Читать книгу Haibu Lost in New York - Blake Freeman - Страница 11

A NEW FRIEND

DRIP. DRIP. DRIP.

The shelter was melting in the morning sun, pulling Haibu out of a deep, dreamy sleep. She woke up full of energy.

“It’s time to fish!” she shouted.

No one was around, but the crisp, cold air felt good after her cozy sleep. Emerging from the shelter, Haibu squinted to see the ice shelf in the distance, way up the coast. The ocean waves were gently cresting the edge of the ice, where it met the sea. Standing perfectly still, Haibu took it all in.

“Wow. You are a beautiful world,” she whispered. “But I’ve got no time to stare at you right now. There are fish to be caught!”

CRACK!

Haibu slammed her pickaxe into the ice, over and over and over again until …

CRACK!

SPLASH!

The pickaxe broke through the ice and water splashed out of the hole. “It worked!” Haibu shouted. Haibu knew what she was doing and wasted no time grabbing the fishing pole and bait from the sled.

Almost immediately after dropping in her line, Haibu started pulling out fish after fish after fish. Cheering with excitement, she shouted out to no one in particular, “I knew I could do this! These fish are bigger than Amook!”

Smiling and laughing to herself and the fish she was catching, Haibu piled each of them neatly on the sled. It was one on top of the other, higher and higher. In no time, the stack grew so high that it was taller than the roof of the igloo! Exhausted, Haibu looked over to the pile of fish and then down at her Shookia bracelet.

“I can do anything I believe I can do,” she whispered. “I can be anything I believe I can be. I can achieve anything I want to achieve. I am Haibu.” Then she smiled. She felt really good about herself.

Suddenly, Haibu heard a string of thumping noises. The fish she caught were slipping off the sled and spreading all over the ice. Standing where the pile of fish used to be was a small, white, fluffy seal pup with eyes as big as full moons. He looked at her guiltily, knowing he had been caught trying to steal a fish.

Haibu asked, “Now, who might you be, mister?”

The seal lowered his head like he was being scolded.

Haibu pointed at him and then at the fish. “No. Not yours! You better skedaddle, or I will make you into a fur cap!”

The seal turned his big eyes back to Haibu, as if to say he was sorry. That surprised her, and she melted a bit inside. To make the seal feel a little better, Haibu grabbed one of the fish and threw it in front of him. The seal settled in for this snack while Haibu gathered all the tools. When she looked back, the seal was no longer eating the fish. Instead, he was staring intently at Haibu.

“Go on!” Haibu urged. “I gave you a fish! Now eat it and go!”

As Haibu continued to pick up tools, she heard a noise behind her. She spun around to find the seal’s face inches from hers. Surprised, but not scared, Haibu dropped the tools just as the little seal planted a big wet kiss right in the middle of her forehead!

Wiping the slobber away, Haibu sternly replied, “No, Mr. Seal! You need to go home!”

That did not happen.

The seal scooted even closer to Haibu’s face and smothered her with kisses and more kisses. When he was done, he lay his head on Haibu’s shoulder and stared innocently at her with his perfectly round, midnight-black eyes.

Haibu snuggled into him for a moment. It felt good. It made her think of good thoughts. Be Happy, Be Friendly, Be Family.

“Okay, fine. You can have another fish if you’d like.”

Happily accepting the offer, the seal continued to eat. “You’re lucky you’re so cute, Mr. Seal. I wouldn’t give just anybody my fish. I need these to prove to my family and my village that I am as strong as they are!”

With his head cocked to the side, the seal seemed to be trying to understand all the words that were coming out of her mouth.

“My name is Haibu. What’s your name? Nosey? Because you do seem a little nosey.” Haibu giggled. “Maybe I’ll just call you Kanuux,” she said, saying the word like Kuh-new. “Kanuux means heart! Your cute little black nose is shaped just like a heart.”

The seal nodded at Haibu.

“You like it? Great! That’s what I’ll call you then—Kanuux! By the way, a heart is my favorite shape, so you are now my favorite Kanuux. Do you want to come home with me? You can help me fish, and everyone in the village will know who we are! The dynamic duo!”

Soon, it was midday, and Haibu had been fishing since early morning, pulling out huge fish that weighed nearly as much as Kanuux the seal. All that work made Haibu exhausted. Likewise, Kanuux was sleepy from all the fish he had eaten. Haibu yawned as loud as a ship’s horn. Kanuux’s eyelids grew heavy.

Haibu turned to Kanuux with a good idea. “I think we should have a nap before our trip back.”

She lay down on the ice and Kanuux lay his head across her stomach, and they both drifted off into their own little dreamlands.