Something's Fishy

by Nancy Krulik

  I wonder if they can see me in here, Katie thought. Swishing her fins, she swam toward what seemed to be the glass wall of the aquarium. Her fish eyes allowed her to look in all directions except right behind her. But she couldn’t see very clearly. In fact, she could only see a few feet ahead of herself.

  The closer she got to the wall, the more she could see. She couldn’t make out any faces, but she was pretty sure that there were people on the other side of the glass. Maybe they were her friends.

  “Hey, look at me!” Katie tried to shout out as she flicked her tail up and flipped over in the water. “I’m just clown-fishing around!”

  But of course, no actual sounds came out of Katie’s fish face—just a bunch of bubbles.

  “I can stand on my head!” Katie tried to say, moving so her head was facing the ground. “And I can do a triple twist!” she continued, turning her fish body round and round like a whirlpool.

  Wow! This sure was fun.

  Then suddenly, a dark shadow fell over Katie. She looked up just in time to see a huge nurse shark. And even with her fish eyes, she could clearly see those giant teeth—fish-eating teeth—heading right for her!

  Katie gulped. This was soooooo not good!

  Chapter 8

  Any second now, Katie was going to become the shark’s main course. It was swimming faster now, its big mouth wide open. Man, those teeth looked sharp.

  Katie wanted to scream for help. But she was a fish. She couldn’t scream.

  The shark came closer.

  Katie swished her fins as fast as she could. But the big fish was much faster than she was.

  The shark came closer, still.

  Just then, Katie’s fish eyes spotted a big white sea anemone just a few inches away. A safe base, just like in the game.

  Quickly, Katie burrowed herself deep into the anemone’s white tentacles. The shark swam right by without even stopping.

  “It works!” Katie shouted out with excitement. Of course, no sounds actually came out of her mouth. But a whole lot of water bubbles blew all around her.

  Katie’s little fish heart was pounding. That had been so scary. Suddenly, she didn’t want to do any more twists or somersaults in the water. She didn’t want to play tag with the other clown fish.

  She just wanted to be Katie Kazoo again—a ten-year-old girl who was on the other side of the tank.

  But for now, she was a clown fish. And she couldn’t hide in the sea anemone forever. Katie didn’t know if sea anemones could get mad, but just in case, she didn’t want to overstay her welcome.

  Katie poked her head out to make sure the shark was gone. Once she was certain it was safe, she swam back out into the open water. Then she looked around for the other members of the clown fish school. She didn’t see any of them. She was all alone in this part of the tank.

  Just then, something else caught her eye. Something bright and shiny. Right there, on the bottom, near a pretty starfish. What was it?

  Katie the clown fish swam over to investigate. Now the shiny object became clear to her. A shiny rock, attached to a gold circle. It took a moment before her little fish brain understood what she was looking at. The object was a ring. And not just any ring!

  It was Ms. Sweet’s engagement ring.

  Katie began whirling and twirling excitedly in the water. She’d found Ms. Sweet’s ring. She knew exactly where it was. This was so great.

  Or was it?

  Sure, Katie knew where the ring was. But she couldn’t tell anyone. As long as Katie was a fish, Ms. Sweet’s diamond engagement ring would be buried treasure at the bottom of the sea—er, aquarium.

  Before she could think what to do, Katie felt a sudden change in the water around her. It was moving.

  Oh no! Was another shark coming?

  The water grew cooler, almost cold, as it blew around her tail fins. Katie didn’t like the feeling at all. It was creepy—like icy fingers pounding on her little fish spine.

  Katie looked around. None of the plants around her seemed to be moving with the blowing water.

  None of the other sea creatures seemed to feel the breeze either. The starfish was still sitting quietly on the ground. And the sea anemone’s tentacles were perfectly still.

  It seemed like the wind was only blowing on Katie the clown fish. Which made sense because this was no ordinary wind. This was the magic wind.

  The magic wind was just as powerful underwater as it was outside in the air. A moment later, the wind was blowing so wildly that Katie thought her tiny fish body would be blown right out of the tank.

  She wished she could shut her eyes in fear—but she couldn’t. She had to face this tornado with both eyes wide open. Round and round it blew, circling wildly about Katie.

  And then it stopped. Just like that.

  The magic wind was gone.

  Chapter 9

  And Katie Kazoo was back!

  “Katie, what’s all over your shirt?” Suzanne asked as Katie looked around a moment later.

  Katie breathed a sigh of relief as she stared into Suzanne’s face. She had never been so happy to see her best friend in her whole life! “Oh, that’s just water,” she told Suzanne. “I think it must be from the water fountain over there.”

  “Where else could it be from?” Suzanne said sarcastically. “It’s not like you took a swim in the tank or anything.”

  Katie grinned slightly to herself. Then she looked down at the school of clown fish. One of them was swimming around in circles, as if it was trying to figure out what had just happened in the tank.

  Poor little fish. There was no way Katie could explain this to them.

  Or to anybody else, for that matter. “No,” she told Suzanne. “Of course I didn’t go in there.”

  “This trip has turned out to be just awful, hasn’t it?” Becky remarked.

  “Ms. Sweet’s party is ruined,” Suzanne said.

  Ms. Sweet! Katie had almost forgotten. “Hey, I think I know where Ms. Sweet’s ring is!” Katie shouted out excitedly.

  Everyone stopped talking and stared at her.

  “Katie, this is no time for jokes,” Mr. G. warned.

  “I’m not joking,” Katie assured him. “Look. See? It’s right down there, by the starfish.”

  “Which starfish?” Suzanne asked. She sounded like she didn’t believe Katie at all. “There are, like, a million of them down there.”

  Katie pointed down toward the bottom of the tank. “The starfish near the white sea anemone where I was . . . I mean, where that orange clown fish was hiding.” Whoops. That had been a close one.

  “Show me, please,” Ms. Sweet asked Katie, grabbing her by the hand and pulling her down the ramp toward the bottom of the tank.

  The other kids and Mr. G. all hurried close behind them. In a flash, the whole fourth grade was on the ground floor of the aquarium, staring at the starfish through the glass.

  “See, over there,” Katie said, pointing right at the ring.

  “Oh my goodness, you’re right!” Ms. Sweet exclaimed. “I can see it sparkling on top of the gravel. I have to go tell that guard. He said the divers would get the ring if I knew exactly where it was. And now I do.”

  “I’ll go tell him,” Kevin assured Ms. Sweet. Katie could tell by the look on his face that he was very relieved. Now he wouldn’t be hated by all of class 4B anymore.

  “I’ll go with him,” Mr. G. added. He smiled at Ms. Sweet. “You and Katie just stay right here and keep an eye on that ring.”

  A few moments later, a diver in a black wet suit appeared in the tank. The kids all watched as she swam along with the fish and sharks, traveling toward where the ring was.

  “It’s right there!” Suzanne said. She banged on the glass. “Don’t worry, Ms. Sweet, I’ll make sure she doesn’t miss it.”

  “Suzanne, stop banging on that glass,” Katie insisted. “You might scare a fish so badly, it’ll swim right into a shark’s mouth.”

  “Oh, you don’t have to worry about th
at,” the guard told Katie. “The divers feed the sharks plenty of food. None of the predators hunt for prey because they’re not hungry. All of our fish are safe in there.”

  Wow. Katie felt much better. She hadn’t put that clown fish in any danger after all.

  “But that doesn’t mean you can bang on the glass, young lady,” the guard continued, turning toward Suzanne. “It upsets the fish. That’s why it’s against the rules.”

  A moment later, the diver swam up to the glass so that she was face to face with Ms. Sweet. She held the ring up so she could see it.

  Ms. Sweet smiled brightly. She mouthed the words “thank you” to the diver. The diver gave her a thumbs-up and then swam toward the top of the tank. A moment later, Ms. Sweet had her ring back.

  The grateful teacher turned and gave Katie a big hug. “Katie, you’re amazing!” she exclaimed. “How did you ever spot my little ring in that big tank? I would think you’d practically have to be right next to it to see it.”

  Katie smiled slightly. Ms. Sweet had no idea how true that was. “I guess I was just lucky,” she said.

  “No. I was lucky,” Ms. Sweet replied.

  “So is class 4B!” Suzanne exclaimed. “Now we can have my . . . I mean your engagement party, Ms. Sweet.”

  “I think we should invite class 4A to the party, too,” Ms. Sweet said. “After all, Katie’s in class 4A. And she’s the one who saved the day.”

  “I guess,” Suzanne said with a sigh. “But I don’t know if there will be enough cake for all of them. My recipe only makes enough for our class.”

  “Don’t worry about that,” Ms. Sweet told Suzanne. “I’ll take care of the food.”

  “Oh, this is going to be fun!” Katie exclaimed. She grinned at Suzanne, Miriam, and Becky. “Now we can all party together.”

  Miriam and Becky smiled back at her right away. It took Suzanne a little while to force a grin.

  Chapter 10

  “This is so much fun!” Katie squealed, taking another bite of her blue raspberry ice cream. “Oh yum! There was a green gummy fish in that spoonful.” She smiled. “Even a vegetarian like me can eat these fish!”

  Suzanne grinned. “You see, we have fun in our class, too,” she told Katie. “We may not sit in beanbag chairs or play fish tag, but we have awesome parties.”

  Now Katie understood why Suzanne had wanted this party to be just for her class. Maybe the kids in class 4A did brag a little too much about the way-cool learning adventures Mr. G. was always thinking up.

  “You sure do,” Katie agreed with Suzanne. “I really love that Ms. Sweet gave her engagement party a fish theme.”

  “So do I,” Jeremy agreed. “I never knew fish could be so delicious,” he added, sliding a cherry-red gummy fish into his mouth.

  “I think I’d like an aquarium theme for my engagement party one day,” Becky cooed, glancing at Jeremy.

  Jeremy rolled his eyes. “I’m gonna go get some goldfish crackers,” he said as he hurried away.

  “Hey, you guys, do you know what sea horses wear on their feet?” Kadeem shouted out.

  “What?” Andy Epstein asked him.

  “Horseshoe crabs!” Kadeem answered with a laugh.

  Everyone else laughed, too.

  Katie waited for George to come back with a joke of his own. But he didn’t say anything. So Kadeem told another one. “What do you get when you cross a turtle with an electric eel?” he asked.

  “What?” Emma S. asked him.

  “Shell shock!” Kadeem told her.

  Everyone laughed even harder.

  But still, not a sound was heard from George.

  “What’s with George?” Katie whispered to Kevin.

  “I don’t know,” Kevin said. “It’s not like him to pass on a joke-off with Kadeem.”

  Just then Ms. Sweet walked over to where Katie was standing. “I just wanted to thank you again, Katie,” the teacher told her. Ms. Sweet held out her hand. The ring sparkled on her finger. “I don’t know what I would have done if I’d lost this ring forever.”

  Suzanne wrapped her arm around Katie’s shoulders. “My best friend saved the day,” she boasted. “Of course, I taught her everything she knows.”

  “What’s that supposed to mean?” Becky asked.

  “I was the one who taught her to play I Spy,” Suzanne explained. “We used to play it in the car. Of course, I always won.”

  “But Katie won when it really counted,” Emma W. said, pointing to Ms. Sweet’s ring.

  Suzanne frowned. She opened her mouth to say something, but she was drowned out by the sound of Miriam screaming.

  “Ooooo! That’s so gross, George!” she shouted. “Get it away from me.”

  “What’s the matter, Miriam?” he asked her. “Don’t you like the under-the-sea environment I made? Come on. Take a bite!”

  “Yuck! Get that away from me!” Miriam squealed as she ran as far from George as she could.

  Katie looked into the bowl George was carrying. He’d filled it with blue raspberry ice cream, gummy fish, goldfish crackers, and blue punch. It was all mushed together. Now Katie understood why George hadn’t bothered with the joke-off.

  “Let me see you eat it,” Miriam called from the other side of the room. “I bet you won’t put one spoonful of that mess into your mouth.”

  But Miriam was wrong. George scooped up a big spoonful of the ice-cream-cracker-candy-punch slop, and shoved it into his mouth.

  “Ooo. Nasty,” Miriam said. She looked like she was going to be sick.

  Katie laughed. It was a lot more fun pretending to be under the sea than to really be there. She blinked her eyes a few times, just enjoying the fact that she had eyelids again.

  Yep, it was definitely more fun being Katie Kazoo than a clown fish. In fact, if it were up to her, Katie wouldn’t switch places with anyone.

  But it wasn’t really up to her at all. And at just that moment, Katie felt a cold wind blowing on the back of her neck. She jumped up, startled.

  Could the magic wind be back so soon?

  Would it come here now, in front of all these people?

  “Katie, will you shut the window, please?” Ms. Sweet called from across the room. “It’s a little windy in here.”

  Phew. Katie gave a big sigh of relief. It wasn’t the magic wind at all. It was just a regular old wind. Which meant Katie would stay herself.

  At least for now.

  Go Fish !

  Katie and her pals sure learned a lot about fish during their trip to the aquarium. Now it’s your turn to take the bait and check out this list of fin . . . uh . . . er . . . fun fish facts!

  1. Scientists believe that there are more than twenty-eight thousand different fish species!

  2. One fish can actually walk on dry land! It’s called the climbing perch. This fish will walk on land in search of water when its water hole dries up.

  3. The heaviest fish ever caught was an ocean sunfish. That whopper of a fish weighed 4,928 pounds!

  4. When it comes to fish, the sailfish beats them all! It can swim up to sixty-eight miles per hour—faster than a car on the highway.

  5. The slowest fish is the sea horse, which moves less than one-tenth of a mile per hour.

  6. Fish don’t actually sleep. But they do rest. When they are resting, some fish just float calmly, others wedge themselves into a spot in the mud or coral, and others actually build themselves little nests.

  7. The largest fish is the whale shark, which can grow as big as fifty feet long.

  8. The eye of a giant squid can reach fifteen inches in diameter. That’s as big as a basketball!

  9. One ocean sunfish can lay up to five million eggs at one time!

  10. Goldfish have toothlike structures in the back of their throats! They use them to grind their food. When old teeth fall out, new ones grow in.

  About the Author

  NANCY KRULIK is the author of more than 150 books for children and young adults, including three New York Times bestse
llers. She lives in New York City with her husband, composer Daniel Burwasser, their children, Amanda and Ian, and Pepper, a chocolate and white spaniel mix. When she’s not busy writing the Katie Kazoo, Switcheroo series, Nancy loves swimming, reading, and going to the movies.

  About the Illustrators

  JOHN & WENDY’S art has been featured in other books for children, in magazines, on stationery, and on toys. When they are not drawing Katie and her friends, they like to paint, take photographs, travel, and play music in their rock ’n’ roll band. They live and work in Brooklyn, New York.