Chapter 1
an eye opening encounter
Way out in the middle of the ocean there is an island of rocks. A sea monster used to live there. She had a huge head. When she opened her mouth, it looked like a cave. She could swallow a whole ship if she wanted to, but she never did.
To this very day, out on that rocky island, there is a cave. That is where the sea monster made her home. The mouth of the cave was huge. It was so big you could put an entire ship inside it, but no one ever did. It would be silly to put a ship inside a cave.
On stormy nights, the monster would crawl out of her cave and sit on the rocks. Most animals — even the most ferocious animals — will hunker down in their home when the storms come. That is what dens, lairs, and burrows are for. This monster, however, left her cave when the storms came. How savage and beastly must a creature be to want to join in with thunder and lightning!
Like a cat, this monster could see at night. The difference was that her eyes emitted beams of light. When she crawled out on the rocks during a storm, the rays shooting forth from her gleaming eyeballs could be seen for miles around.
Like a lizard, she could move her eyes independently of each other. She must have been an inquisitive creature because she was constantly looking about in two different directions.
A stormy night meant all the boats in the area were in for a lightshow. Every sailor below deck would climb up to see it. How dazzling and remarkable must a spectacle be to make you leave your warm bed and stand outside in the middle of a storm!
The sailors thought they knew everything there was to know about the sea monster. They told many tales and they always shuddered in fear when they spoke of her. But, if you think about it, the sea monster had been a true friend to them. It is only because of her that they knew where the rocks were during storms.
All the same, she looked hideous in the daylight. They were certain she must be a cruel monster.
Chapter 2
There was a wild eyed sea monster who watched storms from a rocky perch. Sailors would watch her watch the storms.
One night, a terrible storm capsized a ship in the middle of its journey to a distant land. The vessel broke apart completely in the crashing waves.
Only one young sailor survived. He clung to a piece of wood floating in the water. He did not expect to live through this ordeal, but he did not think about dying either. He merely thought to himself, “If I keep a tight grip on this plank, I’ll see the sunrise.”
Suddenly he saw a flash of light. It was very bright, but it was not the sun. It was more like a lighthouse strobe. “If it is a lighthouse,” he figured, “then the light will come back around.”
He waited for what must have been hours, floating in the dark, cold water. No light returned. “I’m imaging things,” the young man sighed. “When I see the sun on the horizon, will it truly be the sun I see or just my imagination?”
Then he heard something moving through the water. Whatever it was, it was coming toward him. “Over here!” he cried out. He screamed and splashed in the water to draw attention to himself. Then he saw the monster. This creature was more terrifying than the storm.
He was very much afraid, and yet he was somewhat calm, too. There was absolutely nothing he could do about his predicament. So, he waited to see what would happen next. What else could he do but wait?
The monster had come upon the sailor quickly. He thought she would pass on by, but she stopped and drifted there right next to him. For another hour, they both bobbed up and down in the waves.
They knocked into each other repeatedly and the young sailor often found himself pinched between the plank he gripped to his chest and the monster behind him.
His situation was desperate, but he did have a choice. “If I stick with the plank, then I’m stuck in the cold water. But if I could mount this monster…”
The lad abandoned the last fragment of his ship and scrambled clumsily up the scaly side of the sea creature. His fingers were numb, his legs were sore, and he struggled mightily to climb up. The sea monster stretched her long neck around and gave him a boost from below with her snout.
Chapter 3
The solitary survivor of a shipwreck drifted helplessly in the ocean. Then he climbed aboard a monster.
Once the young man was seated on the monster’s back and gripping the nape of her neck, a bright light shone in front of them. This was not sunlight. The monster had opened her eyes.
They moved swiftly through the ocean currents. The rush of wind and the spray of seawater in his face were frigid, but there was comfort to be found next to another living body. He had been drifting aimlessly out at sea, but now he was going somewhere.
The monster dropped him off on her rocky island. Immediately, she dove back into the sea.
In the glow of predawn light, the battered survivor stood on solid ground. While he was relieved to be on dry land, he still felt anxious. The monster was gone and he felt stranded for a second time.
A short while later, as the sun pulled itself above the horizon, the sea monster returned. She slithered straight up to the castaway and opened her mouth as wide as she could.
The young man found himself in the long shadow of her gaping jaws and got scared. He was certain the monster intended to swallow him whole, so he ran away.
Yet, even as he ran, he knew there was no point in running. She was much faster than he was, whether they were out at sea or on dry land.
So, he walked back to the beach. There he found her waiting. As he approached, she opened her cavernous mouth.
“Do you want me to go inside?” he asked.
The monster nodded her head.
This was a puzzle. Why would she want him to walk into her belly? If she wanted to eat him, she could easily chase him down. For that matter, she could have swallowed him up while they were out at sea. Why invite him in when it would be easier just to force him down?
The young sailor with no boat could reach only one conclusion: “Whatever she has in mind here, it must be for my benefit, too.”
He stepped into the monstrous mouth and walked down into the belly of the beast. He had no idea what she wanted him to do down there.
As we said before, this monster’s eyeballs were quite impressive. They could emit powerful beams of light. They could point in two different directions. What she could not do, no matter how hard she tried, was look down her own throat. So, it was quite dark down there.
The young man could see only faintly. He kept stumbling into things. First, it was a chair. Then he bumped into a table. When he banged his kneecap into a cast iron stove, he thought, “You know, I think these things will be more useful outside the monster.”
He carried these household items to the cave, and the monster dove back into the sea.
Chapter 4
Not only can the sea monster transport people on her back, but she can also carry cargo in her stomach.
A short while later, the sea monster rode the surf up to the beach. Again, she opened her mouth.
This time, the little castaway walked straight in without a moment’s hesitation. He found boxes and barrels of food, which he stored away in the cave. Once he had removed everything, the monster lay down and went to sleep. She was exhausted.
He watched her slumber and listened to her breathing. “If this creature sleeps on land,” he figured, “then it must be tiresome for her to be out in the water. That means she is more like me than a whale or a shark.”
He went to the cave and designated proper places for each of the items she had brought him. He lit a fire in the stove, cooked a meal, and set the table. Then he went down to the beach and woke the monster. “Dinner is ready,” he called. She lifted her head and yawned.
“Oh dear! Did I forget something inside your tummy?” He ran forward to plunge into the beast one more time, but she pulled her head back and snorted. Her mouth remained open for quite some time, and the boy tried again and again to climb down her gullet. But she kept turning her head away and lifting it out of reach. Eventually, he stopped trying. Sometimes a yawn is just a yawn.
The sea monster rolled her giant head in circles, first clockwise and then counterclockwise. She could twist her serpentine neck in such a way that her face spun around and around like the hands on a clock!
Then she stretched her whole body into a giant arch from her shoulders to the tip of her tail.
Finally, she relaxed and slowly opened her eyes. Even in the middle of the day, the young man sensed the light of her gaze.
Everyone knows the sun emits a bright light we cannot bear to look at directly. The glow from her eyes was something else. It was inviting and only inviting.
“I hope you slept well,” he chatted.
The sea monster just blinked.
“Come along, then! I’ve put together a little something to eat.”
The monster shook her head and plunged into the ocean. When she returned, her mouth was full of fish. Then and there, amidst the awful sights and foul smells of a monster chomping on fish, the man knew the truth: this “monster” had brought all those items up from the sunken ship for no other reason than to help him.
He began to wish that the monster could talk, because he was no longer the least bit afraid.
“If only you could talk,” he said with a wistful smile.
“Oh,” replied the monster with fish guts dripping from her lips, “I can talk.”
Chapter 5
Not only can the sea monster carry passengers and deliver cargo, but she can talk, too!
“Wait, wait, wait…WHAT? You mean you could talk this whole time!” Giddy with joy he doubled over in laughter. It was such a relief to know he was not alone. “Why didn’t you say anything before?”
“You didn’t want me to,” she explained somberly.
“Well, sure I did,” he protested.
“No, you didn’t,” she insisted. “You’re letting the happiness you feel now cause you to forget the fear you felt before.”
“OK,” confessed the sailor, “I’ll admit I was scared. Nevertheless, I am certain that if you had calmly explained your intentions from the beginning, then I would…I would have…”
He was now looking directly at the “hideous” monster in broad daylight, and he could not complete his thought. She did not say anything to silence him; she simply shook her head in disagreement and closed her eyes.
When she closed her eyes and the light of her gaze disappeared. Then the castaway realized what had happened the night before.
She had been looking for shipwrecked sailors in the storm. That is what she has always been doing out there on the rocks with her two eyes twirling in every direction. When she spotted him in his distress, she immediately closed her eyes and kept them closed. That it is why it took her an hour to find him.
It makes absolutely no sense to perform an open-water search in storm-tossed waves with your eyes closed. He could reach only one conclusion: she closed her eyes for his benefit, not hers.
Over the years of searching these stormy waters, how many drowning sailors had she approached? How many of them had she frightened? How many sailors had failed to even consider that this monster wanted to help? How many lost souls had made the dreadful choice to drown instead receiver her assistance?
He saw sadness on the monster’s face. She must have witnessed so many needless deaths.
“Well, come on, then. No one here is afraid of anything bad anymore, are they?” chatted the sailor. “And since we will no doubt be on speaking terms from here on out, perhaps we should introduce ourselves. My name is Levi.”
“Levi,” whispered the monster as she opened her eyes, “thank you so much for trusting me. Thank you for letting me help you. I hate to think what would have become of me if no one had ever trusted me enough to let me try and help.”