Flippin’ Out! by Naomi

“Isn’t this amazing? We’re the first people to see this colony of penguins,” said Cathy

“Yeah, sure.” I mumbled sarcastically as I looked up.

We had been studying penguins for so long now. Well, Cathy had. I took the pictures and recorded the sounds.

Look, penguins are cute and all but once you learn enough about them, you start to see them a different way. For example, if you love penguins, don’t search up a picture of penguins’ teeth.

We were on the island something-or-other off the coast of whats-its-name and we were yet again making a scientific report on penguins.

“Ooh I just love penguins, don’t you? You know what, I would love to be a penguin more than anything in the world,” said Cathy, almost squealing with delight.

“Okay, let’s set up camp for tonight and we can go explore in the evening when the sun goes down to see the penguins,” I said.

We set up camp and decided to go for a walk along the beach.

“Ahh, it’s such a nice night to look at the stars,” said Cathy with a dreamy expression on her face.

All of a sudden, out of nowhere a man came running towards us shouting, “Your wish has been granted!” over and over again.

“That was weird,” I said.

“Probably just one of the fishermen who stayed out too late. Let’s go back to our tents for the night,” said Cathy.

We headed back to our tents, and I fell asleep listening to the waves crash against the sand.

When I woke up the next morning everything seemed a bit bigger.

‘Oh well, probably just morning coffee deprivation,’ I thought.

I walked over to Cathy’s tent and said,“ Knock knock, sleepy head.”

I heard a rustling come from inside the tent and the tent opened.

“Argh!” Cathy and I screamed in unison.

“Cathy, or Cathy penguin, I don’t want to worry you… BUT YOU’RE A PENGUIN!!!!!” I screamed.

“Look, I don’t want to worry you but look at yourself, buster,” said Cathy.

I looked down at my feet and saw I didn’t have feet. I had claws.

“Oh no, I can’t be. This is terrible. This is just a dream,” I said.

“This is not a dream. Get a grip, this is awesome! We’ve turned into penguins!” said Cathy delightedly. “You know, we could go for a swim,” she said with what I thought was a mischievous penguin look.

We went down to the water, but I had my doubts.

“Cathy, maybe we shouldn’t do this. First of all, we might drown because we don’t know how to swim in these bodies. Second of all, isn’t this beach the most populated with sharks that, I don’t know, like to eat penguins!?” I said forcefully.

“Oh, don’t be such a worrywart, Andy. We’ll be fine. Live a little. Besides, I’ve always wanted to be a penguin,” she said playfully. She had won.

We dived into the water and the cool fresh water ran over my back. The water glided over my back, and it felt so good. Maybe I should worry less about things.

All of a sudden I saw a dark shape in the water cruising along and following us.

“Cathy, swim back to shore now!” I yelled.

We swam and swam, and we didn’t stop.

“It’s gaining on us. Swim faster!” she yelled.

It was getting so close. I could almost feel its hunger radiating off it like heat of a just-used car engine. I could see the shore and I could feel it getting closer and closer until….

I made it.

I looked around to see a staggering, bleeding, Cathy crawling up the beach.

“Get me a bandage now!” she screamed in agony.

I wrapped a large, clean bandage around her leg which had been seconds away from being bitten off clean.

“It hurts so much,” Cathy breathed through tears.

“You’re okay now,” I said, sort of penguin hugging her with my awkward flippers.