I had this story re-written by a friendly author I know, who researched the story on my twitter page and re-wrote it for the pleasure of my younger fans. Mums and Dads might want to use it for a bedtime story.
A THUNDERFLUKES ADVENTURE STORY: The Perilous Plastic Pellet
Thunderflukes hunted in the deep and dark of the ocean. Giant squid was his favourite food. He caught three.
‘Nom nom nom,’ he thought, ‘that was yummy.’
He surfaced and blew his used-up air into the sky. A little piece of plastic washed up onto his back and when he breathed in, he sucked the plastic deep down inside his blowhole and into his lung. It hurt! He tried to cough it out. He coughed and coughed but the plastic stayed inside him.
It made him sick and soon he couldn’t breathe properly. Now he could not dive deep down for squid. He grew hungrier and hungrier. He sent thoughts to his friends the dolphins about his pain. Dolphins can see inside things. They could see the plastic pellet. They sent thoughts back to Thunderflukes.
‘It’s getting deeper into your lung. No wonder it hurts.’
‘Please help me. It feels red hot,’
The dolphins made him swim upside down. They tried to jiggle the plastic out with special vibrating noises. Again and again they sent those noises into Thunderflukes’ lungs.
It worked. They could see the plastic moving slowly along a tunnel in his lung.
For one whole day and night the dolphins made their jiggly noises. Sometimes they made Thunderflukes swim upside down. Sometimes he had to swim on his side or even right side up. Some of the dolphins made magic music to take away his burning pain. Slowly the plastic moved out towards Thunderflukes’ blowhole. The dolphins worked and worked with their special sounds and their magic music. They let him breathe in very carefully and slowly but they made him breathe out as hard as he could, even though it hurt, to help push the pellet out.
In the morning the pellet was nearly out, but by this time Thunderflukes was weak from hunger. So were the dolphins. The plastic was jammed just inside the opening of his blowhole, but the dolphins couldn’t move it one more millimetre.
‘What can we do?’ asked a dolphin, ‘He’ll die if he can’t hunt soon.’
‘I’m sick and hungry,’ thought Thunderflukes, ‘Please don’t leave me like this.’
The dolphins thought for a long time. Suddenly a dolphin called Whirly did the spinning jump that comes with a great idea. He raced away and came back with his pet octopus.
‘This is Squelch,’ thought Whirly to Thunderflukes, ‘He’ll try to help you.’
‘How can a little thing like that help me?’ thought Thunderflukes.
Squelch climbed up onto Thunderflukes. The suckers on his tentacles latched on and off as he moved up the side of the whale. Thunderflukes was so sick and hungry he couldn’t even laugh at the tickle it made. Squelch reached into the whale’s blowhole with his long twisty tentacle. It tickled too much.
‘Ah – ah – ah – CHOOO!’ went Thunderflukes.
Squelch flew through the air, like a seagull.
‘Suppress your sneezes Thunderflukes!’ commanded Whirly.
‘I’ll try,’ thought Thunderflukes.
Whirly brought Squelch back for another try. It tickled worse than ever.
Thunderflukes tried not to sneeze. ‘Mmmmmmfff,’ he went, ‘Mmmmmmffff.’
The tentacle moved around inside his blowhole as Squelch searched and searched.
‘Mmmmmmfff,’ went Thunderflukes again, ‘Mmmmmmffff’
POP! Squelch pulled out his tentacle and there gripped in his suckers was the plastic pellet. He slithered away from Thunderflukes’ blowhole . . . just in time.
‘Ah – ah - ah – ah – CHOOOOOOOOO!’ went Thunderflukes but by then Squelch was hydro-sliding down the whale to the dolphins waiting below.
All the dolphins cheered and danced in circles. They passed Squelch from one to the other in celebration. He was still holding the plastic on his tentacle.
‘What shall I do with it?’ wondered Squelch.
‘Throw it away,’
‘No! If it goes back in the sea another whale or dolphin could breathe it in.'
'Plastic comes from those two-legged land animals,' thought Whirly to everyone, ‘Let’s give it back to them. He carried Whirly to a beach. Thunderflukes and all the other dolphins were starving. They wanted to hunt for food, but they followed Whirly.
Whirly carried Squelch close to the beach. He saw some two-legged animals there.
With one flick of his tentacle Squelch threw the plastic up in the air. It came down to Whirly’s flukes. He whacked it towards the beach and onto the sand.
‘Keep your plastic out of our ocean,’ thought Whirly to the two-legged animals. All the other dolphins clapped their flukes against the sea. They clapped and clapped. Thunderflukes clapped too and the sound was like thunder.
‘Now we know how you got your name,’ they laughed.
Everyone swam out to sea to find a delicious dinner. Thunderflukes hunted in the deep ocean. He caught six giant squid. He squished their juiciness through his teeth.
‘Nom nom nom,’ he thought, ‘That was yummy.’
The dolphins ate the little squid near the surface and Whirly caught a big fat crab for Squelch.
‘Nom nom nom,’ thought everyone together, ‘That was yummy.’
‘Nom nom nom,’ he thought, ‘that was yummy.’
He surfaced and blew his used-up air into the sky. A little piece of plastic washed up onto his back and when he breathed in, he sucked the plastic deep down inside his blowhole and into his lung. It hurt! He tried to cough it out. He coughed and coughed but the plastic stayed inside him.
It made him sick and soon he couldn’t breathe properly. Now he could not dive deep down for squid. He grew hungrier and hungrier. He sent thoughts to his friends the dolphins about his pain. Dolphins can see inside things. They could see the plastic pellet. They sent thoughts back to Thunderflukes.
‘It’s getting deeper into your lung. No wonder it hurts.’
‘Please help me. It feels red hot,’
The dolphins made him swim upside down. They tried to jiggle the plastic out with special vibrating noises. Again and again they sent those noises into Thunderflukes’ lungs.
It worked. They could see the plastic moving slowly along a tunnel in his lung.
For one whole day and night the dolphins made their jiggly noises. Sometimes they made Thunderflukes swim upside down. Sometimes he had to swim on his side or even right side up. Some of the dolphins made magic music to take away his burning pain. Slowly the plastic moved out towards Thunderflukes’ blowhole. The dolphins worked and worked with their special sounds and their magic music. They let him breathe in very carefully and slowly but they made him breathe out as hard as he could, even though it hurt, to help push the pellet out.
In the morning the pellet was nearly out, but by this time Thunderflukes was weak from hunger. So were the dolphins. The plastic was jammed just inside the opening of his blowhole, but the dolphins couldn’t move it one more millimetre.
‘What can we do?’ asked a dolphin, ‘He’ll die if he can’t hunt soon.’
‘I’m sick and hungry,’ thought Thunderflukes, ‘Please don’t leave me like this.’
The dolphins thought for a long time. Suddenly a dolphin called Whirly did the spinning jump that comes with a great idea. He raced away and came back with his pet octopus.
‘This is Squelch,’ thought Whirly to Thunderflukes, ‘He’ll try to help you.’
‘How can a little thing like that help me?’ thought Thunderflukes.
Squelch climbed up onto Thunderflukes. The suckers on his tentacles latched on and off as he moved up the side of the whale. Thunderflukes was so sick and hungry he couldn’t even laugh at the tickle it made. Squelch reached into the whale’s blowhole with his long twisty tentacle. It tickled too much.
‘Ah – ah – ah – CHOOO!’ went Thunderflukes.
Squelch flew through the air, like a seagull.
‘Suppress your sneezes Thunderflukes!’ commanded Whirly.
‘I’ll try,’ thought Thunderflukes.
Whirly brought Squelch back for another try. It tickled worse than ever.
Thunderflukes tried not to sneeze. ‘Mmmmmmfff,’ he went, ‘Mmmmmmffff.’
The tentacle moved around inside his blowhole as Squelch searched and searched.
‘Mmmmmmfff,’ went Thunderflukes again, ‘Mmmmmmffff’
POP! Squelch pulled out his tentacle and there gripped in his suckers was the plastic pellet. He slithered away from Thunderflukes’ blowhole . . . just in time.
‘Ah – ah - ah – ah – CHOOOOOOOOO!’ went Thunderflukes but by then Squelch was hydro-sliding down the whale to the dolphins waiting below.
All the dolphins cheered and danced in circles. They passed Squelch from one to the other in celebration. He was still holding the plastic on his tentacle.
‘What shall I do with it?’ wondered Squelch.
‘Throw it away,’
‘No! If it goes back in the sea another whale or dolphin could breathe it in.'
'Plastic comes from those two-legged land animals,' thought Whirly to everyone, ‘Let’s give it back to them. He carried Whirly to a beach. Thunderflukes and all the other dolphins were starving. They wanted to hunt for food, but they followed Whirly.
Whirly carried Squelch close to the beach. He saw some two-legged animals there.
With one flick of his tentacle Squelch threw the plastic up in the air. It came down to Whirly’s flukes. He whacked it towards the beach and onto the sand.
‘Keep your plastic out of our ocean,’ thought Whirly to the two-legged animals. All the other dolphins clapped their flukes against the sea. They clapped and clapped. Thunderflukes clapped too and the sound was like thunder.
‘Now we know how you got your name,’ they laughed.
Everyone swam out to sea to find a delicious dinner. Thunderflukes hunted in the deep ocean. He caught six giant squid. He squished their juiciness through his teeth.
‘Nom nom nom,’ he thought, ‘That was yummy.’
The dolphins ate the little squid near the surface and Whirly caught a big fat crab for Squelch.
‘Nom nom nom,’ thought everyone together, ‘That was yummy.’
