Down, down, down, went the old staircase. It was stone and I went down it. At the bottom was a river and on it was a boat. Squinting, I looked closer. Wait a sec, a skeleton rowing the boat!

 “Ash,wake up! We are going canoeing!” I heard grandpa say. 

I glanced at my alarm clock. 5:oo! 

“Fine.” I said, not in a good mood. That dream was not very charming!

”Please get dressed. Now.” said Grampa. Grampa said it in a voice that said “don’t mess with me or else”. I looked up at the ceiling for a little while. Then, I combed away  brown hair and 

 I went to my dresser and pulled out my Oly High tee shirt. I’m not in highschool yet, I’m only in middle. The Oly High was the best public high in Olympia, Washington, where I live.

I’m Ashly, or Ash Poppyseed. And I hate being called Ash Catch’em.  I grabbed a pair of jeans and a nice sweatshirt. Then, I went downstairs for breakfast.

My little brother Jim, who is seven, by the way, was waiting. He had brown hair just like me.

“Put your shoes on Ash Catch’em!”

“Knock it off!” I told Jim. Then, to grandpa I asked, “What about breakfast?”

“McDonalds.” His answer surprised me, because normally he enjoyed cooking our meals.

I put on my shoes and hopped into the car.  The car was very cold. I watched Jim pull down the little TV and watched A NEW HOPE. It’s a good movie, but it’s hard to understand without the sound. 

We pulled into the McDonalds and grandpa rolled down the window and opened his mouth to speak, but then…

*”Mcee Mcee dees, large number 3, don’t forget my fries and my sweet tea!” shouted Jim. 

     I was humiliated!  “Jim! How could you?” I whisper-shouted. 

“10.99 at the window,”said the dude at the window. So when we left, we were eating a burger. Everyone was very mad at Jim. 

*mcdonalds song by Juan + CaydenTM *all rights reserved 

When we parked, grandpa pulled The Conqueror, our canoo  off the roof of the car. We walked to the beach and pushed it into the water. We got in and we paddled to a rocky beach. Grandpa got out some scones and told me to watch Jim. Jim wandered behind a log, humming everything is awesome. Then I heard a crunch and then silence.  Oh. My. Gosh.  Jim just ATE a dry jellyfish. Of the beach. “Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! JIM!”

“Cool it, Ash. It was only a dried Jellyfish-” said very queasy Jim.

“Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! Jim!”

Then, Jim threw up.

“Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! Jim!”

Grandpa came running.

    “What’s wrong, Ash?” said grandpa, in his usually calm voice.

“Jim is wrong!” I replied, almost shouting.  

“Oh,” said grandpa.

“Duh” I said.  Grandpa got the first aid kit and did all the stuff he could do.  Jim felt a little better.

 We got into the canoe and I looked at the sky. It was a gloomy day, dark. The sun wasn’t up yet, and the sky had hints of orange. It was cold and misty, and over the sound, a pod of orcas swam. 

“Orca!” I shouted.

“Where?”asked grandpa.

“There!” I said, pointing.

“Give me my phone!” shouted grandpa 

“Here!” I said, handing it to him.

Snap!

I pocketed grandpa’s phone. I would name the orca unicus, after the first part of the killer whale’s scientific name.

My thoughts drifted to Pirate, the hermit crab, back at home. “He would love it here!” My thoughts were interrupted by grandpa’s urgent, almost pleading, voice.

“Jim, sit down!”