Seleke Sees a Shipwreck

One day there was a girl named Seleke (sell-a-key). She lived in a house with her mother, not at the bottom of a cliff, and not at the top, but right in the middle about half way up. In the land above lived the Snarling Wolves. At the bottom of the cliff, beside the ocean, lived Ugly Giants.

It was night time. Seleke was in her bedroom. Her little bedroom window looked out over the sea. From it she could see many things.

There were great big waves on the ocean, and rocks in the water called shoals. Seleke's window could also see a tall, white lighthouse, called the Ptarmigan Light. The lighthouse shined a narrow beam of light in a big circle, to warn ships away from the rocks. The light meant, "Don't get too close! Danger!" because if ships hit rocks they can sink.

Seleke loved to watch the Ptarmigan Light shine its light around. When ever it was foggy, or rainy, or there was a storm, the Ptarmigan light would warn ships away from the dangerous shoals.

On this night Seleke went to bed to the sound of the lighthouse blowing its fog horn, like this (make a fog horn noise). Soon she fell asleep.

Seleke startled awake. It was late at night, and she would usually be sleeping, but a loud noise had woken her up.

There was a big storm happening outside! The wind blew. Her window shook. There was thunder, and lightning. (make crashes and such) It was the thunder that woke Seleke up.

Seleke looked out the window, down at the ocean below.

Seleke saw a ship! The wind was blowing so hard that the ship was having trouble steering. Then Seleke realized that the Ptarmigan Light was not shining. As she watched, the ship came closer and closer to the rocks.

"Mom! Mom!" said Seleke, "The light house is not shining."

Seleke's mother made her dress in warm clothes and a rain coat. She put on a big yellow hat, and big yellow boots. Then they lit lanterns and went outside into the wind and the rain.

When the lightning flashed they could see the ship. It had run aground on the rocks. Sailors were putting boats over the side and rowing towards shore. As they rowed, the ship was wrecked and sank below the waves.

"Those sailors need us." said Seleke's mother.

She got long ropes and lowered them over the cliff. When the sailors reached shore they climbed the ropes. Seleke brought each sailor back to the house. Soon the house was full of wet, cold sailors.

Seleke brought in wood for a fire, while her mother made hot chicken soup. The sailors were shivering with cold. When the fire got going, they all huddled around it, sipping their hot soup.

One sailor said, "Thank you for helping us. I am the first mate, Isaac Stern."

"What happened to the captain?" asked Seleke.

"We lost sight of the Ptarmigan Light, and the captain went down with the ship." said Isaac.

"The light was off," said Seleke, "I could not see it from my window."

"We saw the whole thing." said Isaac, "We were sailing through the storm, using the lighthouse to guide our course. Suddenly there was a big bolt of lightning from the sky. It hit the Ptarmigan light, kaboom! Then the light went out. It was so dark, and so rainy, we lost our way and hit the rocks. Now our ship is at the bottom of the ocean."

"You can all sleep here tonight." said Seleke's mother.

"Thank you." said Isaac. All the sailors said thank you.

"What was on your ship?" asked Seleke.

"We were carrying flashlights, and steam engine parts, and dump truck parts, and dolls." said Isaac, "Now they are below the waves, with our ship."

"I am sorry to hear that." said Seleke.

"So are we." said Isaac.

That night the sailors all slept on the floor in front of the fire. The next morning, Seleke woke up to the sound of hammers, and saws. Seleke found Isaac.

"What is going on?" she asked.

"We will be walking out of here soon," said Isaac, "But we wanted to show our gratitude. We are building a new room onto your house."

"But, why do we need a new room?" asked Seleke.

"Because," said her mother, "in four months you will have a new baby brother. This room is for him."

The next day the sailors finished the room and began their long walk home. It wasn't long before Seleke had a new baby brother. But that is another story.

The End
(c) 2008 Ken Demarest