Norman the Narwhal

Deep in the  clear, cold sea was a shell castle where Cap. Dolphin lived with his adopted son, Norman the Narwhal.  Narwhals are not usually found in the Mediterranean Sea; however, he got lost in the trade winds, that kicked up the briny foam and pushed the baby narwhal to the island Balearic.  He foundered on the island sands- a shore with gulls and few waves because the tide was out.  Whimpering, Norman knew that he was breathing his last.

A seagull landed on Norman, and asked why he was crying

“I-I am lost! My brothers and sisters have left me.  A huge wave came and took me from them,” he cried.

“I have never seen a sea creature like you- do you belong here?”

“No- and I just want to go home!” Norman whispered. 

  Now, this was before Norman had met Cap. Dolphin, who had taken care of him up until he was 7.  Now, he would go to school every day:

Norman’s teacher is the wise, well-known Athena the Starfish.  She tells her students tales of the fishy Seahorse Harry, Mo, Curly and Larry the evil Gangster sharks, and their mischievious cave- guard, Earl the Electric Eel.  The group lives together in an ancient, sunken boat.  The whole school thought these characters a fairy tale, and never believed their threatening stories.

Little did Norman or his classmates know that Harry watched them everyday from outside the schoolhouse.  Harry would intently stare at Norman as he swam home from school, and had heard rumors spread that his horn was pure magic.  Now, Harry was a very greedy seahorse, and longed to own this beautiful treasure.  One day, Harry sent Earl to telegraph his gangster sharks that he was longing to have Norman’s horn, and that he would appreciate it if they would steal it for him.

As soon as school lets out, Norman swims gleefully through the water, on his usual route home.  Meanwhile, Curly, Larry and Mo are hiding in wait to ambush him.  Right when Norman passes through the gates to his home, the trio spring at him with their needle-like teeth. Larry, foolishly thinking that Norman’s horn would pop off, grabbed the horn.  Mo, having never been in such an intense fight, was very confused, and accidentally bumped into Larry.  Curly attempted to hit Larry, but he mis-aimed, and slapped Norman.  The young Narwhal screeched, floated over, and sunk right into the Gangster’s Cave.

Instinctively, Earl shocked him, and deepened Norman’s pain.  The three sharks were panicking, and Mo kicked Norman with his slippery back fin.  Curly and Larry joined in, and Earl snickered to himself as they shoved him out of their realm and onto the ocean floor.  Nightfall came upon them rapidly, and Norman woke up at 11:49 precisely, although he did not know this.  He had floated away from his home, and he spotted it in the distance.  When he finally arrived at his home, his father noticed the condition that he was in, and became red with rage.

He demanded to know who had done this to him, and Norman replied that it had been Harry’s gangster sharks and Earl the eel. Cap. knew that he must contact Sherman at some point.  If he did not, Harry’s minions could attack another innocent victim.

    Sherman was the town’s tough sheriff.  When he was around, no criminal could escape him.  Sherman was a large pink-gray octopus, whose tentacles grasped guns in each tight coil.  He hard a harsh stare, and his voice seemed hostile and harsh.

 Captain tossed on his cap, and swam away as quickly as he could to avoid the sharks.  When he spotted Sherman’s office and community prison, he felt relief rise inside him.  As soon as he entered the coral office, Captain heard the booming voice of the sheriff call out, “Who is it?”

CD(Cap. Dolphin) told him that he was here to tell Sherman some disturbing news.  In his enthusiastic tone, Captain reveled the tale of the three sharks and Earl eel.  Sherman narrowed his eyes, and stood up to take care of these nasty creatures.

Back at the ship…

Harry had just arrived at his home when the sharks had finished their ambush.  When he saw that Norman had gotten away, he yelled at the sharks and Earl that they were terrible sidekicks, and he did not want to be around them ever again.  Harry swum out of his home with his crew following closely, begging for forgiveness.

Sherman and CD were swimming to Captain’s house when they spotted Harry and his gang.  Sherman dashed behind a coral reef, and CD followed closely.  Harry had just passed their reef when Sherman lunged at him with his many tentacles.  One each lashed out at Curly, Larry, Mo and Earl, but two headed for Harry.  Earl wiggled around sloppily, Larry screamed loudly, Mo closed his eyes in attempt to swim away, and Curly did not comprehend what was happening.  Harry was being held prisoner by the thickest tentacles, but even this hardly kept him with Sherman.

After Captain had opened the door for Sherman, he tossed the bunch into crude, basic cells.  Harry murmured something under his breath as CD passed, but it went unnoticed.    

“You might want to get back to your son now,” Sherman grumbled, “I’ll take care of these traitors.”

Captain Dolphin accepted this, and swam back to see his son.  Norman was not feeling bad now, and Athena had come to visit him.  She understood that he wouldn’t be at school tomorrow, and had given him the classwork ahead of time.

When Norman spotted his father, he wanted to know why he had been gone so long.  Captain explained to him how they had found and captured Harry and his gangsters, and what Sherman had done with them.  Norman now felt at peace with himself, knowing his horn would not be sought after again.

“If anybody wants a horn like mine, they should try growing one themselves!” Norman grinned.