear is the largest bear. Polar bears are good swimmers and have an excellent sense of smell.

  PUFFER FISH: If something scares a puffer fish, it will swallow water and blow up to a much larger size.

  RIBBON WORMS: This worm can grow as long as a football field is wide!

  SEA CUCUMBERS: Deep-sea cucumbers are like vacuum cleaners on the bottom of the ocean. They are colorless but glow all over with bioluminescent light.

  SEA HORSES: The male sea horse has a pouch, somewhat like that of a kangaroo. The sea horse carries eggs in the pouch until they hatch.

  SEA SLUG: The Hermissenda sea slug should be called the porcupine sea slug. It saves the stinging cells from any creature it captures. The Hermissenda puts the stinging cells on its own back for protection.

  SEA SQUIRT: The colonial sea squirt lives in urn-shaped colonies and has a green color.

  SEA TULIP: The sea tulip is a type of giant sea squirt that has a long stalk. Its body is on the end of the stalk and is bright yellow.

  SEA TURTLE: The loggerhead turtle is the second-largest marine turtle. It eats crabs, lobsters, and clams.

  SEAWEED: Seaweed does not have roots, but floats freely.

  SHARPNOSE SEVENGILL SHARK: This deepwater shark has a pointed snout and is an endangered species.

  SHORE CLINGFISH: This small fish can cling to rocks with a powerful sucker formed from its fins. Its snout looks like a duck’s bill.

  STARFISH: Most starfish have five arms. If one of their arms is lost, they can regrow it!

  STOPLIGHT LOOSEJAW: This deep-sea fish’s mouth doesn’t have a bottom. This fish has large photophores under each eye to create a light show.

  SWORDFISH: The upper jawbone of a swordfish looks a lot like a sword.

  WHALE: The blue whale is the largest animal that has ever lived. It can eat more than 6,600 pounds of food a day!

  The Sound of   Waves

  BRAVO!”

  The crowd cheered and clapped as Pearl Swamp took a bow. Her diamond-studded costume billowed around her gold tail on the sparkling stage. Members of the audience whistled and tossed her beautiful bouquets of sea lavender.

  Pearl waved as merfolk from all over the ocean cried out, “We love you, Pearl!” and “You are the best actress in the whole merworld!”

  She couldn’t believe her good luck. A famous director had picked her out of all the merstudents at Trident Academy to star as Fishlein Maria in his play The Sound of  Waves. As the curtain closed, a crowd of fans and reporters rushed to Pearl’s side.

  “Miss Swamp, may I have my picture sketched with you?” asked a small mergirl.

  Pearl nodded and lifted her pointy nose in the water as the merartist Piddock Picasso sketched her on a piece of kelp for her fan.

  “May I have an interview?” asked Trident City Tide reporter Lulu Lampern.

  “Of course,” Pearl said, waving away the hundreds of merpeople still waiting to have their picture drawn with her. Others floated nearby, holding sea pens and seaweed, hoping Pearl would sign autographs.

  “How does it feel to be famous?” Lulu asked.

  Pearl smiled. “It is fabulous and everything I dreamed it would be.”

  Lulu scribbled some notes on seaweed before looking up. “What is your favorite part of being a star?”

  “There is nothing more fin-tastic than knowing an audience is cheering for me,” Pearl said. “It is an amazing feeling!” She paused before adding, “Of course, the jewels and flowers are nice too.”

  “You were simply mervelous in the play tonight,” Lulu said. “And we look forward to seeing you in many more. I’ll let you get back to your fans now. Thanks.”

  Pearl nodded and turned toward a huge crowd. They were all chanting, “Pearl! Pearl!”

  One screaming fan even broke through the crowd and tried to hug Pearl. Then the fan began shaking Pearl’s shoulders.

  “What are you
doing?” Pearl cried. “Stop that right now!”

  “Pearl! Pearl! Wake up, my little pupfish!”

  Pearl’s eyes popped open. She wasn’t surrounded by screaming fans. Instead she was in her bed, surrounded by a curtain of daisy coral, and the person shaking her shoulders was her mother!

  “Pearl, you must have been having a dream. It’s time for school.”

  Pearl hugged her mother. “I dreamed I was a famous meractress,” she explained. “A real star of the sea!”

  “You are always a sea star to me!” Mrs. Swamp said, kissing the top of Pearl’s head. “Now, come to breakfast. The mercook made water-flea waffles this morning.”

  Pearl jumped up and ran a Venus comb through her hair. Her dream had felt so real: the screaming fans, the flowers, and the beautiful costumes on the glittering stage. Pearl’s greatest wish was to become a star someday—and that day couldn’t come soon enough!

  Angelfish Molie

  PEARL YAWNED AS SHE POURED sandweed syrup on her water-flea waffles. She took a big bite and looked at her father. Mr. Swamp was reading the newsweed while sipping his favorite copepod coffee. Usually Pearl didn’t read the Trident City Tide because she found most of its news stories quite dull. But this time she squealed when she saw the back of her father’s kelp.

  “Oh my Neptune!” Pearl shouted. “Angelfish Molie is coming to Trident City!”

  Mr. Swamp was so startled by Pearl’s shout that he spilled coffee all over his gold-and-black-striped tail. “What are you yelling about so early in the morning?” he asked, using his kelp napkin to wipe up the mess.

  “You’re always telling me I should keep up with the local news, so I read the back of the Trident City Tide.” Pearl pointed to an article that said that Angelfish Molie, the most famous meractress in all the ocean, would be starring in Gone with the Tide at the Grand Banks Theater. And the play was opening Tuesday night—tomorrow evening!