• Once in a time before boats and fishermen sailed the Pacific Ocean, there lived a pack of Great White Sharks. The sharks lived off the coast of the beautiful island of Oahu, and in a bay that flourished with coral and fish of many colors.
    The sharks were always proud of their spotless white skin. But a little shark, nicknamed Stripes for the pattern of “white” stripes that aligned his body, thought differently. Stripes didn’t want to be normal and dull like his other family members; he actually wanted to trade in his colors for a cool color, like black.
    “Well I don’t see why, you look fine just the way you are Stripes!” Hammy said. Hammy was Stripe’s only friend, and he was also the only hammerhead shark in the pack of great whites. That was because Hammy was separated from his family at birth because of a hurricane that hit his family, soon after he got lost and followed the current and ended up in the Hawaiian Islands.
    “Yeah I know geez I wish that I was like you Hammy no rules, no parents, and because you’re a hammerhead, you already stick out.” Stripes replied.
    “The no rules thing is pretty cool but no parents… Well you can’t live without them and sticking out isn’t the best title either, I mean everywhere I go I can see someone laughing at me” Hammy said.
    “Yeah I guess your right.’ Stripes replied.
    “Aren’t I always?!” Hammy asked.
    Just then as they were swimming home, an old giant shark appeared before them. He was the size of a killer whale but had the body of a normal great white shark. He also had dark black skin and wounds that were fresh and gushing out gruesome red blood.
    “A-are you alright sir?” asked Stripes, no response.
    “Hammy go get a “Nurse Shark” ordered Stripes.
    “O.K’ replied Hammy.
    And as soon as Hammy left the, the shark spoke.
    “H-Hey you, d-do you know why my skin is black?” the man said with all of his leftover strength.
    N-n-no, how did you get it that way?” Stripes asked with curiosity and terror.
    “How you ask well, listen, many, many miles off the coast of this here spot will be the end of the coral reef. There will be a drop called “The Deep Depths”, from there on and while in the Deep Depths there will be no light just pure darkness. And in the darkness lives 2 monsters. The first one is a humungous Black squid named Nightmare, do you see these wounds well that dastardly beast attacked me from the shadows, I barely made it out alive. And the second monster was even more horrifying than the last, that monster was a giant octopus named Shadow, whose only defense was to spit out black ink that would stain your skin and will never come off. When I came face to face with the monster, he squirted me with a cloud of black ink and turned my sparkling skin into dark, dark black.
    So now young shark please swear to me that you will give Nightmare the same fate as I and… and…” the old shark stopped.
    “And what, and what?!” Stripes yelled.
    And with one last jolt of energy the old man said back,
    “And while you’re at it, why don’t you get your black stripes from shadow, O.K?”
    At first Stripes was baffled, how could that old shark know what he wanted? Was he spying on him? But in the end he swore to it and with that the old beated shark died.
    Couple days after the incident with the old man, Stripes told Hammy the old man had said, and they both thought long and hard about what to do. Then one afternoon they finally had their decision. Their plan was to wake up at 2:00 in the morning, sneak out of the village while everyone was sleeping and meet where the old shark died.
    Then, they would both go to the “Deep Depths” so Stripes can get his “stripes,” and slay the monster. Then they would make their long and difficult trek towards the end of the coral reef. At 2:00 am, they followed their plan and swam off on their adventure.

    “Uuuuuuhh…can we take a break now?” Hammy begged.
    “No!” Stripes replied.
    “Why not?” Hammy asked.
    “Because it’s only been 45 minutes and we already had 25 breaks!” Stripes yelled in return. “C’mon, it’s 3:00 am; let’s tale a nap.”
    “Fine.” said Hammy.
    Stripes and Hammy went to sleep, but not for just a nap, they slept all the way until morning. Stripes and Hammy were awakened by a loud “E-e-e-e-e-e-e-e”. They looked around them and saw that they were surrounded by the toughest, meanest and quickest gang in the Pacific Ocean – “The Bottle Nose Gang”. The dolphins around them had scars all over their bodies and had rigid sharp teeth. Some of the dolphins even had a missing eye. Then out of the crowd came the gang leader; he had to be the buffest and most tough looking dolphin Stripes had ever seen. He had scars that looked like shark bites and a chipped fin. He also had an eye patch made of seaweed that covered his missing eye.
    “What are you doing in my territory you bottom feeding shark?” yelled the gang leader.
    “W-ho are you sir?” Stripes replied.
    “WHO AM I? I am Fin, the toughest, fastest, and most respected dolphin leader around, but the real question is, who are you?” asked Fin.
    “I’m Stripes and this is my friend Hammy.” Stripes said bravely.
    “So Mr. Stripes is it. Now where you headin?”
    “I’m going to the Deep Depths to slay the monster Nightmare and get some of that permanent ink.”
    “Ha-ha-ha-ha-“ laughed Fin. “You crack me up. You think you can slay Nightmare? I’m afraid you are wee too small to be taking on a monster such as himself.”
    “Well, I bet I CAN slay nightmare!” said Stripes angrily.
    “Watch your tone little one or else I’ll have to give you a smack.” Said Fin.
    “I’d like to see you try.”
    “Heh-heh, fine. I’ll make a deal with you. If you can beat me in a race, I’ll let you get through us. But if you can’t, then my gang gets to teach you a lesson and you’ll have to go back home.”
    “You’re on Fin,” said Stripes.
    “Stripes; no..” Hammy interrupted. “You can’t face him, he’s big, fast, and I heard he plays dirty.”
    “Too late,” replied Stripes.

    Then Fin explained where the course of the race will be.
    “Do you see that white coral rock over there?” explained Fin.
    “You mean the one about 50 yards away and passed the jagged rocks and violent whirlpools? Stripes asked.
    “Yeah,” replied Fin
    “Oh boy” Stripes said to himself.
    Soon Stripes and Fin were lined up side by side and waiting for the signal to go. Then it happened. One of Fin’s gang members gave the okay and Stripes and Fin flashed towards the white coral rock. The first obstacle that they swam through was the jagged rocks. They were so sharp that if either one of them accidentally bumped into one of the deadly rocks they would be swiftly sliced in half. Then to make things even worse, Fin noticed that Stripes was as quick as he was he started to play dirty. He began to bump Stripes into the rocks. One push actually knocked Stripes so hard he almost lost his head! Stripes and Fin finally made it past the jagged rocks and towards the whirlpools. These whirlpools were so strong that if you even were a couple of feet away, they would suck you right in and into the deep, dark parts of the ocean, inside the holes of the jagged rocks. But even with the thought of getting sucked into a pit of doom.
    Inside the mind of the racers, that didn’t stop the both of them from swimming harder and stop Fin from playing dirty. Fin bumped stripes harder and harder until Stripes stopped and juked him out. Fin then hurtled in the whirlpool.
    “Ahhhh” Fin yelled, afraid for his life as he was sucked in the whirlpool. Stripes raced towards Fin to save him. The thought of the whirlpool didn’t scare brave Stripes. He swam and pushed fin out of the whirlpool as hard as he could until they were both free.
    Stripes was exhausted and Fin was baffled by what he had done.
    “Why did you save me?” asked Fin.
    “If I didn’t, that whirlpool would have torn you apart.” Replied Stripes.
    “Let’s continue our race” Fin said.
    “I can’t, I used all my strength saving our butts.”
    “Heh, heh thanks”
    “No problem.”
    Stripes fainted right after and woke up at the white rock surrounded by cheering gang members.
    “Fin carried you all the way here on his back Stripes,” said Hammy.
    “F-fin?” asked Stripes, still drowsy from fainting.
    “Aye me matey” said Fin.
    “Wow thanks” said Stripes, now awake.
    “Yeah, but I still owe you more than carrying you on my back; you saved my life” Fin said humbly.
    “I appreciate it, but who touched the white rock first” Stripes asked
    “You.” Fin replied.
    “Yes!!!” shouted Stripes.
    Soon after Stripes and Hammy said their farewells, and continued their journey. And it wasn’t long until they reached the end of the coral reef. The drop looked just as the old shark said. It was deep and dark. They swam deeper and deeper until the light got dimmer and dimmer. They swam so deep until they were practically hovering in the darkness. Then a scary Z viper fish swam out of the darkness.
    “Ahhh” yelled Stripes and Hammy.
    “Ahhh” the Z viper fish yelled almost synchronized with the other yell.
    “Who are you” the sharks asked warily.
    ‘My name is Viper and his name is Flash” exclaimed the viper fish.
    “Please don’t eat us,” said Viper
    “Us eating you?” Hammy asked. “How about you eating us?”
    “Ha Ha Ha” they all laughed.
    “What are you doing here? I though you lived up there “Flash asked pointing up with his bulb.
    “We came to slay the beast Nightmare and to meet Shadow the octopus.” Hammy said acting like it was his idea.
    “Are you nuts?” asked Viper
    “Nope” responded Hammy.
    “Well then you might need our help, besides we’re the brightest twins around and it gets a little boring down here.” Viper said lighting up his bulb, the flash almost blinded the sharks.
    “Yeah, not to mention we can’t see down in the dark” Hammy added.
    And soon the four of them swam through out the “Deep Depths” lighting up the area until it was as bright as day. But then a dark cloud of ink blocked out the light. When the haze was cleared, Stripes saw that he was eye to eye with Nightmare. Next thing, Stripes was wrapped in the tentacles of the humongous squid. Hammy realized his friend was in danger, he swam out of the darkness and bit off the constricting tentacles but was whacked very hard by one of the huge main arms and was knocked out. Soon both sharks were constructed and brought towards his gapping jaws. Then Stripes heard a loud “EEEEE”. He immediately knew who it was; the Bottle Nosed Gang!
    The Bottle Nose gang swam at lightening speed and started to harshly beat and bite Nightmare. Soon the squid was covered in bites and bruises and was drenched in a cloud of blood, then at last the beast fell and died.
    “What a piece of phooey. The stories I heard were more gruesome then what we encountered; right guys?” Fin yelled at his gang.
    “Aye” the gang members yelled back
    “You alright little ones?” Finn asked Stripes and Hammy.
    “Yes sir!” they both replied.
    “Take care guys, I’ve got to get some air. Let’s go you scallywags!” “EEEEEE””
    With that they left to get back to their territory. To make a long ending short, after the incident, Stripes met Shadow and asked for black stripes to cover his white ones. Hammy found his parents and pack soon after they returned home.
    Fin died a few years later racing dangerous environments, then without a leader the dolphins, the Great Whites and the Hammerheads got into a big fight. Both species of sharks seen often off the coast of Hawaii, and since Stripes doesn’t count as a “Great White, he stayed in the Hawaiian Islands and started his own family.