EDRG 3344 Entry 10

This is my first attempt at writing a narrative I can remember, since college in 1982. I would appreciate any constructive criticism you care to offer. I think it's finished, but please comment with any ideas/advice.
Thanks in advance;
Mark

Kindolura the Whale Shark

Hi, my name is Kindolura, but you can call me “Kindo” because all my friends do. I hope we can be friends after this little anecdote I am going to relate. I am a whale shark and at 45 feet long and 15 tons, the largest fish species on earth. In the ocean nothing much scares me because of my size and this is where my modest tale begins.

I was just swimming around the ocean last month, just looking for a little snack because my tummy was rumbling and when my tummy rumbles the whole ocean shakes ha-ha-ha. Enough about my rumbling tummy, it’s time I get on with my story. As I was saying before I started thinking about food. I was swimming around the ocean (looking for food, of course) when I felt a tug on my tail. I looked over my left fin and saw nothing. I looked over my right fin and there was nothing there either, so I started forward again. There was another tug on my tail so I sloooowly (I am so big it takes a long time for me to turn) turned around and could see my tail. I saw something that shouldn’t be there so I started to shriek.

Taking into consideration I’m really large, opening my mouth creates an enormous gap that almost anything could go in. As I was turning and screaming I heard a familiar voice blaring back at me. I opened my eyes (I close them when I’m scared) and saw my best friend Whitey the great white shark. Anyways, as we both were screaming, I noticed that I was getting closer and closer to him with my mouth wide open. Whitey saw it too which is why he was screaming. I started to close my mouth, but it was far too late. Whitey had slipped into my mouth with the rushing water. I could still hear him screaming, but now he was hollering for me to let him out. I looked at my tail and noticed the marks he left with his many teeth. I decided the time was right to teach Whitey not pick on someone bigger than he is.

Since Whitey required a lesson, I started to swim trying to ignore his piercing yelping. Swimming is quite hard with someone yelping inside your mouth. Have you ever had something screaming at the top of its lungs inside your mouth? I hope you haven’t because it sure is loud coming from inside there. It echoes like when you yell down an empty hole or a well and it gives you a very bad headache. I had to take two extra-extra strong aspirins to get rid of headache he gave me. Did you get it, heh-heh, the biggest fish on earth and extra-extra strong aspirins? I guess it is mostly fish humor so it is ok if you didn’t understand.

OK, back to the story. As I was saying, Whitey was screaming like crazy in my mouth, not because he was scared that I would swallow him, but because he is scared of the dark. I know what you’re thinking. How can a shark be scared of the dark? Well, we are like you in some ways. We have feelings; we get scared of things that we don’t understand. He kept on screaming and hollering for me to let him out until he lost his voice. The only reason I knew he lost his voice was because it got really quiet. When it went quiet, I decided to open my mouth and let him out. He came out crying, so I asked him what was wrong. Whitey told me that while he was screaming and wiggling in my mouth he lost a tooth.

Now, not many young people know that most sharks have 5 rows of teeth, and if one is lost it’s replaced by one from the next row. Since a new tooth grows in last row of teeth, sharks never run out of teeth. I told Whitey to stop crying and that a new one would replace it soon. He said he knew that, but until then there would be a space between his teeth. He was concerned that his friends would laugh at him. I asked him to open his mouth, but he refused. Since he was being uncooperative, I made him yell again by pinching his fin. As soon as he yelled, I looked in his mouth. I really, really, wanted to laugh at the space between his teeth. I bit my lip and told him it didn’t look so bad. He said it did so and that his friends would laugh at him. I told him that I was his friend and I wasn’t laughing. He looked at me to see if I was trying not to laugh. I tried looking like I wasn’t holding back the laughter. Luckily, he believed me. Thank goodness, because if he didn’t believe me there would have been no stopping the tears. Whitey’s teeth are very sharp strong teeth, but mine are bristles that trap tiny fish so I rarely lose a tooth.

While we were talking, Whitey smiled and I saw the new tooth had already moved into the gap replacing the lost one. I laughed and said Whitey your tooth is back! He started to swim swiftly around me, joyfully. At that point, I asked him why he tugged on my tail in the first place. He said he just wanted to have some fun and didn’t realize it would scare me so. I told Whitey that I’ve been very jumpy since I experienced an up close surprise involving a boat.

That was a scary thing. I was swimming along minding my own business and looking for food, of course. I happened to look up and saw this long white thing. At first, I thought it was Whitey, but it didn’t have his tail. I swam closer to it and it was making this funny humming noise from its backside. I got a little closer and saw that what should be a tail was spinning and humming.
No sharks or fish that I know make that kind of noise or move their tail like that, so I started to turn around. Being slow in my movements the boat was a little faster then I was and it hit my dorsal fin as it went by me. Needless to say I never went that close to the surface again. You humans are dangerous when you are on those moving boats. Please when you’re out on the water, watch out other living creatures below you.

Thank you for listening to my little tale. It was fun to tell you. Remember to always keep smiling, even if you have a space between your teeth like Whitey had. Everyone has had that space at least once in their life. Now that we know each other a little I hope you will take the time to find out some more fun facts about sharks. The books you can get from your public library have many shark facts. If you look hard enough I bet you will see Whitey and I in some of the pictures they have. Don’t forget that we come in different sizes and sharps, so you can find out about all my friends and family.