Moobaloo finds the Sunken Fire Truck

One day Moobaloo the mermaid and horace the fish were swimming in a large bay. Above the water's surface they heard a big commotion. They popped their heads up and saw a warehouse, on fire.

A warehouse is a big place where people keep things, and this warehouse had a guard who smoked cigarettes. He fell asleep, and his lit cigarette fell and touched some papers. By the time he woke up there was a fire. He ran out of the warehouse and called the fire department.

So Moobaloo and Horace were watching the firemen work. One of the firemen was talking to the other.

"Bob," he said, "it is taking too long to put out this fire! The warehouse will burn down. I wish we could save it."

"Well Sam," said the other fireman, "I've heard stories of a shiny fire truck from the Old Days that could put out fires really fast. My great grandfather told me about it. But that truck was lost years ago, sunk, I heard, in the bay."

"I have heard about that truck", said Sam, "but I thought it was just a legend!"

When Moobaloo heard this she said to Horace, "We should find that sunken fire truck!"

Horace said, "That is a great idea, but I've never seen one here in the bay."

"Maybe we should ask somebody really old, who might remember something from the old days." Moobaloo said, "Who do we know that is really old?"

Horace and Moobaloo thought and they thought. Most of their friends were young.

"Whales live a long time." said Moobaloo, "But whales don't come in the bay."

"Turtles!" said Horace, "Turtles live longer than almost anybody."

So the two friends swam off to find a turtle. On an island, in the middle of the bay, they found Tomas the Turtle, sunning himself on some rocks. It took a minute to wake him up.

"Tomas," said Moobaloo, "We are looking for a sunken fire engine. Can you help?"

"Ahhhh... Welllll..." said Tomas, "I don't go near the piers. You would have to ask the barnacles about that."

A barnacle is a tiny creature who lives in a shell. The shell is a little white circle about the size of a wedding ring. It is made of calcium, just like your finger nail. Barnacles don't live very long, but they tell each other everything, so everything a barnacle colony ever knew they all know.

"But we don't speak barnacle language," said Horace, who knew a great many languages.

"Then go ask the crab," said Tomas. "He speaks English and Barnacle too."

So Moobaloo and Horace swam to the piers. There, hiding in a little hole, they found Pierre the crab. Pierre was in a crabby mood. His shell was covered with algae, and it itched.

"No," said Pierre as he scratched his itchy shell, "I will not speak to the barnacles for you! Why should I?"

"What if we scrubbed your shell for you?" Horace asked.

Pierre said, "No promises!"

Moobaloo and Horace decided to chance it. They scrubbed and they scrubbed. Soon Pierre's shell was shiny as a whistle.

"Ahh! That is so much better!" cried Pierre. "What do you want to talk to the barnacles about?"

"Ask them if they have seen a fire engine sunken in the bay!" said Moobaloo.

Pierre turned to the barnacles on his pier. Now, barnacle language is not like people language. A person might say, "hello there" but a barnacle would say "(make clicking noises with your mouth)"

So Pierre said, "(click click click raise the tone of your voice at the end, as if asking a question)"

And the barnacles replied "(click click lower your tone as if in answer)"

Pierre turned to Moobaloo and said, "Pier 33. The fire engine is sunk below pier 33."

Quick as they could, Moobaloo and Horace swam to pier 33 dragging Pierre along with them. But when they arrived there was no fire truck in sight. All they could see were lots and lots of barnacles, and a great big bed of mussels. Mussels live in a black shell shaped like this (cup your hands) in big groups all together. The mussels and the barnacles like to hang on tight to things like piers, and the bottom of boats, and most anything they can grab onto. They even grab onto each other.

"Where is the fire truck?" asked Moobaloo.

Pierre spoke to the barnacles at pier 33, "(click click click)"

As Moobaloo and Horace watched the barnacles and the mussels all let go. Beneath them was a big shiny fire truck, looking as good as the day it sank into the bay.

Moobaloo wrote a letter to the fire fighter Bob that said, "Your grand father was right. Look below pier 33."

The next day, a big crane arrived at the pier. Scuba divers jumped in the water. In no time the crane was lifted from the bottom of the bay.

And that is how Moobaloo and Horace discovered the Treasure of the Sunken Fire Truck.

The End
(c) 2008 Ken Demarest