The Shark Rider by Ellen Prager Page A

When they walked, the birds’ heads bobbed back and forth like they were doing the funky chicken dance.
    â€œWhat type of birds are those?” Hugh asked curiously.
    â€œHenry says they’re ibis. Not the smartest birds in the sky.”
    The ibis took no notice of the teens. They were busy plucking small insects out of the dock’s wooden planks. Two of the birds collided and got their long bills twisted together. Another ibis was backing up while feeding and fell off the dock.
    Henry shook his head at the other birds and then hopped closer to Hugh. The pelican reached out with his nearly two-foot-long bill to poke him.
    â€œHey, watch it,” Hugh said.
    â€œHe says the water’s warm. You should go in.”
    Henry poked Hugh again. Only this time it was more of a shove, and Hugh tumbled off the dock into the water.
    Rosina laughed. “Good one, Henry.”
    Hugh popped up, grabbed Rosina’s feet, and pulled her into the lagoon.
    Tristan and Sam swam over just in time to see Rosina stand up and move toward Hugh. Fire blazed in her eyes.
    â€œC’mon, it was just a joke,” Hugh said, backing away. “Look, you’re in the water now, just like me.”
    She stopped and looked at her hands. The others gazed at theirs. Sure enough, there was a thin film of skin between their fingers.
    Rosina stepped next to Hugh. She patted him encouragingly on the arm. “How’s it going, Hugh?”
    The others were shocked until Hugh said, “That’s disgusting.” Slimy mucus ran down his arm.
    â€œI still got it,” Rosina bragged. She raised her hands out of the water. Strands of transparent slime hung from her fingers.
    â€œYup, looks like your mucus deployment skills are working alright,” Sam noted.
    â€œHow about your echolocation?” Tristan asked.
    â€œI don’t know. Let me give it a try.”
    Sam ducked underwater and made a clicking noise. She popped back up, swam to where it was a little deeper, and went under.
    â€œKind of hard to tell,” Sam told them after swimmingback. “I’m a little rusty. But I think we have a visitor.”
    Hugh looked at her nervously. “A dolphin? Scarface or Toosha?”
    â€œNo, I don’t think so.” Sam pointed to a large gray dorsal fin at the surface about thirty feet away. It was moving toward them, fast.
    Hugh scrambled behind Tristan.
    Tristan ducked underwater. He saw the upturned snout of a large shark heading directly for them. And it wasn’t slowing down. Tristan’s heart beat faster, and he began backing up. He bumped into Hugh, and they got all tangled up. Just before the shark crashed into them, it swerved sharply, like a snowboarder coming to a quick stop. A wave of water washed over the teens. In his head, Tristan heard the shark say: Did I scare you? How ’bout your friends?
    Tristan relaxed, laughed, and thought: O h yes, Snaggle-Tooth, very scary. We were terrified, too scared to move.
    Hey, how’d you know it was me?
    I recognized you. How are the teeth?
    Tristan turned to the others. “Don’t worry. It’s just Snaggle-Tooth. He wants to show you his teeth.”
    Sam ducked underwater to look at the shark. Hugh and Rosina put their faces in the water more hesitantly. When they were all looking below the surface, Snaggle-Tooth opened his mouth and smiled, exposing a set of perfectly aligned, pointy white teeth.
    Sam popped back up. “Very nice.”
    Hugh and Rosina just nodded uncomfortably, smiling awkwardly. They both looked about ready to run for it.
    Tristan told the shark how impressed they were with his teeth.
    Not as good as my old ones for catching fish, but much better for chewing and grabbing onto things. The shark swam near Hugh’s leg. Want to see?
    No, no, that’s okay , Tristan responded quickly.
    Hugh was frozen still, his eyes the size of baseballs.
    Okay, maybe another time. Heard what you did for that bull