Turtle, Gems, Mermaids, and Twins
A Billy Bob’s Magic Galaxy Hamburger stand story
Prolog
It had been a year since Sandy, Shelly, or Magdalena had seen the sea turtle. It was the first week of summer. They were walking down the beach along with Magdalena's two young cousins Flora and Sam. Flora and Sam are twins who just turned seven. Sam was skipping rocks; one, two, three perfect tosses. When the third rock bounced back they all looked up in amazement! They glanced up just in time to see a mermaid tail disappear into the water! The water quickly receded and a tunnel made of glass with glittering gems in the walls appeared. Flora and Sam ran into it; Magdalena followed. The bottom of the tunnel was covered by a foot of water
"Look. It’s the turtle!" Magdalena yelled.
Sure enough the magnificent turtle with emeralds covering its shell was swimming down the glittering tunnel.
"Shouldn't we tell-"Shelly started to say.
"No time. Come on." sandy called. "Come on!"
"Not again … Shelly moaned as she ran after them down the tunnel.
Chapter 1
The tunnel went down deeper and deeper under the water. The twins were amazed by all the fish swimming around.
“Why isn’t the water getting deeper inside the tunnel?” Shelly asked. That’s when they realized that just ahead the edge of the tunnel was glowing green!
“Look” Flora said “It’s covered in sand!”
“Sand castle!!!!” Sam yelled excitedly. Only twenty feet away was the most stunning sand castle they had ever seen. It had a large arch that was as big as the tunnel, leaving no room around. The sand was pressed up to the side of the tunnel leaving no room no get by. There were towers covered in shells; incredible designs were carved in the sand. A banner was hung over the arch. In the most beautiful writing was written “Welcome to the land of the Merfolk.” Magdalena and her cousins ran onto the sand. When the others didn’t follow they stopped just outside the arch.
“What’s wrong?” Magdalena asked annoyed.
Sandy replied “we don’t know who made this”
“Ya” Shelly added
“You worry too much “Magdalena laughed as she and the twins ran through the arch! Shelly and Sandy shrugged and ran after them
Chapter 2
"Wow!" Magdalena exclaimed
"I think were under water!" Shelly screamed.
Its soooo cool Sandy exclaimed. "
Why can we still breathe?" Sam asked.
"I can answer that." said a beautiful woman with long flowing blond hair and a tail! She had blue-green seaweed tied around her flowing waves. "Hi my name is Aqua. Hay, coral, crystal come over here.
"What?" coral whined. Coral and Crystal had brick-red hair. Their tails were black with red and orange scales. "I have to fined a date to the school dance. You both have one." Coral complained
"We have guests." Aqua said annoyed." Sorry!" she said to Magdalena. "Allow me to introduce myself. I am princess Aqua" she said importantly. "Welcome to the land of the Merfolk. Years ago my grate grandfather once the king, wanted some human contact. He went to the Merwitch and told her his dream. She was an old friend of his. Today her great grandkid's Coral and Crystal are my BFF's"
"Get to the point!" Coral snapped need a date!"
"Ok, ok, keep your scales on! The old witch put a spell on the capital city, this city to let air breathers survive. Come let me show you around"
"Oh my gosh!" Shelly gasped looking at her watch. "Is it 11:30 already?"
"No wonder I'm hungry!" Sandy exclaimed. "Can we get something to eat?"
"How about my favorite place… Billy Bob’s Magic Galaxy Hamburger stand."…Aqua replied smiling.
Chapter 3
As they walked around town Aqua pointed out her favorite shops, stores, and parks. "That’s Angelfish Mall. They have the best outfits! And that’s Titanic Park. I loved to play there."
"How much farther? I’m starving!" Sandy complained.
"Here we are!" Aqua said.
"Wow" Sam breathed
"Maggy, is this the place mommy said you made up?" Flora asked.
"It’s sooo not made up!" Magdalena answered.
"Please come in" Crystal invited. "One of my best friend’s families owns this chain of restaurants with locations around the world!
“Sadly she disappeared about a year ago. I last saw her when she was on her way out of town to investigate one of the big mysteries of our world." Coral said, her voice shaking.
SLAP! Crystal slapped her sister across the face. "I thought we talked about that!!! We were never allowed to speak of that!"
"Sorry" Coral mumbled.
"Get ready to be amazed." Aqua said opening the door…
Chapter 4
The door opened wide and they walked onto the dance floor. The floor was covered in balloons. There were strobe lights and a disco ball. Also there was music blaring. It was similar to American teen pop music but it had whales as singers.
“Garry, turn that down and come join us.” Aqua called.
“You too, Shark” Crystal hollered.
"I love this music. I sometimes sleep to whale songs!" Shelly exclaimed.
“The restaurant is holding the dance.” Aqua informed.
“That I have no date for!” Coral sobbed.
“How about me?” a young MerMan asked. He was one of the most handsome of the men the visitors had seen. He had short but wavy blond hair. He was tall and had been obviously lifting weights.
“Jacob-….really, seriously, you want me?” Coral whispered
“Yes.” he laughed, spinning her around,
“She’s had a whale-size crush on him all year!” Crystal exclaimed satisfied. She gave Aqua a high five.
"Let's sit over here." Crystal suggested. Soon they were all seated around a large table.
"Tell us about the turtle that we followed here. You know the emerald turtle." Magdalena encouraged.
"Sure." Aqua responded. "Let's get you some food first, okay?"
"Ya, I'm hungry." Sandy said.
Chapter 5
Aqua pushed a button on the wall; a chime rang out. Soon a young mermaid with a pink tail and the same black top the other girls had on came up to the table. The top was short, showing off her belly. She had bleach blonde hair with a pink streak down the side.
"My name is Star. You know, like, Sea Star. Need some menus?"
"Ya! Thanks!" Aqua responded with a smile.
"Be right back." Star chirped.
***
In a few seconds she was back. She passed out a menu to each person.
"It's nice to see more humans here." Star said excitedly "Have a good lunch. I can't wait to see you at the dance."
"The place looks nice." Aqua responded.
"Thanks. See you later." and with that, Star bounced away.
"What do you two want?" Coral asked the twins.
"Mini cheese burger and fries!" They yelled together.
"I just realized! We have no money!!!!" Shelly gasped
Chapter 6
“Don’t worry about it!” Aqua laughed. She pulled out her sparkling denim purse.. Opining it she revealed LOTS of gold coins. “I got you covered!”
“WOW!” all the humans said together.
“Are those real?” Shelly asked
“I am the princess, right?... Yea they're real” Aqua giggled.
“Awesome!” remarked Magdalena.
“What do you girls want to eat?” Shark inquired.
“Hmm… I'm eyeing the turkey club.” Magdalena expressed
“I think I'm in the mood for a BMT.” Sandy announced.
“Me too” Shelly added.
…
In a moment Star was back. “What can I get you guys?” she inquired
“I’d like a turkey club” Magdalena informed.
“And for you?” Star asked Sandy.
“We both would like BMT’s” Sandy announced.
“What about you young things?” Star asked.
"Mini cheese burger and fries! For both of us.” Flora nearly yelled.
“And for the homecoming couple and friends? Star questioned.
“We will share a large order of rooshioll." Aqua announced.
“uh huh… be right back” Star laughed bouncing away
Chapter 7
“What’s rooshioll?” Magdalena wondered aloud.
“One of our favorite snacks!” Coral shouted, grinning. “Oh, I can’t wait! This is the only place in town that sells them!”
“Drink your soda and calm down!” crystal snapped.
“I don’t have any soda!” Coral bickered back.
“Then suck on your on your tongue” Crystal screamed back.
“Alright that’s enough” Aqua stated calmly like the eye of a storm. “You both need to calm down. We have guests at this table”
“Sorry.” Crystal and Coral mumbled embarrassed.
...
“Here comes the food.” Jacob smiled excitedly.
"Yummy! Yummy! Yummy!" Flora and Sam chanted.
"Here you go." Aqua passed the plates around.
"Yes!!!" Coral hollered. "Rooshioll!!" In front of her sat a large plate of steaming sauce and many colored chips.
Chapter 8
"What is in that? It smells so good!" Sandy exclaimed.
"Well, it’s a whale milk cheese base. It has crab and shrimp, and then is seasoned with the finest popcorn coral in the city. The chips are made of baked sea weed, then seasoned with spicy butterfly coral and sea salt." Garry explained.
"Do you want to try some?" Shark inquired.
"Sure" Sandy acknowledged eagerly.
"I have never tried whale milk! Sounds good.. Pass me some." Magdalena added.
Soon they all had tried the rooshioll. Amazingly they all loved it. When they finished eating, Aqua led them out side.
"Come; let me show you my castle… and the baby turtles." Aqua whispered. She swam as fast as she could while the others keep up. Soon they got to a big arch. It was much bigger then the one the land lovers had used to get into to the land of the Merfolk.
Just inside the arch was a magnificent garden. Aqua led them through the many beautiful flower like corals and plants.
"Over here" Aqua directed.
"Oh my gosh! They're so cute!
Chapter 9
In a large sand nest were at least fifty baby sea turtles. Once they sat on the bottom of the sea, the baby turtles climbed up on their laps.
"These are the children of Amber, the great emerald messenger turtle. She is in charge of making sure all humans are safe in the ocean. I'm sure you have seen her before. She has emeralds covering her back. These little ones will too. They will learn the sea and help their mom." Aqua explains.
"They’re already starting to get their emeralds." Coral points out.
"How?" Sandy wondered.
"Magic!" Crystal whispered with a mysterious smile.
...
After a few minutes, Aqua lead the group inside.
"Wow! It's so beautiful!" Magdalena gasped.
The room was decorated with many shells. There were vine-like plants growing up the wall. There were also pictures of ocean places that were so lovely it was hard not to stare.
"Oh, no!" Shelly gasped. The others looked back and were surprised to see, being underwater, that Shelly was crying.
"It's almost three! My mom said I have to call by three if I want to stay at the beach or I’m grounded again. I hate being grounded!" Shelly sobbed.
"You can use my phone!" Aqua offered. She pulled out a small, light blue cell phone from a pocket in her black top. The phone was decorated on the back with small shells.
“Just let me type in the code…. There, here… Aqua handed the phone to Shelly. “Push the button with the green circle first, then type the number – with the area code.”
“What’s the circle for?” Sandy asked.
“To get above water numbers.” Crystal answered.
“Hello… mom… Can I stay on the beach for a little longer?... Oh, come on…Yes I’ll be there… See you soon… love you too…” Shelly hung up. “Ugh, I have to baby sit!”
“When do you need to be home?” Shark asked.
“Quarter to four.” Shelly whined.
“Tell you what,” Aqua offered “let’s go back and I’ll meet you where we first met tomorrow.”
“Thanks! What time?” Magdalena wondered.
“How about eleven? We can go to lunch.” Coral suggested.
“We can’t wait!” Magdalena yelled!
“You twins are welcome to come too.” Aqua proposed.
“Love to!” Sam yelled.
“Yay!” Flora screamed.
Chapter 10
As they made their way back to the tunnel the mood got more and more bitter sweet.
“See you tomorrow?” Aqua asked cheerfully but you could tell she was sad to see them go.
“Yah, at eleven.” Magdalena said.
“There’s something else… If you tell anyone about this place without one of the emerald turtles present you will not be able to come back without… let’s say a lot of work. I can’t wait to see you tomorrow.” Aqua was trying hard to smile. Coral whispered something in Aqua’s ear… “If you think you can…” Aqua responded
“Come over here and line up” Coral ordered the humans. Once they were all in a line, Crystal made a circle in the sandy sea bottom. Close your eyes and don’t open them until we say, or... You don’t want to know… there was a rush of water up at the humans then all was quiet…. too quiet.
“Open your eyes. Your leg’s might be a little sore but you will be able to come tomorrow.
“What – how- what did you do? Sandy asked.
“A bit of magic.” Crystal said, as if it were normal.
“Come on let’s get home!” Shelly yelled!
“One more thing. Once you are out of the water, STAY OUT! until tomorrow!!! NO Baths! Coral warned!
“But…” Sandy started to say.
“I’ll explain tomorrow. Off with you now; see you soon.” With that Aqua pushed them into the tunnel.
“BYE!” she snapped.
Chapter 11
Soon they were back on the beach.
“I can’t wait for tomorrow!” Magdalena yelled.
“I wonder why Aqua pushed us out like that. I guess we will find out tomorrow. Come on, let’s go home.” Sandy said.
As they ran home the tunnel sank into the sea.
Epilog:
Back to the sea
“My legs hurt all night!” Sandy complained.
“Ours, too.” Shelly and Magdalena agreed.
“Come on! It’s ten forty-five!” Magdalena encouraged. “The tunnel is waiting!”
“Come on, Flora. You too, Sam.” Sandy called down the beach.
“Coming!” they called, running with a limp.
“Your legs too?” Shelly wondered.
“Yah.” the twins answered.
As they waded into the water their leg pain melted away. Soon they were through the arch.
“What’s going on!?! My legs are burning!!!” Shelly screamed…