The Adventures of Luna the Little Sea Snail, Heike Siewert [ebook offline reader .TXT] 📗

looked Ferdinand up and down again and noted. “Ferdinand, if you continue tucking in like this, your tail is going to be even fatter soon.“ Ferdinand‘s tail indeed was quite well rounded.

“You think a few water fleas would be that fattening?“ Ferdinand giggled.

“Sure, what else could it be?“ Luna was puzzled. “You are quite mistaken, young lady. I am now going to show you what you interrupted by nibbling at me.“ And at that moment Ferdinand began to twist and turn and wiggle.

It looked a bit like a leafy sea dragon – doing a square dance.




A few minutes later dozens and dozens of miniature Ferdinands were teeming around Luna. They quickly swam up to the surface to fill their air bladder to return hurriedly to Ferdinand and Luna.

“Congratulations!“ said Luna “You have become a father, and of so many little ones, who all look exactly like you. So you were pregnant! That thought never crossed my mind. Now I see, that that was why your tail was so thick.“ “Well, not exactly pregnant, I just incubate the eggs my wife lays until the babies hatch. So I can help her a bit with the hard work.“ At this moment a very pretty lady leafy sea dragon with amazingly beautiful eyes emerged from the weeds.

“Ferdinand, my hero!“ she purred.

Visibly proud they looked at their children together.

Luna did not want to intrude and quietly took off.



The Playground Adventure

Luna moved on in no particular direction. She left the seaweed behind her and passed a small forest of wonderfully colourful plumed corals. Between the stony corals there were seemingly countless small orange fish and Luna was once more thrilled by a simply breathtaking sight. She could not imagine how paradise could be any better than this.

Slowly she crawled on and soon reached a small sand bank. While she was considering which direction to take now, something was pulling, hard, at her left feeler.

Luna was all perplexed and unable to explain what had just happened - when it happened again! From the corner of her eye she saw a shadow flitting by above her. Luna turned as fast as she could to see what was going on.

And then there was a hard tug at her right feeler. Luna tried to turn again as quickly as she could to see who had nipped her. And saw nothing. There was nothing. But something had pulled at her feelers. And then again there was that fleeting shade. Luna looked up and saw the little villains! There were two young butterfly fish. They were silvery with orange stripes. But most unique were there pointed beak-like snouts.

“Hey, you, why are you teasing me like this?“ Luna shouted. The butterfly fish came closer and complained: “Look, we were bored.“ They said in one voice. “And that would be any good reason to pull someone‘s feelers?“ replied Luna.



“What else is there to do?“ they asked Luna and looked at her hopefully.

“Luna did not know what to say. One of the butterfly fish placed himself right in front of her, and looked at her askance with its big eyes.

“Never ever have I seen a snail as small as you.“ “I am only a few days old, you see,“ replied Luna “I am soon going to grow.“
“You are still a baby then! “
“I am no baby, I am Luna!“ Luna was offended.


“Yes, yes, don’t you get upset like this. I am Pauli, and this is my sister Paula,“ he was pointing at another butterfly fish with his pectoral fin.

Paula was swimming alongside her brother and looked at Luna curiously, too. “Where are you heading?“ Paula asked. “I don’t know yet, I just wanted to move on.“ said Luna. Paula gave Pauli a meaningful look. Her pointed beak was twitching.

“Paula, you know we are not allowed...“ Pauli seemed shocked. “Pauli, you are such a killjoy. We just have to make sure our parents won’t find out.“ Paula said impatiently.

“What is it you are not allowed to do?“ asked Luna. “You know, at the end of the sand bar there is a simply awesome spot to play. You can catch air bubbles or swim somersaults,“ Paula blurted out. Wow, now that did sound like a lot fun, thought Luna.

She could also see Pauli‘s reservations waning in anticipation of this great adventure.

“O.K.“ said Pauli. “Are you coming, too?“ they asked Luna in unison. “Of course, I have to see this playground adventure, too!“

Hardly had she finished the pair of butterfly fish took off.

“Please wait for me!“ Luna shouted after them, and crawled as fast as she could. From time to time Paula and Pauli stopped and waited for Luna to catch up.





Soon Luna started to believe that that playground was at the other end of the ocean, as she was slowly but surely getting totally out of breath. And then she saw it, on the horizon. Bubbles were whirling, swirling and twirling. Millions and zillions of them. The sea had turned into an ocean of little whitish air bubbles! Pauli and Paula slowed down for Luna to crawl up. “Promised too much?“

Luna was thrilled. Together they headed for and right into this - bubble bath. Pauli and Paula tried to burst the bubbles with their long snouts.

But the bubbles were always just a split second faster. The bubbles tickling Luna‘s feelers made her laugh. Wow, this was indeed exciting. “Come on!“ called Paula “let’s move on a bit further, to the place where we can do rollercoaster somersaults. Luna followed them through the bubbles.

The bubbles became denser and more obscure and then Luna noticed a strange force pulling her foot.


In the Surf

Pauli and Paula were doing somersault after somersault.

Luna wondered how she could manage such a somersault, too, and withdrew into her shell, when the somersault began, all without her doing.

She was spinning and whirling again, and again, and again, and she hoped this would never end, never had she moved at such a speed. Luna was not sure if she heard Pauli shout her name, but she did not want to stop. She turned, faster, and faster, when, after some time, she was beginning to feel a bit sick. She tried to come out of her shell, but something invisible was blocking her. Luna tried again with all her might to get out, but was only able to peek out a little and see that all around her was brightly white. She was unable to venture further and had to withdraw again. Now Luna had the feeling her stomach was turning faster than herself. Oh Lord, what was happening? would this ever stop? And then Luna remembered the lobster‘s words. She was sure it was that undertow the lobster had been telling her about. Luna felt even worse than before. Hadn’t the lobster said that hardly anyone caught in the undertow ever came back? Luna wanted to cry.

She desperately tried to understand what to do, when suddenly the whirling stopped. She was turned a few more times and then it stopped. Luna did not feel like leaving her shell to find out why it had all ended so abruptly. She only wanted her stomach to stop turning.



Saskia

... and then, Luna was washed ashore...

Saskia and her dad were looking for shells together already very early in the morning that day.

They were looking very carefully at the ground while they were walking along the beach looking for shells. Saskia found her first treasure soon: there was a beautiful shell called ‘banded tulip‘.

She picked it up and looked inside if it was still inhabited by anyone. She knew, lived-in shells had to be returned to the ocean. Saskia did not want to kill someone just because she wanted to enjoy the beauty of a shell, or even steal someone‘s home. After all, she did not want anyone to just take her beautiful bedroom and simply kick her out, or even kill her!!!!

As she found the shell to be empty, she carefully placed it into her bag. She saw her father waving to her. Saskia ran to see what he had found. Oh, it was a really large lightning whelk‘s empty shell. Never had she found one as marvellous before, with dark brown stripes. So far they had all been smaller, with light brown stripes.

Her dad put it in the bag with the others and they walked on. They found many more empty shells and bivalves on their way that day and their bag was filling up nicely.




“Dad, how are snails‘ shells made?“ Saskia asked while they were looking around.

“There are snails which secrete a substance through their skin which then becomes solid and forms the shell. Others do not, actually, they are called slugs. Even when they are very tiny, snails already have a mini-shell.“

“And what is that substance called? which then becomes the shell?“

“It is partly calcium carbonate, partly a protein called Conchiolin.“
“And why is it that shells are not long and slim, just like snails?“

“The way snails grow saves space and material, as they curl up in their shells. It is a bit like a spiral staircase. Just imagine how big and long and unwieldy shells would otherwise be. Many snails seek shelter in cracks between corals. If they had long shells, they would be unable to hide there.“

“Then snails‘ bodies must be really flexible or do they sometimes get backaches?“ askes Saskia.
“No, they do not get bachaches, as they do not have any bones, like us. Those animals without bones are called molluscs.“ replied her dad. Saskia paused to think over what her dad had just told her.




Saskia and her dad continued on their way along the beach. “And who paints the snails?“ Saskias dad smiled and said: “Nobody. It is believed that the colours and patterns are the effect of the different nutrients they eat. The pigment contained in their food is secreted through little pores through the snail‘s skin.“

And what is the difference between a shell and a clam?“ Saskia continued to ask.

“A clam, or bivalve is made of two identical corresponding halves. A snail, sometimes also called monovalve, is unique.“

Saskia walked on thoughtfully.



The Rescue

Luna felt all weak and increadibly hot.
All dizzy she poked her head out of her shell. The sun was unbearably hot on her feelers and it was hard to breathe. Luna’s heart sank, she knew now this had to be the land which the lobster had warned her about. But now it was too late. Luna stretched to find the way back to the sea. But she could only hear the waves, not see them. She tried to crawl towards the sounds of the sea, but she had to give up soon, because the sand was too hot for her to touch. Weary and desperate she withdrew back into her shell and cried herself to sleep. Soon Luna woke again because the ground below her started to shake.

She heard voices through the walls of her shell. The tremors were getting stronger