Poppy's Whale Read online

  It looked like rush hour on the whale expressway, as the squid slid down its throat. You should have seen the looks on their faces when they saw me.

  Finally the boldest one climbed up onto my shoulder. It said out loud what all the others were thinking.

  “Sorry we woke you up. But would you mind telling me what a little girl like you is doing in a place like this? Human beings are certainly not part of a whale’s diet.”

  I tried to explain. I could practically see the question marks in its eyes.

  “A home in the whale? Are you out of your mind? You want to stay here? If I could escape, I would be out of here in a second. Outside, life is still going on, in case you’ve forgotten.”

  “I can’t imagine life going on without my grandfather. He was my best friend. He was more than my best friend. Don’t you know how unlucky I am to have lost him?”

  Do you know what the squid said to me?

  “How lucky you are to have known such an extraordinary person!”

  The squid perched there on my shoulder, its eyes shining, waiting to hear more. And I was happy to share my favourite stories of Grandpa.

  While I was talking, I felt a wonderful warm feeling spread through me. Even though Grandpa was dead, it was as if his love was still alive in my heart.

  “I don’t know how I can explain it to you,” I told the squid. “His body is gone. I can’t touch him. But it’s as if my grandfather is still there. In a different way.”

  The squid brought me back down to earth … well, to the whale’s belly, anyway.

  “Poppy, if you stay here, you will be digested by the whale. And you won’t be able to dream about your grandfather anymore, or call up all your fond memories of him. You won’t feel his love warming your heart anymore.”

  “That’s true.…”

  “What would your grandfather say if he knew his Poppy was stuck here inside a whale?”

  “He. would wonder why I would stay inside when it’s so nice outside. He wouldn’t understand why I wouldn’t try to get out of here.”

  It’s true. My grandfather loved life too much to spend it cooped up. I’m sure he would have said to me, “Better hurry up, my girl, if you don’t want to miss the sunrise.”

  So I began to yell as loud as I could, “Yoohoo! Excuse me, Whale! You swallowed me by mistake. Now let me out of here, I beg you.”

  My cries had no more effect than a drop of water in the ocean. But fortunately, the squid all came to my rescue.

  They linked arms by the dozen and formed a block. Then they began to stomp and jump and kick and wriggle every which way, beating against the walls and yelling at the top of their lungs, “Hey there, Whale, don’t you know, Poppy says she’d like to go. Baboom! Baboom!”

  They sounded awful. It wasn’t pretty, but it worked.

  Exasperated, the whale rose to the surface and heaved a great sigh. I imagined a huge misty fountain spewing from its head. That’s where a whale breathes. Then I heard it yell, “All right! I get the message!”

  Together all the squid took that as a cue to give me a big push and up I went. I slid through the whale’s mouth … and headed straight out to sea. Help!

  CHAPTER SIX

  TO LIFE, TO DEATH

  I JUST BARELY HAD TIME to grab on to one of the whale’s teeth. Otherwise I would have fallen into the sea. That would have been the end of my story, better believe it!

  The whale spoke to me, carefully moving its lips so that I wouldn’t be crushed.

  “Get going, little girl. Push off! You were so eager to leave, as your friends must have told me a thousand times!”

  And one of my friends had come along for the ride. The brave little squid had hung on to the neck of my T-shirt all the way up.

  Now he jumped off into the sea. I thought I heard him call to me, “Toodle-oo!” Honest!

  I glanced around me. The storm had passed and calm weather had settled in. But I had no idea where land was. The whale kindly offered to take me in to shore. But as soon as we came within sight of land, it stopped.

  “I won’t go any further. I might get beached.”

  “Oh please, dear Whale.…”

  “It’s too dangerous. I want to live too, you know! Don’t tell me you don’t know how to swim!?”

  “I do know how to swim. But I never swam before without my grandfather right beside me.”

  Do you know what the whale said to me?

  “Well, now’s the time to try it! Go on, you can do it, kid!”

  I couldn’t help asking my grandfather for advice. Deep down in my heart, I mean. And he answered me, too. In secret, of course.

  “Let the waves carry you, Poppy. Don’t be afraid. Your Grandpa’s here.”

  Now I understood why my grandfather said he could feel my grandmother’s presence even after she died. Because at that moment, I really felt that Grandpa was by my side, watching over me.

  Believe it or not, I managed to swim to shore. I was so proud of myself. Grandpa was proud of me too, I know.

  The sea was as calm as could be. There was not a single cloud in the sky. The light was the pearly pink of sunrise.

  Then I heard my mother’s voice behind me.

  “Why Poppy what are you doing up so early? I bet you’ve come down to the beach to watch the sun rise. Just like Dad.”

  I had forgotten that my grandfather was also my mother’s father.

  Huge tears began to spill from my mother’s eyes. Not like a stream or a torrent or a river. More like a leaky tap.

  She’d been like that ever since Grandpa died. Every time someone mentioned him, the tap would start to drip.

  I felt helpless. Grandpa would have known what to do. He would take out his big checked handkerchief. Automatically I slipped my hand into my pants pocket. And you’ll never guess what I found!

  The big red-and-white checked handkerchief! That was the souvenir that Pip had slipped into my pocket, without my even noticing!

  I went to comfort my mother. Of course, the handkerchief was sopping wet. And so was I. Right away my mother began to worry.

  “Poppy! What happened to you? You’re drenched!”

  “Um … uh,” I stammered. “It’s because of the ocean of tears I cried … I miss Grandpa so much.…”

  Mom took me in her arms. Fortunately, because I don’t know how I could have explained the rest of the story to her.

  “Oh Poppy! Why didn’t you tell me before?”

  “Because I didn’t know that it hurt so much.”

  Each of us tried to comfort the other as best we could.

  But soon we fell silent. Far out at the bottom of the sky, the rosy sun peeked out of its hiding place, and threw a long path of light across the sea. Especially for us, it seemed.

  If only Grandpa had been there! But really he was there with us. In a different way. And now I know he will be with me as long as I want. Because Grandpa and I are together in life and death. That means that even his death can’t keep us apart. Honest!

  I don’t know whether it was Mom or me who said, “This is the most beautiful sunrise I have ever seen!”

  Or which one of us added, “How about a nice big cinnamon bun to celebrate it?”

  You’re probably wondering whether all of this really happened to me. Well, it is true that I was very, very sad when my grandfather died.

  But was I really swept out to sea? Was I really swallowed by a whale? And everything else?

  There would be one way to find out for sure. Go back to the bedroom and see if the bed is still there and if the floor is still under water.

  Should I tell you? It really doesn’t make any difference to me. Because I am certain about one thing: all of this really did happen.

  In my heart.

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