Chapter XXI
The Arctic
By: Gabriel, Grade 2
Mr. Popper and Admiral Drake left the gangplank. As they were sailing, Admiral Drake pointed out a whale. Mr. Popper said, “I’m hungry.” Admiral Drake gave Mr. Popper some krill to eat. Mr. Popper ate it all in ten seconds. Mr. Popper said, “That was appetizing.”
After three days they arrived on the tundra in the Arctic. Something big was walking towards them. It was big and hairy. It was a polar bear! It opened its mouth and almost ate Nelson! Fortunately, Captain Cook was tobogganing down a hill and knocked over the polar bear. “Thanks, Captain Cook,” everyone said. “Ork!” said all the penguins. Then the penguins started to push each other into the water! Columbus fell into the water! He came back up. Then all the penguins dived into the water knowing it was safe. They all came back up with twenty fish in their beaks. “I think that will keep them satisfied for awhile,” said Admiral Drake. Then they heard a loud crack! They were on thin ice, not land. Mr. Popper almost fell in but he jumped on a glacier. All of the other penguins and Admiral Drake did, too. They finally got to the house.
“Here is your house,” said Admiral Drake. Mr. Popper walked inside and fell asleep. When he woke up, he found that he was on the floor. He had fallen off the bed in his sleep. He could not find Admiral Drake. He called his name and Admiral Drake came in a snap. “I couldn’t find you.” said Mr. Popper. “Well, here I am,” said Admiral Drake. Then Admiral Drake, Mr. Popper, and the penguins went out to play. They had a snowball fight until the afternoon. Then they played hide and go seek. Then they went to bed.
So far the penguins had been doing fine in the Arctic. Then they saw a seal coming towards them! They turned around and ran. They saw another. They had been surrounded. But the penguins had a lot of energy and started to slap the seals. The seals ran away. The day was saved (for now).
The next day, they went to the ocean to let the penguins eat. Then they saw a seal. But, it was no problem because the penguins handled it (again). They pushed the seal off into the water. But it didn’t work as planned. The seal came back up. So Mr. Popper, Admiral Drake, and the penguins ran away. (It’s a relief, isn’t it?)
They went back to the houses. They had to talk about how to let the penguins eat safely. Finally, they came up with a plan. Mr. Popper and Admiral Drake would go to the ocean and make a fake penguin. They would put it near the ocean. If a seal came up, it would not be safe for the penguins to go in. If one did not come up, it would be safe. And guess what? The plan worked! It was safe. Since the penguins hadn’t eaten in a long time, it was about an hour until all the penguins came back up from feeding. They decided to do that each time the penguins got hungry.
It was finally time to go back to Stillwater. It took three days to get there. Mr. Popper’s family was very happy that he got home safely. The penguins stayed in the Arctic. Mr. Popper and his family lived happily ever after.
