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Slippery nodded enthusiastically. “It’s going to be our family vacation this
year. We’ve never been to the Arctic before! And we haven’t seen our cousins
since they visited here when I was just a seal pup!” She clapped her flippers
together. “Isn’t it going to be great?”

Slick wasn’t so sure about that. He knew that the Arctic was cold and icy. Why
would anyone want to leave the beautiful tropics to visit such a frigid part of
the world? He tried to smile, but inside, he was not excited at all.

That afternoon, Slick told his friends about his upcoming trip. “I’m not really
looking forward to it,” he admitted.

“But why not?” gasped Jilly. “The Arctic sounds exciting and exotic!”

“I wish I could visit!” added Buzz.

“Me, too!” said Chompy.

“It’ll be so cool to see a completely different part of the world,” Flashy put in
with a dramatic sigh. “Be sure to send us sea-snail mail while you’re gone!”

Slick groaned. His friends didn’t get it at all.

Less than a week later, the seal family set off toward the Arctic. It was a
long journey, but they stopped along the way to rest in different places. They
stayed at beaches in Mexico and the United States and Canada. They made
friends with seals and other creatures everywhere they went. They swam in
different waters and enjoyed different types of seafood. As they continued
along, the water grew colder and colder.

At last, they had arrived in the Arctic. Their family there was so happy to see
them!

“Is that you, Slick?” his cousin Seymour cried.

Slick’s eyes lit up. Seymour was just his age, and they hadn’t seen each other
in forever! It wasn’t long before Slick, Slippery, and Seymour were playing
together on the ice slides that the Arctic seals enjoyed, flip-flopping from ice-
berg to iceberg, and gobbling down specialty Arctic seafood.

Before he went to sleep that night, Slick smiled to himself, thinking of all the
different adventures he had had so far. The trip from the tropics had been in-
teresting and fun, and now that he and his family were here in the Arctic, it
was so much better than Slick had ever expected!

His friends had been right: it really was special to see different parts of the
world. He would write them some sea-snail mail tomorrow and tell them!

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