The Adventures of Skippy Fishback, Chapter 3

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By Tamara Kula

Skippy also saw another boat – a big black boat – headed toward the smaller one. From the ominous tattered flag flapping violently in the wind, Skippy figured the black boat was a pirate ship. The flag proudly displayed a skull and cross-bones. And that wasn’t all.

Skippy also saw a pack of three sharks approaching the small boat, waiting hungrily for the passengers to fall overboard. Yes, that small boat was in trouble, and Skippy intended to help. He heard screams as a huge wave slammed against the boat’s side, nearly knocking it over. The sharks were coming ever closer. And the pirates were beginning to shoot arrows at the helpless little boat.

Skippy rushed through the water and in half a second he was beside the boat. He saw a barrage of arrows heading his direction and he knew exactly what to do. He leaped out of the water and started bouncing, thus blocking each and every arrow with his hard turtle shell. He heard clinking noises as the arrows ricocheted off him.

“What in the world is that?!” cried a woman from inside the boat. “Honey, have you ever seen anything like it?”

Meanwhile, the sharks had grown impatient with waiting for their lunch to fall overboard, and they began charging the boat, making it rock even more precariously than before.

Skippy turned to face the largest of the sharks. Seeing Skippy, the shark prepared to eat him alive, but Skippy was too fast.

Soon the huge shark was roaring with laughter and begging for mercy as Skippy tickled him relentlessly. While the shark’s mouth was open wide, Skippy yanked out a beautiful pearly white tooth. At that moment, he noticed that the shark had a pierced tongue – and it was pierced with a golden fish hook. He grabbed the fish hook as well, hardly believing his luck. Then, tickling all three sharks simultaneously, Skippy drove the beasts away from the little boat, toward the pirate ship. Just then, a monstrous wall of water smashed into the pirate’s ship, knocking all of the pirates into the water. The pirates weren’t happy, but the sharks certainly were.

As the waves and the wind became more and more violent, it became obvious that this was no ordinary storm. But Skippy wasn’t worried. The wind ripped the pirate flag from the boat and blew it right into Skippy’s hand. What a lucky day indeed!

The wind howled and began to whirl in circles, sucking water with it. Before Skippy’s eyes, a spinning tower of water rose out of the ocean, growing taller and stronger with every passing second. It was a hurricane!

Soon the poor little boat would be sucked into its path of destruction. Skippy could barely see the boat among the crashing waves. What could he do? How could he stop the hurricane?

“I’ve got it!” cried Skippy suddenly, and he leaped into action. He swam straight for the twisting tower of water.

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