Story by: Declan Boland, Kimberly Chen, Mathew Cortez,Phoenyx Depass, Sydeny Duong Mason Huang, Lannah Kessler, Ronnie Koh, LanaLiu,Victoria Ma, Cynthia Ng, Seojin Park
Zareen Raushan, Evan Tsakopoulos, Katerina Tsakopoulos, Ella Tsolekos, Priyanka Wadhwa
Anna Wang, Jayden Zhang,OscarZhou, Aidan Barreiro
Here are some easy ways you can help protect the oceans:
Use reusable shopping bags! Avoid plastic straws!
Recycle everything you can! Pick up your trash and don’t litter, especially near the water!
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.
Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
Text Copyright © 2024 Tracy Blom Illustration Copyright © 2024 Kruti Desai
Underwater Escape Published by Jesse Byrd Creative Inc. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means without written permission from Jesse Byrd Creative Inc.
ISBN: 979-8-9895736-1-5
Written by Tracy Blom
Desai
Illustrated by Kruti
In the depth of the sea, locked away in a cell, was a small little crab with a very big shell. Inside it were things she collected and stored, from shipwrecks and various lands she explored.
Just outside her prison cell was a maze she knew quite well. Designed to keep her in the dark, Guarded by crabs and a Goblin Shark.
“It’s for your own good that we keep you
The surface
has
down
here,
nothing but heartache and fear. Their world is a mess, polluted and sad. Simply put, ocean good, land equals bad.”
Thoug htherewas truthin what Goblin Shark said, MG couldn’tgetsomethingout ofh er head . Ifthe ocean and land are both connected Ifonefalls apart, won’t both be affected?
Shecouldn’tstay silent and simply sit by She had to do something;atleastshecouldtry .
She waited until the guard’s backs were turned To try a lock-picking trick she had learned.
She reached in her shell and pulled out a pick Then opened the door, quiet and quick.
Her escape was halted by a strange glow And a big, jagged mouth that opened real slow.
“Material girl? Oh my gosh, is it true!?
Of all of the creatures, I’m here next to you!
Now that we’re best friends, just call me AL, Short for Anglerfish, your new best pal!”
“Listen, MG, if you free me, I’ll light the way so you can see. I also swim at tip-top speed, Which is exactly what you need!
I know what you’re thinking: She’s an Anglerfish, She eats crabs like me—Honey, I wish.
Just check my doctor’s note and see I have a shellfish allergy.”
They glided past the Goblin Shark. Approached the maze, so deep and dark. But thanks to the light on Al’s head, They found a better route instead!
The further they went, the more they saw, Like bottletops, cans, and plastic straws. There were miles of products designed to clean, Creating the dirtiest place ever seen.
“Maybe we should have stayed in the dark, And listened to the old Goblin Shark.”
She pulled a picture from her shell, held it up, and sighed.
“It’s not supposed to look like this. We’re too late,” she cried.
“There are many things to understand, About why they destroyed their land, But maybe they can tell us more,” Al said while pointing toward the shore.
Al waited in the water while MG went up to see a sad and crying child, who was just as sad as she.
He wiped his tears away, then pointed at the crab. “Stay right here while I find a cage that I can grab!”
The boy marched through the town with the cage up in the air Telling everyone he passed, “There is still life out there!” They treated her like royalty and scrambled to and fro, Posting ads, tweets, and billboards, letting everybody know.
The people seemed amazed they were seeing what they saw. Then somebody shouted, “There’s a photo in its claw!”
Meanwhile, back in the water, Al felt a set of eyes. She was followed by the crab guards, much to her surprise.
“Come with us,” the guards said. “It’s back to jail for you. Wait, where is the crab? We were told there would be two.”
Al tried to keep their secret but looked right toward the shore. Telling them everything they needed to know and more.
MG began to panic; there were humans all around! Then from her shell, all things fell and landed on the ground. One person saw her shell vase, another saw the key, Picture frames and glasses made from items in the sea.
“Maybe we can do this too,” she heard one of them say.
“Repurpose things instead of just throwing them away.”
The crabs planned to take MG back and use their collective might, to come ashore with teeth and claw expecting a full-on fight. But as they turned the corner, the crabs were shocked to see Bright and cheery faces, all smiling at MG.
The humans clapped and cheered, “Look! There are more! Let’s clean things up and make it look the way it did before.”
They cleaned up the beaches and went out in boats, collecting the trash, and garbage that floats.
They made lanterns and rain chains, jewelry, and more, Including a sculpture to stand on the shore.
Eventually the water was sparkly and clear, and more animals returned to shore every year.
“For years, the others told me to hide, And set up mazes to keep me inside, But they seemed to forget one really big part— You can’t stop a girl with a dream in her heart.”
A curious crab, locked in a cage, dreams of what life might be like on land. Yet making her dreams come true means facing the fact that not all aspects of surface life are as she imagined them. Scuttle along with this tenacious crustacean (you’ll learn her name inside) as she makes a surprising new friend and searches for a way to inspire the humans she bumps into on land.
