Lagoona Blue and the Big Sea Scarecation Page 4

  “Nothing,” Lagoona mumbled, picking at the last of her dessert.

  “You’re going to sing with us, right?” Tadpole asked from across the table. “We want to win!”

  Lagoona took a deep breath. She couldn’t let her family down. Especially not during their big family scarecation. She hoped that a day in the ocean tomorrow would be just what she needed to relax about getting up onstage. With a tense smile, she nodded. “Sure, mates. I’m in.”

  Confession time: I have monstrously bad stage fright. The way Kelpie freezes up like a fish stick when she tries surfing because she’s afraid of the Kraken…? Well, the same thing happens to me when I think about performing in front of people on a stage. When it comes to sports, I’m game for anything. But up onstage, singing or dancing in front of people is pretty much my worst frightmare.

  I tell Kelpie she’s being silly about her fear of the Kraken. But the truth is, my own fear is even sillier… because it hasn’t always been this way. I love to dance, and when it’s just me—alone in my room or with a few ghoulfriends at a school dance or something—I’m totally up for having fun and shaking my fins. But when all eyes are trained on me, I freeze and go belly up.

  I really want to help my sister and brothers win the family singing competition. I know how much fun they—and my parents—would have meeting the captain. But I just don’t know if I’m going to be able to do it. I’m trying to go with the flow on the cruise, and I’m doing everything I can to make the most of our family trip, but this might be too much. It’s even worse knowing Toralei will be in the audience to see me make a fool of myself.

  No way, mate. I just don’t know if I can do it.

  Maybe our scuba excursion today will take so long that they’ll have to postpone the talent show.… A ghoul can hope, right? Ah well. For now I’ll try not to think about the family singing competition. Time to focus on a day in the ocean. This is just what I’ve been waiting for—a day to chill in the wide-open water. It’s going to be FINTASTIC… unless, of course, we bump into the Kraken. (Kidding! Crikey, I hope Kelpie doesn’t find out I was even joking about that!)

  Later, mates,

  Lagoona

  When Lagoona woke the next morning, she felt refreshed from a great night’s sleep. She hopped out of bed and peeked out of the portholes. Her hopes for a day in the ocean sank when she saw that the sky was overcast. Big gray clouds hung low in the sky around the cruise ship, and the sea was much choppier than it had been the past few days.

  The rest of the family woke up a few minutes after Lagoona, and Wade Blue made his way up to the main deck to find out if their excursion to the reef was still on. Everyone cheered when he returned to the cabin with good news—their day trip hadn’t been canceled because of storm clouds on the horizon! They would be splashing around in the ocean in no time.

  Lagoona and her family all dressed in their swimsuits quickly, then grabbed a bite to eat from the ship’s grab-and-go Creepateria. They gathered with the small crowd of monsters who had congregated near the ship’s main exit ramp, waiting to disembark for the excursion. Most of the cruise ship passengers were going to remain on board the ship for the day to relax on deck or play in the pools. Only about a dozen were making the trek out to the reef for snorkeling and scuba diving. Many more had signed up, but with the cloudy skies and choppy seas, some of the less water-savvy passengers had bowed out of the excursion at the last minute. Lagoona was glad her family still wanted to go. She wasn’t going to miss this chance to dip her toes in the ocean for anything!

  “G’day, ocean explorers!” called a smiling ghoul in a bright green wet suit. “I’m Sandy, and I’ll be one of the guides taking you out to the reef today. As you can see, our weather isn’t perfect, but we’re hoping these storm clouds will blow over and we’ll get a bright and beautiful day in the ocean.”

  The triplets cheered, and the rest of the group couldn’t help but smile.

  “This is Sam, and he’s going to be taking one group of explorers out to the reef this mornin’. I’ll be captaining one of our expedition boats today. If you have any questions or concerns while we’re out at sea, don’t be shy! You can ask me or Sam, and we’ll be happy to help ya out.”

  Lagoona and the rest of the group learned they would be shuttled out to the reef in small motorboats, since their cruise ship was docked out in the middle of the sea. At the end of their day trip, Sam and Sandy would motor them back to the big ship. Dewey, Squirt, and Tadpole were all clamoring to be first in the speedboats—in their enthusiasm to get off the cruise ship for the day, they nearly knocked another passenger overboard.

  Lagoona and Kelpie pulled their brothers back and held them close, eager to avoid any accidents. Toralei traipsed by with a towel and a bag full of magazines and sunscreen, and the Blue tadpoles and Kelpie all waved excitedly at her. Toralei flipped her sunglasses down from the top of her head and pretended not to notice.

  “Hope you have a great day relaxing, mate,” Lagoona called after her. In a light tone, she added, “Lucky for you, there’s no risk of getting splashed by any of these three monsters today.”

  Toralei spun around, her eyes surveying the Blue family gathered together. When she saw that Kelpie’s and Lagoona’s arms were linked together, her lip curled into a sneer. She cocked her head and said, “Right.” With a small smile, she added, “Be careful out there, kids—hopefully no fishermen will catch you in their nets.” She lifted her eyebrows, then walked on.

  Kelpie scowled at her. “That wasn’t very nice. Why would she say something like that, Lagoona?”

  “I’m not sure Toralei knows how to be nice,” Lagoona replied. She smiled at her sister. “But even when people aren’t nice, it doesn’t mean we should treat them that way. It never hurts to be nice… though sometimes, it’s kinda hard.”

  A few minutes later, the two small motorboats heading out to the reef were loaded up with passengers. The Blue family was riding alone in one of the boats with Sam, who reminded Lagoona a little of Gil. As they zipped through the salty waves toward the reef, Lagoona thought about how much she would like to take Gil on a snorkeling adventure sometime. She would just love to show him some of her favorite fish in the sea—the colors on ocean fish were so much more vivid than the creatures that lived in Gil’s freshwater abode!

  “There it is!” Kelpie said, gripping Lagoona’s arm and pointing at the sea stretched out in front of their boat. “The reef!”

  Sure enough, the water ahead of them was a bright, brilliant teal—a sign that they were approaching shallower water. For most of their cruise, the ocean water around them was emerald green or beautiful navy, depending on how the sun was shining upon it. Today, because of the thick clouds gathering overhead, the sea looked much blacker than it had at any point in their trip so far. But even without the sun, the reef stood out like a bright, sparkling jewel in the middle of the sea. Lagoona couldn’t wait to dive in.

  As soon as Sam anchored their boat on the far edge of the reef, Dewey, Squirt, and Tadpole launched themselves from the side of the boat and swam off to explore the colorful coral nearby. They were eager to search for treasure—from one of the nearby shipwrecks—that might be hiding in undersea nooks and crannies.

  Lagoona waited patiently as Kelpie scanned the horizon for any sign of the Kraken, then she and her sister set off to explore the reef together. Lagoona kicked her fins and glided through the water, relishing the feeling of the ocean water against her skin that she had been missing so much. She and Kelpie swam a couple of quick laps around the perimeter of the reef, and then the two ghouls met up with their parents so they could explore together as a family.

  “Should we—” Lagoona’s father began to suggest a plan, but his voice was cut off by a long, low rumble of thunder. Far off in the distance, lightning flashed high above the clouds. Lagoona gazed up to the sky and saw that the clouds overhead appeared to be moving—they were gathering and shifting, rumbling and tossing right over the reef. The sky looked alive, and it was obvious to everyone that a storm was rolling in—fast.

  “Oy!” Sam called from inside the small motorboat. “Load up, mates. We’ve got to get back to the ship, fast.”

  The passengers who had gotten a lift out to the reef with Sandy in the other motorboat returned to their shuttle quickly. None of them had ventured far, so in less than a minute, the other excursion boat was motoring back to the cruise ship. But the Blues, who were all more comfortable in water, had spread out quickly and had farther to swim to get back to the shuttle boat. Sam waved his arms in the air, whistling to get their attention.

  Lagoona peered across the reef, searching for her three brothers. Two of the boys—Squirt and Tadpole—were playing on the far side of the reef, caught up in a game of tag with two playful vampire dolphins. Over the rumbling thunder, she could hear their laughter and knew they hadn’t heard Sam’s warning call. Sam’s motorboat couldn’t get over the reef to collect them, so Lagoona’s parents were already making their way across the reef to fetch them.

  Farther away, on the opposite side of the reef, Lagoona spotted Dewey diving for treasure on his own. His little head bobbed up to the surface of the water every minute or so, then he dove back down to explore the reef’s buried treasures. “Kelpie,” Lagoona said to her sister, “you get in the shuttle boat and wait there with Sam. I’ll swim over and collect Dewey while Mom and Dad round up the other two boys.”

  “No,” Kelpie said, her chin jutted out stubbornly. “I’m not letting you go without me.”

  Lagoona sighed and nodded. She knew Kelpie was afraid of being left alone—especially in the sea during a storm—so she agreed to let her tag along. Thunder cracked in the sky. The storm was closing in on them. They had to hurry. Lagoona swam toward Dewey as quic
kly as she could, hoping her sister was right behind her. She wanted to wait for Kelpie, but she also knew they had to get everyone out of the open water fast. If the storm hit while they were still out in the middle of the ocean without shelter… Well, she didn’t want to think about it. They needed to get back to the cruise ship right away.

  When she was only halfway across the reef, Kelpie began to scream—shrill, terrified screams that were almost carried away by the howling wind. Lagoona turned back and saw that her sister was frozen with fear about midway between the shuttle boat and herself. Kelpie’s arm was outstretched, and she was pointing toward Dewey in the distance. Lagoona looked, and that’s when she saw it: dark, swirling shadows in the water below her brother. Lagoona’s stomach clenched with fear.

  “Kraken!” Kelpie screamed. “It’s the Kraken!”

  Lagoona was torn between her brother and her sister. She desperately wanted to go back to her sister, to comfort her—but she knew she had to get to Dewey. They had to get out of open water now. Her brother still hadn’t noticed the storm had rolled in, and he certainly didn’t seem to have noticed that there was some sort of large, dark creature in the water below him as he bobbled up and down. Lagoona swam toward her brother even faster. She knew her sister would be safe in the center of the reef. The Kraken only liked the deepest, darkest parts of the sea. At least, that’s what everyone had always said.…

  When Lagoona came up to check the surface of the water, she noticed her sister’s screams had subsided. She turned back to check on her and saw that Kelpie was now swimming—at full-speed—toward Lagoona and Dewey.

  “Kelpie,” Lagoona called, nearly choking on a wave. “Stop!” But Kelpie didn’t stop. Instead, she took powerful strokes through the water, closing in on Dewey and Lagoona. Thunder boomed, and the lightning struck closer.

  By the time Lagoona reached her brother, Kelpie had caught up to her. Together, the sisters pulled their brother out of the deep water and pointed across the reef to where their parents and brothers were waiting for them. “Dewey, mate,” Lagoona said, trying to keep her voice calm, “we’ve got to get back to the ship. There’s a storm coming.”

  Dewey shrugged, flipped onto his back, and paddled toward the motorboat. “Okay, thanks, Goona. Race ya, Kelpie!” He grinned, waved, and skimmed across the reef.

  Kelpie shivered beside Lagoona as the dark shadows converged in the water below them. Kelpie’s face was white with fear. Tears streaked down her wet face, and her voice cracked when she said, “Is he safe now?”

  Lagoona took her sister’s arm and guided her into the shallow water above the reef. “He’s safe,” she promised. The waves were really choppy, so it was hard to see anything below the surface without diving deeper to explore. Squinting, Lagoona took one last look toward the shadows under the surface in the deeper water. She couldn’t tell what was down there, but there was no time to figure it out. They had to get back to the ship now!

  Suddenly, a slippery head popped up out of the water. Then another, and another, and another… Laughing with relief, Lagoona turned Kelpie around and pointed toward the “shadows.” “Look! It’s a family of friendly jellyfish monsters!” she told her sister. The gray-skinned monsters were slick and friendly looking, and two of them—kids, she guessed—were tumbling playfully in the water together.

  Kelpie smiled and wiped her eyes. “So it wasn’t the Kraken?”

  Lagoona shook her head and smiled. “Not the Kraken.”

  One of the larger jellyfish monsters kept a close eye on Dewey as he swam toward the motorboat. “Is that little dude with you?” the jellyfish monster asked Lagoona.

  “Yeah.”

  “We spotted him swimming over here all alone and came by to keep an eye on him. Didn’t want anything to happen to him with the storm coming.”

  “Thanks, mate,” Lagoona said gratefully. “Appreciate the assist. It’s good to know us sea creatures all keep an eye out for one another.” She winked, and the family of jellyfish monsters disappeared under the surface again. Relieved, Kelpie and Lagoona paddled back toward the motorboat. Rain had begun to patter down around them. The thunder was growing louder by the minute. Once they were all safely on the boat and Sam had them motoring back toward the ship, Lagoona wrapped her towel around her sister’s shoulder and hugged her. She leaned in to ask, “What made you come after me back there, Kelpie? Especially when you thought the Kraken was out there?”

  Kelpie rested her head on Lagoona’s shoulder, and Lagoona felt her sister shrug. Finally, Kelpie looked up at her. Her jaw was set when she said, “I wasn’t going to let the Kraken get my brother.”

  Lagoona grinned, her body relaxing against her sister’s. “You’re a great sister, Kelpie. And you’re really brave.”

  Kelpie held her sister’s hand tight and said, “You are too, Goona. I learned everything I know about being a sister—and being brave—from you.”

  There have been many times when I’ve wondered how my little sibs get along without me when I’m off at Monster High. My parents are absolutely fintastic, of course, and they take such great care of our family. But still, I sometimes wonder what things are like in the Blue house when there are a bunch of little kiddos swimming around without a big sister to keep an extra eye on them.

  But after seeing what Kelpie did at the reef today—putting aside her own fear to make sure Dewey was safe—I know that my little bros are in good hands with her when I’m not around. I’m so lucky I have such a loving, supportive family. (And how great was it when that family of jellyfish monsters swam by to keep a lookout on Dewey?! My bigger undersea family is an extra perk of my saltwater scaritage. It’s totally spooktacular that so many of the creatures in the sea try to look out for one another. I just love that about the ocean!)

  Even though I tried to act chill when Kelpie pointed out the shadows under the water, I’ve gotta admit I was totally freaked. No one wants to see anyone—especially family!—scared or in danger, and Kelpie was seriously flipping out. I was nervous out there with the storm coming and with those strange dark shadows swimming around my little bro. I don’t know what I’d do if something happened to one of my family members. They mean everything to me.

  But we’re all safe now, chillin’ and relaxing after some quality time in the surf—even if that was a shorter swim than I would have liked.

  I’m writing this entry from inside our cabin. The captain closed the deck because of the storm. It’s going to be a big one, so all the pools on the ship are closed until the sea calms down again. Rockin’ and rolling waves don’t usually get to me, but that motorboat ride from the reef back to the ship actually was pretty intense. With the waves tossing us to and fro, I was starting to wonder if we’d even make it back. But Sam is a great captain, and he had things under control.

  Now that we’re back on board and stuck weathering out the storm inside this rolling ship, I can’t help but think of how Toralei must be handling all of this. Crikey—we’re stuck in the middle of a bouncing ship, with a crazy storm pounding us from all sides. I know Toralei hates water, and there’s no way to stay dry in a storm like this in the middle of the ocean. I hope she’s handling it okay.…

  Later, mates,

  Lagoona

  By late that afternoon, the storm was so intense that the main deck was closed to cruise ship passengers and everyone was ushered into the larger ballrooms belowdecks. The waves and whitecaps were so high that sprays of water were actually crashing up and over the ship’s main deck, soaking the floors with water. With each toss of the boat, the swimming pools were emptied, then filled up once again as soon as the next wave hit. The enormous cruise ship was tossed around in the ocean like the fleet of rubber ducks that had been bouncing around in the surf pool the day before.

  To try to keep the passengers happy and comfortable, the cruise ship’s activities director set up movies and games in the ballrooms. They organized karaoke and created video game stations, and there were hundreds of board and card games for families and groups of friends to choose from. The ship’s rocking seemed less noticeable below the water’s surface, so the first mate recommended that everyone come out of the above-deck cabins and staterooms to weather the storm in the lower ballrooms. Going on the lower decks helped most of the passengers, but some still really struggled with seasickness and felt miserable no matter where they were on board.