Page 8 - 34_Chompy tha Shark_CS

Chompy wished they would at least give him a chance. Long ago, he had de-
cided not to be like the other sharks in his family. He had decided to be a veg-
etarian shark, who ate only underwater plants and never bothered the other
sea creatures at all.

Chompy’s family had been upset about his decision—so upset, in fact, that
they began to make fun of Chompy. Chompy was so hurt by their nasty words
that he left his family and set out on his own. At first, he’d thought that he
would find some other sharks who didn’t want to hurt other sea creatures,
either. But none of the sharks he met were like that. When they learned that
Chompy ate only plants, they made just as much fun of him as his family had.

Between all of the other sharks in the ocean, who laughed at Chompy, and
the rest of the sea creatures, who were afraid and ran away from Chompy,
Chompy began to believe that he’d never make friends. A tear slid down
Chompy’s face and mixed with the saltwater all around him.

Just then, Chompy spotted someone swimming his way. Unlike most of the
other creatures Chompy saw, this swordfish was all alone. He was frowning,
and he looked as unhappy as Chompy felt.

“Just wait till he sees me,” Chompy thought. “He’ll swim for his life!”

But, to Chompy’s surprise, the swordfish’s face lit up at the sight of him. He
started swimming faster in Chompy’s direction. “Hey!” he called. “Can I talk
to you for a minute?”

Chompy was so happy and surprised that someone wanted to talk to him.
“Sure!” he cried.

“Boy, oh, boy!” the swordfish gasped excitedly. “I can’t believe it! A real-life
shark who will actually give me the time of day! All the other sharks I try to
talk to either ignore me or try to eat me! I’ve always dreamed of this day—
talking to the king of the sea, the feared beast of the deep, the—”

“Excuse me?” Chompy asked, cutting him off.

The swordfish blushed. “Oh. I should probably introduce myself. I’m Buzz,
and…well, I’ve always wished I could be a shark—so big and powerful! I know
that’s not possible, so the second-best thing would be to make friends with a
shark. Will you be my friend?”

“I’d love to!” Chompy beamed. He introduced himself and went on to tell Buzz
about his vegetarian lifestyle and how the other sharks made fun of him, and
everyone else was afraid of him. “I’ve been lonely and friendless for so long,”
he finished sadly.

Buzz grinned. “Not anymore!” he exclaimed. “Let me introduce you to my best
buds—Jilly the jellyfish, Slick the seal, and Flashy the starfish. We’re a tough

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