Fish Kid and the Mega Manta Ray

by Kylie Howarth

  As I zoomed out, a brown blob appeared out of nowhere.

  “Whoa!”

  I swerved hard and tumbled, just missing the sea turtle. I rubbed my neck as the turtle swam off.

  Suddenly, the bad feeling returned to my stomach.

  “Oh no! Nan’s bottle!” I’d forgotten to tuck it inside my wetsuit.

  I frantically patted my chest and neck, searching for it. The bottle was gone.

  After a long, desperate search, I returned to the shore exhausted. When Emely wandered onto the beach, she found me lying face down in the sand.

  “Hey, tough guy, what’s up?” she asked.

  “I’m in deep trouble,” I moaned.

  “Why?” asked Emely.

  “I lost Nan’s bottle. Pops will turn me into fish food if he finds out. You can’t tell him, okay?” I begged. “The worst thing is, I’ll never find Freckles without the bottle.”

  “Not with that attitude you won’t,” replied Emely. “Remember, you didn’t even have the bottle the first day we swam with the manta rays. Come on, Fish Kid, superheroes don’t sulk. Let’s go find your manta ray.”

  We headed out to sea together, but the manta rays didn’t show up. We tried calling and clapping, but nothing worked.

  When we got back to Pops’ place, Emely stood on a chair and started rattling through the cupboards. She pulled out two empty Vegemite jars.

  “We can use these to call them!” said Emely.

  “Shh, Pops will hear us,” I whispered.

  “Don’t stress,” said Emely, “I’ll just say I’m making jam or something.”

  That afternoon Pops took us out on his boat. He and Sea Biscuit fell asleep as soon as Pops cast his line. They both snored like grunting sea lions.

  When I winked at Emely she unwrapped the glass jars from her towel. We pulled on our masks, then slipped into the water like synchronised swimmers.

  We tried rattling our jars. Mine had a coin inside it and Emely’s had rocks. Neither worked. We swapped the objects for a bunch of other things. We tried buttons, sticks, shells, sinkers – even cat biscuits. As I tipped out the cat food, something wiggly caught my eye. A long, thin, cream-coloured creature zig-zagged up from below.

  Sea snake! I froze.

  The curious animal wriggled right up between us. I heard Dad’s voice inside my head. Sea snakes can be highly venomous. He’d said they wouldn’t bite unless threatened but I could barely breathe.

  The snake nosed around my wetsuit, then moved over Emely. As quickly as it had appeared, the ropey snake wiggled back down to the reef below.

  “Far out!” I said to Emely. She didn’t seem too bothered.

  “We get a lot of sea snakes back home,” she said.

  “Oh, right,” I said, trying to hide my fear.

  “Let’sssssss go back and check on Popssssss,” she teased.

  Pops was still sleeping. As Sea Biscuit arched her back into a stretch, Pops snorted then opened his eyes.

  “How was your dip?” he mumbled.

  Pops hadn’t caught a single fish that afternoon and we hadn’t seen a single manta ray. Pops started the engine and we cruised back to shore.

  I was bummed that our jar plan hadn’t worked.

  It had been three days since I’d seen Freckles and two days since I’d seen any manta rays. I was worried I’d never find them again.

  While Pops taught Emely his best boating knots, I climbed the sand dune across the road and looked out to the horizon. I could see humpbacks jumping out the back. Suddenly, one breached much closer to shore. Except . . . it wasn’t a whale. It was a manta ray!

  “YES!”

  I raced down the dune to grab my wetsuit. When I got back to the beach, I saw the huge manta ray fly again. It had to be Ray.

  I yanked my wetsuit on as fast as I could.

  “Morning, Bodhi,” I heard someone say. I overbalanced and landed on my butt.

  “Oh, hi Sally,” I replied, groaning to myself. How was I going to swim without being seen now?

  “Aren’t we lucky?” said Sally, sitting down on the sand beside me. “So many whales today.”

  Arms in, zip up, mask ready, done.

  “Yes,” I replied. “There’s a lot of splashing out there.” I wondered how long she planned to stay on the beach.

  “I hear you met an octopus the other day,” said Sally, pointing to my snorkel.

  “Ha, ha,” I pretended to laugh.

  “We have so many amazing creatures here. Keep your eyes peeled for the rare albino dugong too. There have been rumours about one hanging around in this bay but I haven’t been lucky enough to see it yet.”

  “Will do,” I said politely, praying that she wouldn’t stay for long.

  Bee-beep. Bee-beep.

  “Ooh, that’s my alarm,” said Sally. “Sorry Bodhi, chat later. I forgot I had a cake in the oven.”

  Phew, I thought. As soon as she was out of sight, I raced into the water, hoping Ray was still there.

  Sure enough, he found me straight away.

  After a mighty barrel roll, he sped off. I followed him, past the yellow marker and further out than I’d been before. Where is he taking me? I wondered.

  Just as I thought I should really turn back, Ray slowed down. I could see a strange floating lump up ahead.

  As I swam closer I could see it was a long, tangled fishing net.

  The lump moved. Something was trapped in the net.

  It was a manta ray!

  Freckles was covered in a criss-cross of netting, all wrapped up like a Christmas ham. Net and floats dragged behind her – she could barely swim. I rushed closer and began untangling the mess. “It’s okay, I’ll get you out,” I told her.

  I picked at the knotted ropes carefully. Some of the loops were tricky to shift. Tight sections of rope had cut grooves into the lobes on her head. I tried lifting them off, one by one. It must have hurt Freckles, but her eyes told me she knew I was helping.

  Finally I managed to free most of her belly. The netting now hung just below her, but one section of rope still stretched across her back. She couldn’t swim down to escape it, or she’d get caught again.

  I tried to think of a way to get that last rope off.

  “Aha!” I said, suddenly coming up with a spectacular idea. “Hang in there, my friend, I can do this.”

  My plan was to launch up, grab one end of the rope, fly it out of the water and over the other side of Freckles. Then she’d be free! It was time to nail the Flying Pizza Flop.

  I took a deep breath and dived down deep.

  Aiming for the rope on Freckles’ left wing, I kicked and flapped, hard and fast, shooting towards the surface.

  I rocketed up beside Freckles, caught the loop of rope around my wrist and launched into the air . . . up . . . up . . .

  SPLAT!

  The weight of the net yanked me down, and I cartwheeled and crashed. I hadn’t considered how heavy the net would be. I looked around for Freckles, then saw her pull a slow victory roll right underneath me.

  “YES!!” I cheered. My friend was free and I’d finally pulled off the Flying Pizza Flop, even if the landing wasn’t perfect.

  I tried to kick out from the netting, but realised I couldn’t.

  I was caught.

  Both of my legs were knotted together. I couldn’t kick! My left hand was bound to my side and my right arm was stuck up over my head. I was in a whole tangle of trouble.

  Rubber arms! I thought. Stretching and pulling as hard as I could, I tried to free myself. I felt my left arm bend completely back in a stretch I’d never thought possible and, at last, it popped free! Now for the other arm, I thought. But as hard as I tried, my right arm and both of my legs stayed stuck.

  I was trapped like a fly in a spider’s web.

  Freckles swam loops around me. She didn’t come too close, though – she was probably too scared of the net. I wished she could help me, but there was nothing she could do. “Please don’t go,” I said to Freck
les.

  I could only bob. I was stuck there in my fishing net cocoon.

  Bob, bob, bob.

  It felt like hours.

  Bob.

  “Ahhhhrgh!”

  Bob.

  Every now and then I’d go absolutely crazy, thrashing, kicking and yelling.

  “Squid-poo-fish-bum-fudge!”

  It didn’t help though.

  So I bobbed some more, thinking unhelpful thoughts, like:

  I’m doomed!

  I can’t save myself this time.

  My parents are going to be so mad!

  When will Emely and Pops realise I’m missing?

  What if a tiger shark finds me first?

  What if I’m stuck here all day?

  What if I’m stuck here all night?!

  I will definitely become shark bait. Or freeze to death.

  I’m getting cold . . . Hang on a minute . . . Ahhhhhhh, that’s better.

  Oh no. . . now I need a number two. This is bad.

  I want my mum!

  . . . and a toilet.

  Someone please help meeeeee!

  Just as I was about to break into another thrashing panic, I heard a loud swoosh of water.

  BWOOOMSHHH!

  It sounded like a boat horn, or someone blowing a large conch shell. I jolted around. There was no boat, but a white cloud of spray hung in the air about fifty metres away.

  “A whale!” The shiny dorsal fin rolled out of the water, then back into the whitewash. The giant creature was headed straight for me! I was worried it might run me over. The whale disappeared for a moment. I looked down into the water, searching all around.

  There was a white flash. It was Freckles. She began rolling over and over furiously, right below me.

  Then I caught sight of the humpback whale. It looked like a submarine, but with two long, jagged white flippers.

  The huge animal swam close, then suddenly swerved, and I noticed a calf tucked in beside her. The little, but still-way-bigger-than-me whale stared at me.

  With a beat of their tails, they vanished. PHEW! That was close!

  I pulled my head out of the water. They were nowhere to be seen.

  “Flipping fish cakes!” I squealed. “That was amazing! And terrifying!”

  I was stunned. How does something that big disappear so fast? Freckles began swimming slow figures of eight below me. I wondered if her frantic barrel rolls had been her way of protecting me, by letting the whales know I was there.

  Once I caught my breath, I looked towards land. That’s when I saw a pointy fin slicing through the water – towards me.

  It was definitely a shark fin. And definitely not a whale shark this time!

  I looked around frantically. Where was Freckles?

  Nowhere! She was gone.

  The shark fin turned sharply, then began to circle around me. I tried to scream, but only a weird gurgly sound escaped my throat. The fin circled closer, then dropped below the surface.

  The sky darkened as cloud smothered the sun. I was trembling. I had no idea where the shark had gone.

  I had encountered dangerous sharks once before, but I’d been deep below them. Being bound and stuck on the surface was a billion times more scary.

  The music from Jaws played in my head.

  Suddenly, I spotted the massive tiger shark. It had jet black eyes and rippled stripes along its back. I felt like my heart was going to explode, it was beating so hard and fast. The shark swam right at me and knocked at my legs with its wide nose. I pulled up my feet and stomped at its head. It nudged me again and I kicked its snout.

  The shark blinked and darted behind me. It swerved around again, slow and close. It was twice the length of me. As it opened its mouth I saw a million razor teeth coming at me. It bit at the net, shaking and gnashing, like a dog with a chew toy.

  Twice, I kicked at its eye. The beast unhooked its teeth from the net and I got ready to kick again, but it darted behind me. I looked around frantically, but I could no longer see it. After the longest minute of my life, the shark returned. It swam a slow circle around me and then vanished again.

  I checked all around, petrified. I thought of Pops and my parents. Nan had gone missing at sea and now I would, too. They told me not to come out here on my own. They told me not to use my fish powers.

  Tears spilled from my eyes. I had no feeling left in my arm and I didn’t even have the energy to watch for sharks any more. I was all alone and couldn’t stop shivering.

  Just when I’d lost all hope, I sensed something close behind me.

  A puff of air sounded as I turned. I was expecting to see a dolphin, but this animal was far too chunky. It was a dugong.

  Another grey snout appeared. As I watched the pair of dugongs, I soon noticed a bright pinkish blob below them. Could it be the albino dugong? The creature bobbed up for a breath. Its small round head turned to face me. That’s when I realised it was not a dugong at all. It wasn’t any kind of sea creature.

  “NAN?!” I said, not believing my own eyes.

  She said nothing.

  “NAN!” I yelled again, but she didn’t respond.

  The two dugongs ducked below and swam off. Nan took a deep breath and followed them.

  “NAN, it’s me! Bodhi!” I cried, slapping at the water. She kept swimming.

  I couldn’t understand why she’d ignored me. She hadn’t seemed to recognise me, or even see me at all.

  My ears began to buzz. As the buzzing became louder, I realised it sounded like an engine. I turned my head to scan the sea and spotted a small boat.

  “Help,” I said, far too quietly for anyone to hear.

  As if by magic, the boat came right towards me. It was Pops!

  “Bodhi!” called Emely, leaning over the bow.

  Pops slowed the boat to a stop and rushed over to help, but they couldn’t pull me aboard. I was too badly tangled.

  “You have to hurry, I just saw Nan!” I said.

  Emely jumped into the water and began tugging at the net.

  “It’s okay Bodhi, we’ve got you now,” said Pops.

  Freckles and Ray swooped in below me. Emely, nodded towards the rays.

  “They were jumping like crazy. I saw them from the beach,” she said.

  Now I understood how Pops had so magically navigated right to me.

  Pops leaned over the side of the boat with a knife. “Another stinking ghost,” he growled. He grabbed a float and started hacking at the net, then groaned. He was struggling to cut through the rope.

  “Is no one listening to me?” I said. “Nan is alive!”

  “Poor kid is delirious,” said Pops, as if I couldn’t hear what he was saying.

  “I should never have let you come out here,” said Pops. “This is all my fault.”

  “Huh?” I said.

  Pops cut through the section of rope that was stuck around my shoulder. Finally my right arm was free. I stretched and shook the blood back into it. Emely yanked at the net around my ankles, puffing every time she came up for air.

  “Got it!” said Emely.

  “Right, now push him up, while I pull,” said Pops, and they heaved me aboard the boat.

  Pops wrapped me in a towel, and Sea Biscuit began licking my toes while Pops and Emely dragged the netting into the boat.

  “Let’s get you home and dry,” Pops said.

  “No! Pops, listen to me! We can’t go yet, we need to find Nan. Please!” I begged.

  “Okay, okay,” said Pops. He agreed to keep driving for a bit.

  “Sailors often used to think they saw mermaids,” said Emely, “but they were really just sea cows.”

  “I know what I saw!” I said forcefully. “It was Nan!”

  “Alright kiddo, calm the farm,” said Pops. “We’ll keep searching, but don’t get your hopes up. Your eyes can play tricks on you at sea.”

  I stood next to Pops while he drove, my head exploding with confusion and questions.

  “Pops, why did you sa
y it was your fault I got tangled in the net?” I asked. “You didn’t know I’d swum out here alone.”

  “I knew,” replied Pops. “Well, not that you’d gone this morning, but I knew you’d been sneaking out to swim with the manta rays. Remember the first day I took you two fishing?” asked Pops.

  “Yes,” I said.

  “Well, who do you think called the mantas in?”

  “What? You did that?” I asked.

  “Yep. I pretended to wash my hands over the side of the boat, but I was actually rattling Nan’s bottle in the water.”

  “YOU called the manta rays in?” I asked.

  “I wanted you to meet them,” said Pops. “Nan had an amazing bond with the mantas and I knew you would too. Ray and Freckles often led her to sea creatures that needed help, or to boats illegally fishing in the sanctuaries. They knew she’d sort them out. She was as brave as anything, your nan. A real ocean warrior. Even tiger sharks didn’t scare her.”

  “Really?” I asked.

  “She reckoned they’re all sizzle and no steak. She’d pat them like puppies.”

  “Wow!” said Emely.

  I suddenly thought of my tiger shark encounter. It could easily have bitten me, but it hadn’t. Had it just been trying to play? Or even trying to help me?

  “I was worried sick seeing you swim out there every day,” said Pops. “But I knew I had to let you go. The ocean was everything to your nan, and it will be to you too. You’ll have to practise those fish-whispering skills to save yourself next time though!”

  “Fish-whispering?” I said, confused. Pops squeezed his free arm around me.

  “Your fish powers,” said Pops with a wink. I gasped.

  “How did you find out about my fish powers?” I asked.

  “No flippers,” he said, continuing to drive the boat.

  “Huh?” I replied.

  “You’re always off snorkelling but you never take flippers,” said Pops.

  I hadn’t thought of that. But surely that wasn’t enough to lead him to the wild conclusion that I had fish powers. Was it?