• Diary of an Ichthyologist
    By Micaiah_Girl

    April 21st, 2008
    The night was unusually black. A woman in a swirling dress the color of the moon’s midnight radiance paced back and forth in front of a poorly made brick wall. Plaster oozed through the cracks of the apparently innocent structure. But the woman knew better. WSHHHHHHHH A bullet rides through the air, its teeth bared for the woman’s neck. Just in time, she whooshes to the left, the bullet missing by inches and slamming into the brick wall. However, the wall doesn’t break. The deadly black weapon falls to the ground, harmless. In all the ruckus, a crow, its wing badly wounded by the bullet, flew to the sky, sounding an alarm call. Suddenly, the woman started to sing in a lilting Irish voice, like a falling flower petal. The crow flew back and landed on the woman’s arm. She said to the animal, “Come, child. Would you like to explore the depths of time with me? Together, we shall help more aquatic animals regain their numbers, as they were before man planted his mark on this earth. I am an ichthyologist.” The crow seems to understand. Just as the woman finished talking, the clock struck midnight. The woman feels her feet leave the ground. “Yes, my friend We have penetrated the defenses of the legendary time wall. Where to? 2058, to help the human release his grip on nature ” As the woman disappeared, a sinister voice whispered behind a bush, “But you shall not succeed.”
    April 22nd,2008
    SLAM The pretty female and her crow smashed onto a beach. But this was no ordinary beach. Trash littered the deserted isle. It was a stormy-looking day, with a large gale blowing, making the woman’s long brown hair fly across her face. She shrugged it off and sat down, gazing at the sea, her feet just barely touching the restless surf. 6-foot waves howled on the open ocean, the sound clear and sharp. “Well,” said the maiden to the crow, “We’d better start with introductions. My name is Reina. What’s yours?” Reina put her ear near the crow’s beak as the crow began to “speak”. “Mmmhmm, so your name is Beakley? Well, hello, Beakley. I suppose we’d better find shelter, huh? It looks like it’s going to rain.” So the bird-girl pair left to try and find some shelter.
    April 23rd, 2008 Reina
    Wow. This place scares me. It’s really strange. Hopefully the rain will let up; it’s been going for hours. All Beakley and I could do for a shelter was stack some palm leaves on top of a bush and get in before the rain started. We have no food, no water, and still no idea where we are. Maybe we can find some nuts or berries. I hope.
    Same day Beakley
    Bird, oh bird. How are we going to find food? My tummy is grumbly and there is no food. After the rain stopped, Reina and I looked for food, but, alas, there was none. Not a single nut. However, on the way back to the makeshift shelter, we saw an amazing sight. A tail that looked like a spring shot out of the ocean with amazing force. We stood there, awestruck, for a few moments before the water exploded with movement. A shark with a strange body shot out of the water, completely straight, intent on its bald eagle prey. With a couple of snaps of the jaws, the bald eagle lived no more.
    April 16, 2008 Reina
    All I can think about is that incredible creature that Beakley and I saw leap out of the water like some kind of dolphin. We’re trying to figure out what it is. We immediately ruled out whale, since it is too big. Beakley suggested fish, but I told him, “What kind of fish has 6 fins?” so we ruled out any kind of fish. Then he (Beakley’s a he-bird) tried shark. That seemed to fit. We decided to do whatever we could to devise a plan to study the shark. For now, here’s a list of what we do know:
    This shark has 6 fins-2 dorsal fins, 2 pelvic fins, 1 a**l fin, and a fat caudal (tail) fin.
    Its skin is, by the looks of it, rough and leathery. I suspect it’s to blend in with all the similarly-colored rocks in the area. There might be more [rock] underwater.
    It eats bald eagles, but may have another source of food.
    Hopefully we’ll find a way to research this strange shark. Suddenly, life here isn’t so bad.
    P.S.-We actually found some round, red berries whose name my extensive knowledge does not possess. I hope they’re okay to eat, because I just about ate a pound
    April 25th, 2008
    So Reina and Beakley began researching this strange phenomenon they decided to name, “The Fat Rock Shark.” Reina (much to her dismay) cut up her swirling radiance dress with a sharp stick to form a crude bathing suit with a leaf liner. “If I don’t return, I love you, Beakley. Wish me good luck ” she cried as she scrambled out the leaf shelter toward the cold, cold ocean to see if she could find a shark with rough, leathery skin that ate bald eagles.
    April 26, 2008 Reina
    Oops. Going into that freezing water was a big mistake. I caught frostbite right after I came out. My toes and the fingers on one hand are blue as a poison frog’s skin. But, yes, I did find info on the Fat Rock Shark, and, yes, I did find out where it lives and what it eats, but at a great price. First things first-what I found out-


    1.There are hard scales all over its face. Its eyes have a nictating membrane.(How could I see this? I found an old full face mask on the beach. At least I don’t have nose frostbite )Its mouth goes all the way up to its nose, and its nostrils are super-large size. I suspect it has lungs to help it breathe air while its catching bald eagles, but also has gills for catching its other main food source, salmon. I knew this because there were no other visible sea creatures under that deathly frigid water.
    2. Its tail has springs to help it explode out of the water to catch bald eagles. I found the tail of a deceased Fat Rock Shark, and I dissected it to see the springs. Its teeth are very big and have sharp edges, but also flat middles for chewing kelp when it must to survive.
    3. It, as I suspected, has rock-colored skin and heat sensitive eyes, and its spine is very flexible.
    4. I figured out where I am. An old sign on the beach said, Alaska, the frigid wasteland, as many Americans used to call it.
    5. I found out who was trying to kill me, and a way out of Alaska.
    April 27, 2008
    Reina and Beakley were cleaning up their shelter, planning to use the Time Ball to transport them back 50 years(Reina knew a bit of Black Magic and had conjured it up using an ancient spell) when a gunshot sounded in the air nearby. “What in the bird’s nest is that? ?” cawed Beakley. “Oh, boy, it’s probably Griseldem, planning to kill me again.” said Reina, voicing fake concern. “He’s no threat, just an annoyance. Let’s leave before he bores me out of my swimsuit. C’mon, Beakley.” Reina and Beakley both touched the ball with one finger(in Beakley’s case, a wingtip) and began to feel air swish around their feet. They disappeared, but not before a stray bullet caught Beakley’s wing and tore it clean off.
    Afterwords
    Reina and Beakley both made it back safely. Reina went on to become a famous ichthyologist, and her works were published in 20 different languages. Beakley made a full recovery, and now flies with an artificial wing. But the daring twosome never went their separate ways. Wherever Reina went, Beakley went. Eventually, Griselden was caught and put in prison, so the rest of the world was out of harm’s way. Therefore, if you ever see a crow with an artificial wing, remember to say a silent tribune of thanks to the duo who discovered the Fat Rock Shark.