Auby the Blue Turtle

Auby, Forna, and Peekay surged past the glowing city gates, their hearts pounding in rhythm with their frantic swimming. Behind them, Forna’s mother had already vanished into the current, racing to find Auby’s daddy and sound the alarm.

Forna and Peekay clung tightly to Auby’s flippers as he cut through the water like a blue
rocket, his eyes fixed on the massive, dark shadow of the fishing boat looming ahead.

“I see it! We’re getting close!” Forna cried out, her voice trembling as the boat’s rumbling
engine vibrated through her small body.

As they drew near, she caught sight of the massive, weighted net churning in the water,
packed tight with frantic, trapped fish. “Daddy!” she screamed, her voice piercing the roar of the ocean.

“Forna! Get back!” her father shouted, his voice muffled by the thick mesh of the net. “It’s not safe here—you could be snagged! Swim away!”

Auby felt a wave of helplessness wash over him, but just as he began to panic, a familiar,
deep command echoed through the water. “Stand back, Auby!”

Auby spun around, relieved to see his daddy charging toward the scene, his massive shell
moving with purposeful strength. Auby’s daddy immediately took charge, his voice booming with authority as he signalled to the trapped fish. “To the sides! Swim to the sides of the net!”

Suddenly, a silver blur streaked past Auby’s ear, moving with terrifying speed. Within a
heartbeat, a long, shimmering blade sliced through the thick rope from top to bottom. The
net fell open like a grand curtain, and with a rush of freedom, the fish poured out in every
direction.

“Swim for your lives!” Forna cheered. The rescued fish darted away, their voices trailing back through the water with grateful echoes of, “Thank you! Thank you!”

As quickly as the chaos had erupted, a heavy silence fell. The boat’s engine sputtered and
died, and the fishermen began hauling the shredded, useless netting back onto the deck.

“Quickly, now! We need to leave before they cast another!” Auby’s daddy urged.

Once they had reached the safety of the calm, hidden waters, Auby’s daddy slowed down,
ushering the group into a circle. He gestured toward a sleek, silver shape hovering nearby.

“This is Sid,” Auby’s daddy announced with a proud grin. “And I think we owe him a grand
thank you.” 

​

Sid the swordfish drifted forward, his long, razor-sharp nose gleaming in the filtered sunlight.

He possessed a calm, disciplined grace that made him look like a guardian of the deep.
“Sid is one of my oldest and dearest friends,” Auby’s daddy explained. “I knew who to call
when things got truly tough.”

Sid straightened his fins and snapped a crisp, professional salute. “All in the line of duty, sir,” he said with a wink.

Forna swam forward, her eyes bright with relief, and pressed a grateful kiss to Sid’s silver
cheek. She turned back to include Peekay in the celebration, wanting to share the moment
with her best friend, but her smile faltered. The space beside her was empty.

“Peekay?” Forna whispered, her heart sinking.

They scanned the water, but the little prawn was gone. In the frantic final moments, when
the fishermen had hauled the nets back to the surface, Peekay’s tiny, wonky antennae had
become tangled in the ropes. He was no longer in the ocean—he was on the deck of the
boat.

“Peekay!” the rescue team cried out in unison, their voices echoing into the vast, darkening
sea.