Doomed!
My lungs felt about to explode.
No! I thought. I can’t die! Not like this!
There must be a way to make the octopus let go.
With a last burst of strength, I slid my right arm free.
Now what? Now what?
I stretched a finger toward its throbbing, purple belly.
Red and yellow stars flashed before my eyes. I knew I had little time. I was
about to pass out any second.
I reached toward the big throbbing body. With my last bit of strength, I
wriggled my fingers. Please let this work, I prayed. Please… Then I started
tickling.
3
My fingers tickled the purple belly.
Tickle, tickle!
The octopus squirmed.
Tickle, tickle!
The tentacles relaxed.
Yes! Yes! It’s working! The octopus was ticklish!
Its big body heaved—and it shoved me away.
“Stop it, Billy!” the octopus whined. “I hate your stupid jokes. Stop
tickling me!”
Then the octopus pinched me.
Okay, okay. So it wasn’t an octopus. It was my little sister, Sheena.
Sheena always spoils my fun. She has no imagination. She hates to pretend.
Well… it’s true that she doesn’t look much like an octopus. She looks a lot
like me, actually. Skinny, with straight black hair. Hers is long, and mine is
short. We both have dark blue eyes and bushy dark eyebrows.
She’s younger than I am. She’s only eleven. But she acts like an old lady
sometimes. She hates games. She likes cold, hard facts.
“What were you pretending this time?” Sheena teased. “That you were a
tickle-fish?”
“None of your business,” I answered. She would never admit that I was a great
undersea explorer. Had she forgotten about the mermaids?
It didn’t matter. Other little sisters look up to their big brothers. Not
Sheena.
If I told her I was pretending she was an octopus, she’d never stop teasing
me.
“You’re a moron, Billy,” she groaned.
Do you believe she calls a great undersea explorer a moron ?
“I’ll show you,” I replied lamely.
I love to play tricks on Sheena. It isn’t easy to fool her.
But I had an idea. I thought of a mean trick to play on her that would scare
her—but good.
I swam back to the boat.
I flipped my mask up and climbed aboard the Cassandra. It was a big,
sturdy boat, about fifty feet long, with a large open deck. Below deck were
research labs, a galley, and a few cabins for sleeping.
The white deck steamed in the sun, deserted. It was about noon.
Dr. D. must be down below, I realized. Perfect.
I didn’t want him to see me and blow my trick.
I reached under a stack of life jackets. I pulled out a square, gray vinyl
pillow I’d hidden there.
I stared out toward the reef. Sheena was busy snorkeling. She wasn’t looking.
Good.
Here was my plan: I was going to swim underwater, holding the gray pillow
over my head. I’d hold it so one of the corners pointed up. You guessed it. Like
a shark’s fin.
Then I’d swim at Sheena as fast as I could. She’d think a shark was headed
straight for her!
It would scare her to death. I couldn’t wait to hear her screaming to me for
help.
“We’ll see who’s a moron,” I murmured to myself.
I slipped back into the water. Holding the pillow in sharkfin position, I
started kicking. I swam underwater toward the reef. Toward Sheena.
After a few minutes, I bobbed up for breath. She hadn’t seen me yet.
Holding the “sharkfin” high, I paddled closer. Closer.
Then I heard them. At last. The screams.
“Shark!” Sheena wailed. “Help! A shark!”
Ha! Ha! Excellent screaming, Sheena!
I finally fooled Miss Know-It-All!
“Shaaark!” she wailed again.
I couldn’t stay underwater any longer. I had to rise up so I could laugh in
her face.
I popped my head above the water.
Hey! Sheena was swimming frantically toward the boat. She was still screaming
like crazy.
But she wasn’t looking in my direction. She hadn’t even seen me.
“Shark!” she cried again. She made a frightened motion toward the reef.
I saw it too. A huge sharkfin! A real
My lungs felt about to explode.
No! I thought. I can’t die! Not like this!
There must be a way to make the octopus let go.
With a last burst of strength, I slid my right arm free.
Now what? Now what?
I stretched a finger toward its throbbing, purple belly.
Red and yellow stars flashed before my eyes. I knew I had little time. I was
about to pass out any second.
I reached toward the big throbbing body. With my last bit of strength, I
wriggled my fingers. Please let this work, I prayed. Please… Then I started
tickling.
3
My fingers tickled the purple belly.
Tickle, tickle!
The octopus squirmed.
Tickle, tickle!
The tentacles relaxed.
Yes! Yes! It’s working! The octopus was ticklish!
Its big body heaved—and it shoved me away.
“Stop it, Billy!” the octopus whined. “I hate your stupid jokes. Stop
tickling me!”
Then the octopus pinched me.
Okay, okay. So it wasn’t an octopus. It was my little sister, Sheena.
Sheena always spoils my fun. She has no imagination. She hates to pretend.
Well… it’s true that she doesn’t look much like an octopus. She looks a lot
like me, actually. Skinny, with straight black hair. Hers is long, and mine is
short. We both have dark blue eyes and bushy dark eyebrows.
She’s younger than I am. She’s only eleven. But she acts like an old lady
sometimes. She hates games. She likes cold, hard facts.
“What were you pretending this time?” Sheena teased. “That you were a
tickle-fish?”
“None of your business,” I answered. She would never admit that I was a great
undersea explorer. Had she forgotten about the mermaids?
It didn’t matter. Other little sisters look up to their big brothers. Not
Sheena.
If I told her I was pretending she was an octopus, she’d never stop teasing
me.
“You’re a moron, Billy,” she groaned.
Do you believe she calls a great undersea explorer a moron ?
“I’ll show you,” I replied lamely.
I love to play tricks on Sheena. It isn’t easy to fool her.
But I had an idea. I thought of a mean trick to play on her that would scare
her—but good.
I swam back to the boat.
I flipped my mask up and climbed aboard the Cassandra. It was a big,
sturdy boat, about fifty feet long, with a large open deck. Below deck were
research labs, a galley, and a few cabins for sleeping.
The white deck steamed in the sun, deserted. It was about noon.
Dr. D. must be down below, I realized. Perfect.
I didn’t want him to see me and blow my trick.
I reached under a stack of life jackets. I pulled out a square, gray vinyl
pillow I’d hidden there.
I stared out toward the reef. Sheena was busy snorkeling. She wasn’t looking.
Good.
Here was my plan: I was going to swim underwater, holding the gray pillow
over my head. I’d hold it so one of the corners pointed up. You guessed it. Like
a shark’s fin.
Then I’d swim at Sheena as fast as I could. She’d think a shark was headed
straight for her!
It would scare her to death. I couldn’t wait to hear her screaming to me for
help.
“We’ll see who’s a moron,” I murmured to myself.
I slipped back into the water. Holding the pillow in sharkfin position, I
started kicking. I swam underwater toward the reef. Toward Sheena.
After a few minutes, I bobbed up for breath. She hadn’t seen me yet.
Holding the “sharkfin” high, I paddled closer. Closer.
Then I heard them. At last. The screams.
“Shark!” Sheena wailed. “Help! A shark!”
Ha! Ha! Excellent screaming, Sheena!
I finally fooled Miss Know-It-All!
“Shaaark!” she wailed again.
I couldn’t stay underwater any longer. I had to rise up so I could laugh in
her face.
I popped my head above the water.
Hey! Sheena was swimming frantically toward the boat. She was still screaming
like crazy.
But she wasn’t looking in my direction. She hadn’t even seen me.
“Shark!” she cried again. She made a frightened motion toward the reef.
I saw it too. A huge sharkfin! A real
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