"The Shark Who Was Afraid" was my first published story. I think I was 7. It appeared in a big book of stories written by other first through sixth graders. Every Monday we wrote in a journal about our weekend. After summing up my weekend in a sentence or two, I then made long lists of titles of "all the books I am going to write." I don't remember the titles. But there was probably lots of potty humor and Goosebumps rip-offs.
Maybe it was these lists of titles that clued my teacher into choosing me to represent the class in that kiddy anthology. I got pulled out of class (score!), sent to the library, and seated at a table with some big yellow lined paper. I was told to write a story. It wasn't hard coming up with the story. I had grown up on Steven Spielberg's Jaws.
I rewrote the 7-year-old version of the story for this week, keeping the basic plot line but fleshing out the characters and seasoning it with some description. It's no critical gem, and the message is slap-you-in-the-face simple, but Chevelle later said she could "see the sharks" in her mind's eye. Can't ask for much better from a 7-year-old -- or anyone, really -- prodigy or not. When words become images that tell a story, that's magic indeed.
So snap on your fins, load up that harpoon gun, and let's go shark-watching under the sea.
The Shark Who Was Afraid
Robbie the great white shark cared about three things: money, money, and money.
Robbie flossed his teeth with the rarest sea urchins. He scented himself with the most costly squid oils. He dressed himself in the most sparkling rubies and swam downtown so everyone could see how rich he was. He knew the other sharks were jealous of him, and that made him even hungrier for treasure.
But at night, even though he slept on a bed of gold, diamonds, and emeralds, he was not happy. Not sad either. The richest shark in the sea couldn't be sad. Could he?
One day, while swimming home from his very lucrative job, he glimpsed something sparkling.
Robbie slowed. He peered into the murky depths of the ocean. It was getting late.
But then he saw it again. A golden sparkle.
Now, there was an old myth in Robbie's part of the ocean. As the story goes, long ago, a ship bearing the world's biggest treasure chest sank.
Some said that, at dusk, a faint haze of gold glimmered from afar, signaling the place of the treasure. But only those deserving of the treasure could see it.
"I am most certainly deserving!" Robbie said. He set off toward the sparkle. The water cooled as he swam farther and farther from downtown.
He followed the golden sparkle for miles, and miles, and miles.
Then he reached it. The chest was bigger than a house. It was overflowing with golden coins, diamond-studded chalices, and sparkling sapphires. Robbie licked his lips.
Blinded by the treasure, he never saw the net. As Robbie rushed towards the treasure, the net tightened around him. Soon, he could hardly move.
"Help! Help!" he yelled. But there wasn't a single creature for miles.
So Robbie started biting the net. He bit until his teeth hurt. But the net was too thick. He gaped at the glowing mound of treasure, so close yet so far.
"Stupid treasure," Robbie said. He didn't want it anymore. He didn't care about all that money. The treasure sure wasn't rescuing him now.
Robbie chewed at the net until he was exhausted. He even managed to break some of it. But he was fat. He had eaten many expensive meals in his day. Chewing a big enough hole would take weeks. And by then…
Two days passed.
Once, a man in a mask wearing steel canisters on his back came down. Robbie snapped his jaws. The man was not scared. The man, he knew, was a shark hunter. Robbie shuddered at what was to become of him. He would be shot with a harpoon, chopped into little bits, sautéed in spicy sauces and served on toothpicks to rich humans. Maybe some little girl would wear one of his teeth as a necklace.
He was about to give up when a shark swam by, scaring the man away.
"Help!" yelled Robbie. He recognized the old carpet shark as the one who transported the garbage from downtown to the dump.
The shark turned around.
"Please help me," Robbie begged.
But the old shark only grinned at him. And swam away.
Robbie was hungry, exhausted, and terrified. But mostly, he was lonely. He had all the treasure he ever wanted right beneath him, but what he really wanted was a friend.
He tried to think of his friends, but knew he had cared so much about money that he didn’t have any caring left for friends. They had left him.
"Maybe I deserve this," Robbie said.
Then, he saw a big cloud of sharks swimming towards him – great whites, hammerheads, and nurse sharks. Leading them was the old carpet shark.
The vengeful looks on their faces told Robbie this was the end. They would tear him to shreds and take the treasure.
The sharks opened their mouths wide, displaying rows and rows of sharp teeth.
"I’m sorry!" Robbie screamed, squeezing his eyes shuts as the thrash of jaws attacked him.
But the sharks weren't after him. Robbie opened his eyes. The sharks were chomping on the net. They chewed and gnawed. Robbie's fins were free. Then his tail. Then the net fell into the huge chest of treasure.
Robbie didn't know what to say.
But before he could mumble thanks, the sharks started swimming away, ignoring him and the treasure.
"Wait!" Robbie said. "What about…"
He glanced down at the treasure. Suddenly, it disappeared.
To his surprise, Robbie was glad.
So he hurried to catch up with his new friends.
He had never been richer.
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