Chapter 2: The Cranky
Oyster
Little Scruffy
walked through the forest for what seemed like miles before
he decided to rest. It was then a voice called
out. "What are you doing against my tree? I have
not given you permission you insolent little mustilid."
Scruffy furled his eyebrows. He didn't like being
called names. The voice continued. "Move along
little skunk. This is my home, not
yours."
 Scruffy looked
up. There, clinging to a tree was a decrepit old oyster
-- its shell all wrinkled and sprouting moss. "Are you
the one speaking?" Scruffy
asked.
"Who else do you
see here," the grumpy oyster replied. "Now leave me
be." The skunk was astonished, for he never saw an
oyster living on a tree before. "I'm sorry for invading
your home but I didn't know you were there. What are
you doing so far from the sea?" Little scruffy
inquired. The clam began to tell his
story...
"Many centuries
ago I lived in the sea with the oysters and inferior
clams. But we were uprooted when the islands were
formed. The other shellfish went back into the ocean as
the air and marine animals were building land. But I,
loving the feel sunlight and fresh water rain on my shell,
stayed on this tree above the ocean. I had every
intention of going back to the sea one day but I
procrastinated. One more rainfall, one more sunrise I
stayed until the island became a continent and the ocean
became too far for me to travel. One stormy night a
great bolt came out of the sky and fused me where I
live. Now I am stuck here for eternity on this
stump."
"You remember
the First Dawn?" little Scruffy asked. "Oh my! I
would ever so be pleased if you could tell me how to find
Aurora Island. I will do anything. I promise to
do my best to take you back to the sea." The oyster sat
in the tree looking slightly uncomfortable. He
hesitated for a moment, gnarled his shell and spit a pearl
out into an urn. "I do not wish to be back in the
sea. I am old and set in my ways. I like it
here, but I am lonely for my own kind. If you
please, travel to the ocean and ask the oysters if there is
anyone willing to keep me company. If you return with a
friend, I will show you a secret I have been keeping for
centuries."
Without
hesitation, little scruffy scrambled to the seashore as fast
as his little feet could take him. In no time at all he
met other shellfish who were willing to live on dry land and
he brought them back to the old
oyster.
"I have brought
you not one but two young friends, Mr. Oyster." Scruffy
scampered up the tree and placed the young ones
around. For the first time in centuries the
oyster smiled. "Oh, Thank you little skunk. You
have made a very old creature happy." It was then the
oyster opened his shell wide and revealed a secret held for a
millennia. Inside the oyster's mouth sat several stones
-- each one delicately engraved with a sea creature. 
"Oh, thank
you." Little Scruffy memorized the runes and cheerfully
took one of the pearls. "I do hope you will be happy
with your friends. Adieu, Mr. Oyster." It was
unclear exactly what the stones meant. They looked
familiar in some way. But just where did he see those
symbols before? Somehow Scruffy felt that the symbols
were staring him in the face countless
times.
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