Children stories - Nancy's Whale : by James K Wetterer

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Nancy's Whale
by James K. Wetterer

Nancy lived in a house right at the edge of the ocean. Nancy loved the ocean and everything about it. She loved the feel of the water on her bare feet as she walked along the beach. She loved the sound of the waves breaking on the shore and the calls of the sea birds. She loved the smell of the wind that blew off the ocean every evening. But most of all, Nancy loved the whales.

From her back porch, Nancy often saw whales swimming far off-shore. Her parents bought her binoculars, so she could see the whales better. Nancy got books from the library and learned about the different kinds of whales. These giants of the ocean were the most marvelous and mysterious creatures that Nancy could imagine.

Nancy would drift off to sleep at night listening to the sound of the ocean waves. Often she dreamed about whales, about the places whales visited and the strange and wonderful things that whales saw.

Nancy's younger brother, Martin, wasn't interested in whales. He liked dinosaurs. He also liked to annoy Nancy. "What's so great about a bunch of dumb old whales?" said Martin.

"Well," said Nancy. "They're a lot smarter than any of your tiny-brained dinosaurs ever were."

"Oh yeah," said Martin. "I bet a big dinosaur could eat a whale in one bite."

"Certainly not a blue whale," replied Nancy. "Blue whales are bigger than the biggest dinosaurs that ever lived."

One summer afternoon, black clouds filled the sky and darkened the day. A big storm was coming. Everyone hurried to prepare for it. Father tied the boat safely to the dock. Nancy and Martin helped carry the picnic table and benches to the garage.

Thunder rumbled in the distance. Winds started to picked up. Soon the rains began.

Nancy worried about the whales. "I hope they'll be all right in the storm," she said.

"I bet dinosaurs wouldn't be afraid of a little storm," said Martin. But he felt a little frightened himself.

Nancy watched the storm from her bedroom window. Waves crashed on the shore as the rain poured down in sheets. Nancy was glad to be in the warmth and safety of her house.

Suddenly a large flash of lightning lit up the scene. Nancy thought she saw something down on the beach behind her house. She looked through her binoculars and saw what seemed to be an over-turned boat washed up on the shore.

Nancy grabbed her raincoat and ran out into the storm.

Down on the beach, what Nancy found was not a boat. It was a twenty-foot black whale lying on the beach. The whale smacked its tail against the sand and called out in whistles that sounded almost like a bird's song. Nancy was frightened by the size of the animal. Then she saw a fishing net over the whale's head and back. "You poor thing," said Nancy. "Don't worry, I'll go for help."

As Nancy turned to go, another whale suddenly surged up on the shore right next to the first whale. Nancy fell over getting out of the way. Her heart was pounding and her legs were weak as she struggled to her feet. Nancy ran back to the house screaming, "Mom! Dad! There are two whales up on the beach! We have to save them!"

Nancy's mother phoned the police. Soon three police cars arrived with sirens blaring and lights flashing. Behind them came a truck with a volunteer whale rescue team. Dr. Margaret Mullen, a professor from the university, was in charge. "The whales are over this way," shouted Nancy. Everyone followed Nancy as she ran through the rain down to the beach.

Now there were six more whales up on the shore. The whales were calling and flapping their fins and slapping their tails on the sand. Several more whales swam frantically in the water just off-shore.

"These are pilot whales," shouted Dr. Mullen over the noise of the wind and the waves and the whales. "Pilot whales always travel in a group. If we put one whale back in the water, it will hear the others on the beach crying and come back up. All the whales must go back in the water at the same time. We will get them ready to move as soon as the tide is higher."

"We need more people if we are going to get all these whales back in the water," said Dr. Mullen. "We have a whale stranding network for these emergencies."

Dr. Mullen telephoned from Nancy's house to find more volunteers. Volunteers called other volunteers and soon more than fifty people had gathered on the beach to help.

Some volunteers wore wet suits, others wore life jackets. Nancy and Martin also put on life jackets, just to be safe. Dr. Mullen assigned a group of volunteers to each whale and gave each group a large plastic sheet to slip under their whale.

Nancy and Martin followed Dr. Mullen as she moved from whale to whale, putting a numbered orange marker on each one. "We'll give each of these whales a number," explained Dr. Mullen. "That way, if we ever see them again, we will know who they are."

The whales on the beach continued to struggle and call. But the whale caught in the net was no longer calling, and no one was helping it.

"Aren't you going to take care of this whale?" Nancy asked Dr. Mullen. "I think it's hurt."

"We must take care of the uninjured whales first," said Dr. Mullen. "They are the ones that we have the best chance of saving."

"Don't be afraid," said Nancy to the injured whale.

"We're going to save you, too," said Martin.

The rain finally stopped and the day brightened. All the whales were ready to be moved, all except the whale trapped in the net. "This one appears to be a female," said Dr. Mullen examining the last whale.

Carefully, Dr. Mullen cut away the fishing net and lifted it off the whale. Nancy poured water over the whale to keep her wet. Martin ran back and forth to the water to refill the buckets for Nancy.

The whale had a deep gash in her dorsal fin. Dr. Mullen shook her head. "This injury is badly infected," she said. "I don't think this whale will live."

"Oh please, we must try to save her," pleaded Nancy.

"Please," said Martin. He started to cry.

Dr. Mullen gave the injured whale a large injection of medicine. "I'll put a radio transmitter on her," said Dr. Mullen. "That way we can see where she goes and whether she recovers from her injuries."

The storm had passed and the sun was going down. The tide was rising, and the whales were now all in shallow water. Slowly the volunteers started to move the whales towards deeper water. Nancy and Martin watched from the shore. Even though the waves were much lower now, moving the whales and keeping them calm was a difficult job.

Finally all the whales were in deep enough water. It was time to set them free. At Dr. Mullen's signal, everyone lowered the plastic sheets and released the whales. With splashes and whistles, the group of rescued whales swam out to join the rest of their pod. The injured whale seemed to have trouble swimming, but another whale came up beside her and nudged her along.

Everyone cheered as the pod of pilot whales swam away. One whale slapped its tail on the surface of the water. "You're welcome," Nancy called after them and Dr. Mullen laughed.

Everyone was cold and tired, but also very happy. It was time to go home.

The next morning, Nancy woke when the telephone rang. Mother came in to say Dr. Mullen was on the phone.

"Good news, Nancy," said Dr. Mullen. "We tracked your whale moving south. We followed her for fifty miles and she was swimming well. I think she's going to be fine."

But still Nancy worried about her whale. Often as she lay in bed she thought of the whale, wondering where she was and whether she was all right.

Almost a year had gone by when Dr. Mullen called Nancy again. "Your whale has come back, Nancy. We just picked up her radio signal this morning. Would you like to go out in a research boat to see her this afternoon?"

"Thank you, I'd love to go!" said Nancy. "Can Martin come, too?"

"Of course, he can," said Dr. Mullen. "He helped save the whale, too."

Out in the research boat, Dr. Mullen followed the radio signal until they saw a pod of pilot whales at a distance. As they got closer, Nancy spotted a whale with a white scar on her dorsal fin and a bright orange radio transmitter. "There she is!" shouted Nancy. "She looks all better now!"

Right next to Nancy's whale swam a much smaller whale, only six feet long. "It looks like your whale is a mother now, too," said Dr. Mullen.

"When I grow up I'm going to study pilot whales!" said Nancy.

"Well, when I grow up I'm going to study blue whales!" said Martin. And they did.

The End

Kate's Caterpillars
by James K. Wetterer

Every day Kate walked through Kelly Woods on her way to and from school.

One sunny afternoon, Kate was walking home through the woods. The smell of spring was in the air. Flowers were blooming everywhere. Yet Kate felt something was wrong. She wondered why the birds weren't singing. Suddenly the air was filled with a roaring sound. Next, Kate heard a loud crash.

Up ahead Kate saw a group of workers in hard hats standing in a clearing. Kate came closer and watched as the workers cut a fallen tree into smaller logs. The roar of the chain saws hurt her ears.

Kate looked around at the clearing. That morning the place had been full of trees. Now there was nothing left but tree stumps, brambles, and bushes.

On one bush in the clearing Kate noticed some pretty little green caterpillars. "Oh dear," said Kate. "I better save you before they cut down your bush." Carefully she broke off the leafy twig with the caterpillars and carried it home.

Kate put the twig in an large jar with holes poked in the lid. By the next afternoon the caterpillars had eaten all the leaves. Kate offered the caterpillars lettuce, but they wouldn't eat. She gave them parsley, but they still weren't interested. "You certainly are choosy eaters," said Kate.

Kate went back out to the clearing in the woods and broke a leafy twig from the bush where she had found the caterpillars. The hungry caterpillars quickly ate these leaves.

Every day on her way home from school, Kate gathered more leaves from the caterpillar bush to feed to her caterpillars. And every day the clearing around the bush got bigger as the work crew cut down more trees and hauled them away.

"Why are you cutting down all these trees?" Kate asked one of the workers.

"We are clearing out this area to build a new shopping mall for you and your neighbors," he explained.

Kate's caterpillars grew bigger and bigger. Kate had to bring more and more leaves for them.

Then one day Kate came home with a big handful of leaves, but her caterpillars were nowhere to be seen. Instead, she found a bunch of things hanging from the twig. They looked like rolled-up leaves.

"What happened to my caterpillars?" Kate asked Mother.

"They have turned into chrysalids," said Mother. "They are getting ready to become beautiful butterflies."

For more than a week the chrysalids didn't seem to do anything. Mother said that they were very busy inside, changing into butterflies. Then one day, Kate came home to find her jar was full of black butterflies with yellow spots. Kate called her parents in to see. "What kind of butterflies are these?" Kate asked. They looked in a book about butterflies, but none of the pictures were like Kate's butterflies.

"I know an entomologist at the university," said Father. "Maybe she'll know what kind of butterflies these are."

Father drove Kate to the university. Kate brought her butterflies in the jar.

Dr. Pierce, the entomologist, examined Kate's butterflies carefully. "Your butterflies are similar to some species I know, but they are not exactly the same," she said. "I believe that they may be a species that has never been found before. I will need to study their caterpillars and see what they eat."

Dr. Pierce drove with Father and Kate back to Kelly Woods to collect more caterpillars. Kate led them out to the clearing, but the caterpillar bush was gone! Kate looked at the bushes still standing at the edge of the clearing, but none were like the caterpillar bush.

"Do you think you would be able to find more caterpillar bushes?" Dr. Pierce asked Kate.

"I don't know," replied Kate. "But, wouldn't the butterflies know how to find more bushes?"

"Yes, of course," replied Dr. Pierce. "What an excellent idea."

The next day, Kate and Dr. Pierce returned to Kelly Woods. Kate's teacher and classmates and several Entomology students from the university also came to help find more caterpillars. Kate carried three of her butterflies in a jar.

Kate's teacher divided the students into three groups. Kate opened the jar and out flew the three butterflies. Each group ran off through the woods following the butterflies.

Everyone tried to keep their butterfly in sight while running through the woods. Some students tripped over fallen logs. Others got tangled in brambles. But a few managed to keep up with their butterfly.

Then Kate saw her butterfly land on a big bush. "This is the same kind of bush!" yelled Kate. "And look, here are some more caterpillars!"

Dr. Pierce and all the students crowded around Kate and the bush. Everyone wanted to see the caterpillars.

A man in a hard hat came up to the group. "You all must leave right now," said the man. "This is private property."

"But we're not harming anything," said Dr. Pierce. "We need to find more of these caterpillars."

"Well I'm going to call Mr. Kelly, who owns this land," said the worker. "Mr. Kelly will have the police throw you off."

Mr. Kelly soon arrived. "What's the problem here?" he asked Dr. Pierce. "These caterpillars are a species of butterfly that is unknown to science," said Dr. Pierce. "You must stop cutting down the woods so we can study them."

"But the community needs this shopping mall," explained Mr. Kelly. "And a large area must be cleared for the parking lot."

"If you cut down these woods," said Kate, "the butterflies will have no place to live."

"I'm sorry. I wish there were something I could do," said Mr. Kelly. "But this mall must be built. We need the stores and we need the jobs."

It was getting late. Everyone went home tired and troubled.

The next day, Kate came back to the woods with her classmates and the university students. This time they brought signs and banners to protest cutting down the woods. Kate's sign read "Save the butterfly's home."

When they got to the woods, Mr. Kelly was already there. "Please don't protest," he said. "Although I do plan to build the shopping mall, I also want to save the butterflies. With your help, I think we can do both."

Mr. Kelly built the mall with the parking lot deep underground. Most of the woods were left as a park. He called the shopping center the Butterfly Park Mall. Dr. Pierce helped design a Butterfly Museum.

Mr. Kelly encouraged people to walk or bicycle to the mall rather than bring their cars. He hired university students to give nature tours on the trails through Butterfly Park and to work at the Butterfly Museum. Children visited the Museum while their parents shopped.

After school, Kate always walked home through Butterfly Park. She often stopped to visit the Butterfly Museum. What Kate liked best was an exhibit at the museum on the butterfly that she had discovered. Dr. Pierce named the new species Papilio katus, Kate's Swallowtail Butterfly.

The End

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Dinosaurs in the Backyard
by James K. Wetterer

Margaret loved dinosaurs.

When she was very small, her Uncle Gordon gave her a furry, stuffed dinosaur toy. She slept with it every night.

As she grew bigger, Margaret got more and more dinosaur things. She had dinosaur games and dinosaur puzzles. She had dinosaurs on her lunch box. She had dinosaurs on her sneakers. When it rained, she wore her shiny green dinosaur raincoat. The hood was like a dinosaur head. She even slept on dinosaur sheets.

On the walls of her room, Margaret had dinosaur posters. Margaret knew all the dinosaurs by name. Stegosaurus. Tyrannosaurus. Ankylosaurus. They all seemed like good friends to her. But her favorite dinosaur was the Triceratops.

Margaret tried to teach her brother Carl about the different kinds of dinosaurs, but he was too little. He just wanted to chew on her dinosaur toys

One Saturday morning Margaret woke up early. She lay in bed studying her dinosaur posters and thinking about dinosaurs. Finally, she made up her mind. Margaret got dressed and hurried downstairs to breakfast.

"I'd like to get a real live dinosaur for a pet," Margaret announced to her parents. "I think I'm old enough."

"I'm sorry, Margaret," said Father. "But you can't have a pet dinosaur..."

"Oh, pleeeeease," Margaret interrupted. "We can keep him in the backyard. I'll get a Triceratops that eats only plants, so we won't have to worry about him eating Carl."

"But Margaret, there are no dinosaurs anymore," said Mother. "You see, they lived a long time ago. Now they're all dead."

"Maybe there are still some dinosaurs alive, hiding in the forest," said Margaret sadly.

"There probably aren't any dinosaurs in the forest," said Mother. "But there are many other wonderful animals there."

"It's a beautiful day today," said Father. "Why don't we all drive out to the country to visit your Uncle Gordon? We always see all sorts of interesting animals there."

"Maybe we'll see some deer," said Mother. "Like on our last visit."

"I hope so," said Margaret. She still felt sad about the dinosaurs.

So the whole family, Mother and Father and Margaret and Carl made sandwiches, packed up the car and drove off to visit Uncle Gordon.

On their drive they saw many wild animals. They saw squirrels and rabbits. They saw woodchucks and chipmunks. They even smelled a skunk. "P.U.!" said Margaret and she held her nose.

When they turned down the dirt road where Uncle Gordon lived, they had to stop the car to let two white-tailed deer cross the road. "Let's try not to scare them," whispered Margaret. Everyone was quiet until the deer disappeared off into the woods.

"Back when the dinosaurs were alive there were no deer," said Mother. "Most mammals were little rat-like animals But after the dinosaurs were gone, there was more room for the mammals. They evolved to become all the different kinds alive today. People are mammals, too."

Uncle Gordon came out to greet the family when they arrived. Margaret told Uncle Gordon about all the different mammals they had seen. "I guess it's lucky for us mammals there are no more dinosaurs," said Margaret. "But I still think it's sad that all the dinosaurs are gone."

"All the old dinosaurs are gone," said Uncle Gordon. "But some of their younger relatives are still alive. "

"Really?" asked Margaret. "Where do they live?"

"Up there in that tree I see a little dinosaur relative," said Uncle Gordon. "And over there by the lake I see two more."

Margaret looked up at the tree, but all she saw was a crow. She looked over at the lake shore, but all she saw was a pair of wild geese. "Those are just birds," said Margaret.

"Long before the dinosaurs died, some smaller ones evolved into birds," explained Uncle Gordon. "In fact, many scientists feel that birds should be considered living dinosaurs.

Margaret stared up at the crow. The crow stared back down at Margaret, first with one eye, then with the other. "That crow doesn't look like a dinosaur to me," said Margaret.

"But look at the scales on her legs and feet," said Uncle Gordon. "All birds have scales, just like the scales of dinosaurs."

Margaret took Uncle Gordon's hand and they walked down towards the lake. The geese hissed at Margaret and Uncle Gordon when they came near their nest. "Those geese don't look much like dinosaurs either," said Margaret.
"Many dinosaurs laid eggs and took care of their young in nests, just like birds do," said Uncle Gordon.
"I still think that birds aren't very much like real dinosaurs, " said Margaret.
"It's true, birds don't look like dinosaurs," Uncle Gordon agreed. "You can't see all the ways birds and dinosaurs are alike. The main reason people know that birds evolved from dinosaurs is their bones. The skeletons of the earliest birds are just like the skeletons of small dinosaurs."
At lunch Margaret ate a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. She chewed her sandwich slowly, watching the geese down by the lake and thinking about what Uncle Gordon had told her. Finally, she made up her

mind.

"Since I can't have a pet Triceratops, can I have a pet goose instead?" Margaret asked her parents. "We could keep her in our backyard." "But when it gets cold geese like to fly south to where it's warm, " said Mother. "Do you think a goose would want to live in our small backyard all winter long?"
"No, " said Margaret. "I guess a goose would fly away."
"How about if I get a cute little pet penguin? asked Margaret. "She couldn't fly away and she could live in our backyard all winter." "Penguins needs a big pool to swim in, and they like to be around lots of other penguins," said Father.
"I guess a penguin wouldn't be happy in our backyard either," said Margaret sadly.
Margaret gathered up the crusts from her sandwich and tossed them out into the yard. Almost at once, little birds seem to appear from nowhere. As Margaret watched the birds eating, she thought about birds and about dinosaurs and about pets. Finally, she made up her mind.
"I have a good idea," said Margaret. "I can make friends with the wild birds that visit our backyard at home. Can we get a bird feeder for them?"
        "Why, yes," said Mother.  "That's a very good idea."
        "We can buy one today," said Father.
        Mother and Father and Margaret and Carl packed up the car once

more, and after saying good bye to Uncle Gordon, they started for home. On their drive back home, everyone watched for birds. They saw gulls circling far overhead. They saw a pheasant run off into the woods. And they saw rows and rows of grackles sitting on the telephone wires. Before going home, they stopped at a store and bought a bird feeder and a big bag of bird seeds.

Mother and Father set up the feeder in the backyard just outside Margaret's bedroom window. Margaret helped fill it with seeds. First, a few birds came by to investigate the bird feeder. Soon dozens of different birds were visiting the feeder every day. Uncle Gordon sent Margaret a book about birds. Margaret learned all their names. Song Sparrows and Robins. Blue Jays and Cardinals. Margaret always thought of them as little dinosaurs.
Every morning when she woke up early, Margaret would lie in bed listening to the little dinosaurs sing and watching the little dinosaurs feed just outside her window.
Margaret had found a whole new set of dinosaur friends. They lived right in her own backyard.

The End

James K. Wetterer
Assistant Professor

Center for Environmental Research and Conservation (CERC) Mail Code 5557
1200 Amsterdam Avenue
Columbia University
New York, New York 10027

Phone: (212) 854-8060; FAX: (212) 854-8188; e-mail: jw272@columbia.edu http://www.columbia.edu/cu/cerc/faculty/wetterer.html

Subject: Re: Children stories

Mary Veronica and the Dragon
by James K. Wetterer

Mary Veronica couldn't decide what to be when she grew up. One day, while walking to the library, Mary Veronica imagined instead that she was an explorer pushing her way through a thick tropical jungle. Colorful birds chattered above her head; poisonous snakes slithered at her feet. Mary Veronica didn't even see the Dragon until he spoke, because he was exactly the same color as the bushes.
"Could you please help me?" said the Dragon in a timid voice. "I'm afraid that I'm lost."

Mary Veronica was too surprised to be frightened. The Dragon had the voice of a little boy, but he was a dragon alright. He had large wings, and spikes ran down his back from the top of his head to the end of his long tail. He sat up like a big kangaroo, but instead of one big pocket, he had two smaller ones. When Mary Veronica didn't answer, the Dragon cleared his throat and spoke again. "Could you tell me the way to Mount Fuji in Japan? I know my way home from there." said the Dragon. "You see, I was playing hide-and-seek. The cloud I hid behind moved out over the ocean and I got lost."
"My goodness!" exclaimed Mary Veronica. "You're a long way from home. This is Seattle, Washington. Japan is on the other side of the Pacific Ocean."
        "Oh, dear!" cried the Dragon.  "I'll never find my way home."
        "Don't worry, I'll help you find your way home," said Mary
Veronica.  "My name is Mary Veronica.  What's your name?"
        "Well, my parents call me Clever Dragon," sniffed the Dragon. "And

my friends call me Happy Dragon. But you probably should call me Poor Lost Dragon." The Dragon began to sob. He pulled a large handkerchief from one of his pockets and blew his nose.

"Please don't cry," said Mary Veronica. "You know you're in Seattle, so you're not really lost. Why don't I just call you Dragon? Come with me to the library, Dragon. We'll look at a map and figure out how to get from here to Japan."
"Oh, that won't help at all," sobbed the Dragon. "Geography is my worst subject at school." Tears began to run down the Dragon's cheeks and splash on his long green toes.
"People go to Japan all the time," said Mary Veronica. "Why, there's probably a plane leaving Seattle for Japan this very evening! Come on, Dragon. The bus to the airport stops right in front of the library."
Waiting at the bus stop, Mary Veronica remembered the bus fare. "Do you have any money?" she asked the Dragon. "Bus fare is 75 cents each. I only have enough money for one of us." The Dragon took two large gold coins from his pocket. "Can I use these?" he asked.
"No," replied Mary Veronica. "The driver will only take American money. Here, take this money. You'll have to go to the airport alone." "Why don't we fly to the airport?" said the Dragon. "You can ride on my back."
Just then the bus pulled up. "Going to a masquerade?" said the bus driver.
"No," said Mary Veronica. "We are going to the airport, but I think we'll fly there instead."
When the bus drove off without them, Mary Veronica turned to the Dragon. "Are you feeling alright?" she asked. "You became very yellow when the bus pulled up."
"Of course I was yellow," replied the Dragon. "It was a yellow bus, wasn't it? I always change color to match my background. Actually, I was wondering if you were feeling alright. Most people in Japan have a healthier color."
"I feel fine," said Mary Veronica. "People come in several different colors, but we can't change color to match our background. That would be magic."
"Not at all," replied the Dragon. "Changing color is quite natural. Chameleons and many other animals can do it too, though not as well as dragons can. That's why dragons are so good at hiding from people."
        "But why do dragons hide from people?" asked Mary Veronica.
        "People always want to fight us," explained the Dragon.  "A long

time ago, before there were any people, there were dragons all over the world. But now the only dragons left are those who are very good at hiding. At school, our most important class is Hide-and-Seek." 

        "It's terrible that dragons must hide from people," said Mary Veronica.
        "Even hiding isn't enough," said the Dragon.  "People keep cutting

down the forests, leaving no place for dragons and other animals to live. Some people are working to protect the forests, but we need more friends like them."

        "Well, I'd like to be your friend," said Mary Veronica.
        "I would like that very much," replied the Dragon.
        "We'd better get to the airport before dark," said Mary Veronica.
        "Alright," said the Dragon.  "Climb on my back, and we'll be off."
        Mary Veronica looked at the spikes on the Dragon's back.  "I don't
think it will be comfortable riding on your back," she said.
        "How thoughtless of me!" exclaimed the Dragon.  Reaching into a

pocket, he pulled out a large pair of scissors. "Here, take these and cut off a few spikes between my wings so you can sit down." 

        "Won't it hurt?" asked Mary Veronica.
        "Not at all," replied the Dragon.  "My spikes are like toe nails or

hair. They'll grow back again. It's more stylish to keep them trimmed and pointed, but I know some dragons who cut them off altogether." So the Dragon bent down and Mary Veronica trimmed off some of his spikes.

Mary Veronica climbed onto the Dragon's back. "The airport is straight ahead," she said as she took a firm grip on the Dragon's neck. "Hold tight," called the Dragon, and he leaped into the air. He spread his wings and was off, sailing above the trees and the houses and everything else below.
"Eeeeee----," cried Mary Veronica as they rose higher and higher. "Eeeeeeeee------," cried Mary Veronica as the Dragon's wings whooshed up and down. "Eeeeeeeeeee-------," cried Mary Veronica as the Dragon grew bluer and bluer. "I feel sick."
"Hang on," called the Dragon. "I can see the airport below us." The Dragon dove down and landed in the parking lot with a thump. 
        Mary Veronica and the Dragon hurried to the Information Desk.
        "Could you please tell me when the next flight is leaving for
Japan?" asked the Dragon.
        "The next plane to Tokyo leaves Gate C-5 in ten minutes," said the

information man. "But there are no tickets available for that flight. You'll have to wait until tomorrow to fly to Japan." "Oh, I don't need a ticket," said the Dragon. "I plan to fly after the plane not in it. And I really must go tonight, or else my parents will worry."
"I'll bet your parents are worried already," chuckled the information man.
Mary Veronica tugged at the Dragon's arm. "Come on, Dragon," she said. "You don't have much time."

An alarm sounded as Mary Veronica and the Dragon went through the C-Terminal security gate.
"Please empty your pockets," said the guard. Without looking up she handed the Dragon a small basket. She did look up, however, when the Dragon filled the basket with a large scissors, a long file, a handkerchief, and dozens of gold coins and jewels. "Sir, that's a lovely costume," said the guard. "But you can't wear it on the plane."
"I'm not wearing a costume," said the Dragon. "Please let me through, I'm in quite a hurry."
"Just step to the side for a moment, sir," said the guard politely. Then she whispered into her walkie-talkie.
Three more guards quickly arrived. "Get out of the costume, buddy" said the first guard. "Do it now."
"I'm sorry, but I have no time to chat," said the Dragon. "My plane is about to leave."
"You aren't going anywhere until you take off that outfit," said the second guard. He grabbed the Dragon and started searching for a zipper.
"You're t-t-t-tickling me." laughed the Dragon as he twisted around, knocking over the guard with his tail. "Run, Mary Veronica," said the Dragon. "Don't worry about me. I'll be fine." And with that, the Dragon scooped his things from the basket and leaped into the air. He turned white as he flew close to the ceiling and out an upper window.
"Where did he go?" shouted the third guard. "Stop the girl. Don't let her get away."
But Mary Veronica was already gone. She ran as fast as she could, through the long corridors filled with people and out the exit of the airport. Just outside she saw the city bus at the bus stop. Mary Veronica ran onto the bus just as it was about to pull out. She paid her fare and sat down in the back of the bus. She was safe. Mary Veronica looked out the back window of the bus. A large plane took off from the runway. Then she saw the Dragon close behind it. The Dragon grew bluer and bluer as he climbed into the sky. Before he disappeared behind a cloud, he turned and waved good-bye.
Mary Veronica told her parents and her friends at school about her adventures with the Dragon, but no one would believe that she had met a real dragon. Everyone agreed that there were no such things as dragons, at least not any more.
Mary Veronica read books in the library about giant lizards that live in faraway places, and about dinosaurs that lived a long time ago, but none of them were like the Dragon she had met. As time went by, Mary Veronica began to wonder if she had really met a dragon at all. Perhaps she had imagined the whole thing.
Then one day when Mary Veronica was checking out books, the librarian said to her, "This postcard from Japan was delivered to the library, addressed to Mary Veronica. Could this be for you? Mary Veronica looked at the card. On one side was a picture of Mount Fuji. On the other side was written: "Thanks to your help, I arrived home safely. When I'm older I'll visit you again if I can." It was signed "Your friend, D." "Yes, thank you," replied Mary Veronica. "It's from a very special friend."
Mary Veronica took the postcard and ran all the way home. She couldn't wait to tell her parents. She knew what she wanted to do when she grew up. She wanted to work to help make the world a safer place for dragons and other animals.

The End.

Horseshoe Crabs and Their Relatives
by James K. Wetterer

Six hundred million years ago, life on Earth was very different than it is today. There were no living creatures on dry land. All plants and animals lived in the sea.

During this long ago time, one of the most common animals in the sea was the trilobite. Trilobites came in many shapes and sizes. Some trilobites were only a fraction of an inch long. These tiny trilobites drifted in the open ocean. Most trilobites, however, were larger, from one to eight inches long, and lived on the ocean bottom.
All trilobites had exoskeletons. That means their skeleton was on the outside. In order to grow, a trilobite had to shed its skeleton and form a new one.
Trilobites were the first known animals with large, well-developed eyes. Many trilobite probably had good vision. Trilobites also sensed the world with their pair of antennae.
As millions of years passed, life on earth slowly changed. Some plants and animals began to live on dry land. Plants and animals in the sea changed, too.
One group of trilobite relatives evolved to become the sea scorpions and the horseshoe crabs. Unlike trilobites, sea scorpions and horseshoe crabs did not have any antennae. Also, the sea scorpions and the horseshoe crabs had a long spike-like tail called a telson.
Sea scorpions evolved into many forms. Some sea scorpions were only a few inches long. Others grew to be nine feet in length. As millions of years passed, some sea scorpions moved from the salty ocean into freshwater. Others moved onto land. Some descendants of the sea scorpions further evolved into scorpions, spiders, ticks, and mites.
During all this time, the horseshoe crabs showed little change.
About 230 million years ago, the trilobites and sea scorpions died out.
The horseshoe crabs, however, lived on. When the first dinosaurs appeared on Earth two hundred million years ago, horseshoe crabs were living in the sea. When the dinosaurs died out sixty-five million years ago, horseshoe crabs were still living in the ocean.
Scientists have found fossil horseshoe crabs in Europe, Asia, and North America. Horseshoe crabs no longer live in Europe. All European horseshoe crabs died off long ago. Four species of horseshoe crabs are alive today. Three species are found in Asia. One species lives in the waters off the east coast of North America. Horseshoe crabs living today look very much like the horseshoe crabs that lived over two hundred million years ago. For this reason, horseshoe crabs are often called living fossils.
Horseshoe crabs are not true crabs. All true crabs have two pairs of antennae. Horseshoe crabs, like their closest living relatives, the scorpions, spiders, ticks, and mites, have no antennae at all. People call them horseshoe crabs because they look much like crabs and they are shaped a little like horseshoes.
Like their ancient relatives the trilobites, horseshoe crabs have exoskeletons. In order to grow, a horseshoe crab must shed its skeleton and form a new one. In their first three years, they shed nine times. After that, they shed about once a year. Male horseshoe crabs become adults and can mate when they are about nine years old. Female horseshoe crabs become adults after about ten years.
Adult female horseshoe crabs are generally larger than adult males. You can tell whether a horseshoe crab is female or male by looking at its claws. The front claws of females look much like their other claws. The front claws of males, however, are shaped like mittens. Males use their front claws for holding onto females while mating.
The North American horseshoe crabs spend most of the year searching for food on the ocean floor in water as deep as 750 feet. They eat mostly worms and clams.
In the spring, however, adult horseshoe crabs come in to shore to mate. Most come to shore at full moon and new moon when the high tides are highest and they can swim far up the beaches.
Often mated pairs of horseshoe crabs can be found along sandy beaches. The female dig into the sand and lays hundreds of tiny eggs. Then the male releases sperm to fertilize the eggs. Sometimes other males cluster around a mated pair and also release sperm, trying to fertilize some of the eggs.
Only a few animals, such as sharks, eat adult horseshoe crabs. However, many birds and mammals dig up and eat horseshoe crab eggs.
Many kinds of plants and animals attach themselves and live on the horseshoe crab's exoskeleton. Horseshoe crabs often have algae, barnacles, mussels, and snails riding on their backs. Whenever a horseshoe crab sheds its exoskeleton, all the riders are also shed. Horseshoe crabs that have not shed in a long time might be covered with riders. Horseshoe crabs that look very clean have probably shed their exoskeleton recently.
Thousands of years ago, the Indians of Eastern North America used the long, sharp telsons of horseshoe crabs for spearheads. In the early 1900's, millions of horseshoe crabs were caught to be ground up and sold to farmers as fertilizer or as food for cattle.
Scientists are now finding important uses for horseshoe crabs. In particular they value horseshoe crabs for their blood, which is used to test for poisons. Horseshoe crab blood is blue because it is copper based. Human blood is red because it is iron based.
Researchers are also interested in the horseshoe crab's vision. The large eyes of horseshoe crabs look very much like the eyes of the long extinct trilobites. Studying the way horseshoe crabs see helps us to understand how vision works in all animals, including humans.
Horseshoe crabs are wonders of nature. They show us something of life long before humans evolved. Horseshoe crabs are so well designed that they have lived through all kinds of changes on Earth. They thrived in the long ago time of the trilobites and in the time of the dinosaurs. We must make sure that they continue to thrive in our time too.

The End

James K. Wetterer
Assistant Professor

Center for Environmental Research and Conservation (CERC) Mail Code 5557
1200 Amsterdam Avenue
Columbia University
New York, New York 10027

Phone: (212) 854-8060; FAX: (212) 854-8188; e-mail: jw272@columbia.edu http://www.columbia.edu/cu/cerc/faculty/wetterer.html