Jake's Adventures: The Secret of the Shark Tooth Crab Claw. Melissa Perry Moraja

that my parents chew that makes your breath smell fantastic.

      If my breath stunk, I planned on asking them for a piece.

      With my toothbrush and toothpaste in hand, I hurried out of the bathroom and tossed them into my duffle bag. Then I walked over to my bed, knelt down, and pulled out my leather adventure hat and my book about the ocean.

      Now I was ready!

      I bolted out of my bedroom, sprinted down the stairs, and slid into the kitchen. As soon as I entered, my mom, my twin brother Josh, and my twin sister Madison turned their heads and just stared at me.

      Boy was I uncomfortable.

      I shrugged my shoulders and said, “What?”

      At first, I thought I did something wrong. But then Josh and Madison started to laugh hysterically.

      They always laughed over stupid stuff. Even things that weren't funny.

      Yesterday, they laughed when I stepped in dog poop.

      It was really gross and not funny.

      But they kept laughing as I tried everything to get it off the bottom of my sneaker.

      I tried scraping it off by sliding my foot back and forth on the grass.

      That just smeared it everywhere.

      Then I tried using a stick to scrape it out.

      That didn't work too well, either.

      Poop ended up flinging from the stick high into the air and landing in random places.

      My sister and brother didn't even try to help me. Instead, they hid behind a tree, laughing as they watched me struggle to clean the bottom of my shoe.

      As I said, they thought everything was funny, even when it wasn't.

      “What?” I said louder.

      “Jake, you forgot to put your clothes on,” my mom said.

      I looked down at my arms and then my legs.

       Yikes! I'm in my underwear.

      I was so embarrassed.

      My face even turned bright red.

      Then I started to laugh, too.

      I laughed all the way back upstairs anxious to get dressed, so I could start my next adventure.

      CHAPTER 2

      Who is Jacques Cousteau?

      “Okay, kids. Take your duffle bag out to dad,” my mom directed.

      With my leather hat and book in hand, I grabbed my duffle bag and shouted, “Last one to the car is a rotten egg!”

      Then I bolted out the door and into the garage to where my dad was standing.

      I was the first to reach my dad.

      Josh came in second.

      And Madison was last.

      “I'm never first,” said Madison.

      “Keep trying,” encouraged my dad.

      Madison half-smiled and handed her bag to my dad. He placed it in the back of the minivan, closed the hatch, and hopped in.

      “We're off!” my father said, looking through the rear view mirror.

      Guess the coast was clear because my dad put the car into gear and drove off.

      I put my leather hat on top of my head and pulled the front down towards my face. Once my hat was perfectly positioned, I opened my book about the ocean and began reading it.

      “Dad, did you know that there are about 440 species of shark?” I stated.

      My dad chuckled and said, ““I didn't, Mr. Jacques Cousteau.”

      “Huh—Mr. Jacques Cousteau?” I said. “Who is he?”

      “He's a famous explorer,” my mom answered, “and he loved the ocean as much as you do.”

      “Really?” I said, surprised. “What did he explore?”

      “He explored marine life,” responded my dad. “In fact, he spent most of his life trying to protect sharks and whales throughout the world.”

      “So this guy did what I want to do?” I said.

      At first, I thought my parents were pulling my leg. It just sounded weird that someone with a similar name to mine loved sharks and the ocean as much as I did.

      “Why don't you check your book and see if it mentions anything about him?” suggested my mom.

      “Hmm,” I mumbled.

      I opened my book and began searching the index for the name Jacques Cousteau.

      And I found it!

      I turned to the page and started to read.

      It said that he was one of the most famous undersea explorer's of the twentieth century. And he even wrote books on the subject. But that wasn't all he did. He also had his own television show called The Undersea World of Jacques Cousteau.

      With an ear to ear grin, I turned, looked out the car window, and imagined myself sailing and studying ocean life just like Jacques Cousteau. I saw myself fighting off sea serpents and hunting down the Loch Ness Monster and capturing Moby Dick and discovering Atlantis.

      “Dad, do you think we can go explore the ocean this weekend?” I asked.

      “Maybe,” replied my dad.

      My dad's maybe meant yes to me!

      I lowered my head, eager to read all about the mysteries of the ocean.

      CHAPTER 3

      The Rules

       Ding!

      “Finally,” I mumbled as the elevator stopped on the tenth floor.

      That ride was the most grueling ride of my life. Every floor we stopped on, my parents groaned and sighed. It wasn't like Josh, Madison, and I meant to press every elevator button. Each of us just wanted to be the first one to press the button for our floor.

      As soon as the door opened, my siblings and I bolted out and ran down the hallway in search of our hotel room.

      “Eight…nine…ten…found it!” all three of us shouted, standing in front of room number 1010.

      My dad gave all us a firm look and said, “There are other people on this floor. Please use your inside voice.”

      “Yes, sir,” we all mumbled.

      My dad opened the door.

      As Josh, Madison, and I were fighting our way in, I overheard my mom say to my dad, “Let's review a few rules.”

      Rules? I thought. Not again!

      No matter what we do, there were always rules. Rules for eating. Rules for brushing our teeth. There were even rules for what color shirt we should wear with certain colored shorts.

      Within seconds, my dad said, “Kids, before we do anything, your mom and I need to review some rules.”

      We all sighed.

      With our heads dangling between our shoulders, we moped over to the couch and sat down.