Milly And The Whale Shark

Splish, splash, splosh, the noise of the water echoed off the walls in the huge aquarium. Milly gazed at the whale sharks swimming around. She slowly walked to the edge of the pool and leaned over, mesmerised by the glistening water crashing on the clear glass tank. Its deafening roar drowned out all other sounds. The cautionary yells of zoo keepers didn’t hit Milly but slipping and falling into the pool did. Despite the shock, she quickly came to her senses underwater. Milly couldn’t help but replay the zookeeper's voice from earlier, warning to keep away from the edge. Oblivious to their shouts Milly had fallen in.
Nothing could be seen through the dark blue mists surrounding her until suddenly she made out a big figure slowly approaching her. As the dark grey shape got larger Milly couldn’t hold her breath for any longer and used up her last drop of air to reach the surface. One of the whale sharks was getting closer by the second. Milly swam for the edge of the tank just in time as it breached.
As the whale shark landed back in the water Milly started to sink again. Despite its devil black eyes, it almost looked friendly as it swam towards her.
“Hi, my name's Frank and you are Milly, right?” said the whale shark. Milly jolted in shock and disbelief. ‘Did this whale shark just talk or was she going mad?’ she thought. The whale shark seemed to read her mind.
“You are not going crazy. You can speak Rhincodon tongue, which means you can communicate with us and breathe under water.”
A billion questions bubbled out of Milly’s mouth. She was halfway through one question when someone seized her tightly under the shoulders pulling her out of the water.
“Bye, come back soon” said Frank before winking and swimming away. When Milly was put safely on the ground, she saw a crowd of zookeepers around her. “You were lucky we were close and got to you quickly, otherwise who knows what could have happened to you,” exclaimed one of them.
“But hasn’t it been ages?” asked Milly confused.
“No little girl, it’s only been a minute,” he replied. Milly suddenly realised that the time passes much slower underwater when you can speak Rhincodon tongue. She apologised to all the zookeepers and thanked them for rescuing her before heading home.
“No one will believe me if I say anything” she muttered miserably under her breath.
Five years later...
“You’re just in time kids to watch our whale shark keeper clean out their tank” said one of the zookeepers. “Oh and here she comes now.”
“But isn’t that dangerous with them still in it?” asked one kid fearfully.
“Well, our youngest keeper has a special way with them” he replied.
Milly walked over to the children and gave them a friendly wave before jumping in.
“Hello again Frank” said Milly in Rhincodon tongue...

FOLLOW US


25

Write4Fun.net was established in 1997, and since then we have successfully completed numerous short story and poetry competitions and publications.
We receive an overwhelming positive feedback each year from the teachers, parents and students who have involvement in these competitions and publications, and we will continue to strive to attain this level of excellence with each competition we hold.

KEEP IN TOUCH

Stay informed about the latest competitions, competition winners and latest news!