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Speaker 1: Welcome, sleep tight Stories. Lobster in My Pocket. Lobster in

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Speaker 1: My Pocket is written by dear dri Kesler, with art

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Speaker 1: by Brenda Jones. Deirdre Kesler is a Canadian writer located

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Speaker 1: here on Prince Edward Island. Permission for use was given

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Speaker 1: by Deirdre Kesler. One chilly Saturday in spring, Lee wandered

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Speaker 1: down to the wharf just as the lobster boats were

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Speaker 1: coming in with the morning's cat a few miles off shore,

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Speaker 1: the fishermen and the few fisherwomen, like Lee's mother, had

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Speaker 1: been working hard since dawn. They all looked forward to

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Speaker 1: finishing their work and going home for a nice cup

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Speaker 1: of tea and a good hot meal. Lee was feeling

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Speaker 1: kind of lonely. There wasn't anyone her own age who

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Speaker 1: lived nearby. Her school chums rarely came to play at

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Speaker 1: her house. She wasn't allowed to have a dog, and

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Speaker 1: her favorite cat, Knows, had disappeared a month ago. While

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Speaker 1: her mom and dad were out in the gulf fishing,

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Speaker 1: Grandma looked after her. Grandma and Lee understood each other.

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Speaker 1: They didn't need to talk much, and Grandma didn't mind

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Speaker 1: that Lee almost always wore a cap, even in warm weather. Sometimes,

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Speaker 1: her father and the kids at school teased her about

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Speaker 1: her caps, but not Grandma. What color will it be

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Speaker 1: this year? Grandma would ask each autumn when the weather

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Speaker 1: grew chilly, and then Grandma would knit Lee a new cap.

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Speaker 1: Lee saved all her old caps. She'd wash them in

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Speaker 1: hot water to make them shrink to fit her dolls.

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Speaker 1: One cap fit Nosy perfectly. Lee wished Nosey would come

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Speaker 1: back home. She wished she had a playmate. She was

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Speaker 1: tired of playing alone. Sometimes Grandma and Lee would take

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Speaker 1: long walks together along the shore. Grandma would tell Lee

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Speaker 1: sea stories. Grandma knew all about the creatures of the sea.

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Speaker 1: Lee loved those walks with Grandma. She wished Grandma would

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Speaker 1: come out and play. Today. Lee watched her mother and

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Speaker 1: father and the others more their boats. Then they unloaded

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Speaker 1: the lobsters they had caught that day. The lobsters were

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Speaker 1: in wooden crates. The crates were being stacked neatly on

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Speaker 1: the wharf. Soon the crates would be slipped into the

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Speaker 1: water and roped together. The lobsters would stay underwater until

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Speaker 1: the buyer came to get them. Standing by her parents'

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Speaker 1: Cape Islander boat, the Anne Marie. Lee watched the lobsters

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Speaker 1: in the crates. She felt sorry for them. They'd been

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Speaker 1: caught and taken from their underwater homes. Their front claws

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Speaker 1: had been banded with thick rubber bands. Now they were

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Speaker 1: climbing over one another in confusion. Lee heard a little voice. Oh,

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Speaker 1: please set me free, Set me free. I'll show you

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Speaker 1: a secret of the sea. I'll tell you how lobsters

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Speaker 1: came to be. Oh please set me free, Set me free.

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Speaker 1: Lee quickly looked around. Was someone playing a joke on her?

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Speaker 1: Who had spoken in that strange little voice. It seemed

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Speaker 1: to be coming from the lobster crate at her feet.

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Speaker 1: Lee opened the crate. One lobster scrabbled its way over

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Speaker 1: all of the rest and tumbled onto the wharf. Put

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Speaker 1: me in your pocket, girl, Carry me back to the sea.

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Speaker 1: Take me out of danger. Girl. Lobsters just want to

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Speaker 1: be free. Lee was astounded. Grandma told me that all

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Speaker 1: creatures have their own language, she said, but I didn't

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Speaker 1: know lobsters could talk to humans. Lee picked up the

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Speaker 1: lobster and took the wide bands from its front claws.

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Speaker 1: Then she tucked the lobster in her pocket and walked

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Speaker 1: towards the end of the wharf. Will you be my friend,

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Speaker 1: she asked. The lobster waved its antenna and answered, yes,

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Speaker 1: I'll be your friend, girl, if you'll only set me free. Yes,

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Speaker 1: I'll tell you a tale, girl, share a secret of

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Speaker 1: the sea. Lee was delighted with her new pal. She

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Speaker 1: sat with her legs dangling off the wharf and listened

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Speaker 1: spellbound as the lobster told her stories of the sea.

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Speaker 1: A voice interrupted them. Lee called her mother, go, tell

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Speaker 1: grand to put on the kettle. We'll be up in

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Speaker 1: a minute. Lee called her father, tell gran to phone

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Speaker 1: the co op and have them deliver some fuel to

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Speaker 1: the dock pump. After supper, with the lobster still snug

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Speaker 1: in her pocket, Lee ran to the house to give

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Speaker 1: Grandma the messages. What on earth is in your pocket, child,

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Speaker 1: asked Grandma. My new friend, said Lee, she talks. She's

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Speaker 1: going to be my new best friend. Now that knows

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Speaker 1: he's gone, I think i'll call her Lucy. Grandma gently

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Speaker 1: pulled Lucy from Lee's pocket, turned her over and said, well,

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Speaker 1: I just guess you'll need a boy's name. What, asked Lee,

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Speaker 1: that's a male? Lobster replied Grandma, see these swimming feet

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Speaker 1: closest to the center of his body. They're swimmerettes. On

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Speaker 1: a female, they're soft. On a male, they're hard. Grandma

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Speaker 1: handed the lobster back to Lee. Now please wash up

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Speaker 1: and help me set the table. What have you got

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Speaker 1: in your pocket, Lee asked mom, sitting down to eat.

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Speaker 1: What are you doing with a lobster in your pocket,

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Speaker 1: asked Dad, scooping a big helping of buttery mashed potatoes

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Speaker 1: on to his plate. It's lucky, said Lee, happily. He's

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Speaker 1: my new best friend. I saved him at the wharf,

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Speaker 1: and he's telling me secrets and stories. He told me

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Speaker 1: about Neptune's horse. He's going to show me where there's

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Speaker 1: treasure buried in the sea. He's going to You can't

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Speaker 1: keep a lobster for a pet, said her mother. Nope,

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Speaker 1: said her father. Lobsters are not for pets. That lobster

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Speaker 1: is somebody's supper, and the money it fetches pays for

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Speaker 1: your supper. Besides Lee, her father added, lobsters are not

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Speaker 1: happy if they're out of the water for too long.

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Speaker 1: Why don't you let that one go free. You could

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Speaker 1: put it back in the water after we eat. His

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Speaker 1: name is Lucky, whispered Lee. Grandma looked at Lee with sympathy,

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Speaker 1: but she didn't say anything. Lee got up slowly from

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Speaker 1: the table and went outside. You're my best friend, Lee

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Speaker 1: said sadly, even if I've only known you for a

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Speaker 1: little while. Will you talk to me again? Will you

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Speaker 1: always be my friend? Oh? Just set me free, Set

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Speaker 1: me free. I'll show you a secret of the sea.

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Speaker 1: I'll help you one day as you helped me. Oh,

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Speaker 1: please set me free, Set me free. Lee took Lucky

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Speaker 1: past the crates of squirming lobsters, pulled him from her pocket,

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Speaker 1: and held him over the water at the end of

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Speaker 1: the wharf. Goodbye, she said, and good luck. She dropped

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Speaker 1: him into the water, and in a flash, Lucky disappeared.

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Speaker 1: After school and on weekends, whenever the boats came back

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Speaker 1: from hauling traps, Lee would walk around all the crates

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Speaker 1: of lobsters, quietly calling for Lucky. Are you there, Lucky?

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Speaker 1: Can you hear me? She would whisper, and then she

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Speaker 1: would walk to the end of the wharf, where she

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Speaker 1: would dangle her arms off the wharf. Today is Dad's birthday,

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Speaker 1: she would say, as she stared into the water. Tomorrow,

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Speaker 1: my teacher's taking us on a field trip. Wanna come

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Speaker 1: with us? Lucky Lee didn't mind that her friend never

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Speaker 1: answered her. One morning, the sky was gray, clouds hung low,

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Speaker 1: there was a stillness in the air. We will not

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Speaker 1: go out on the gulf today, said Lee's mother. Nope,

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Speaker 1: said her dad. There's a bad storm brewing in the northeast.

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Speaker 1: The Anne Marie stays tied up. Today. Lee went down

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Speaker 1: by the baitsheads to play. She loved the briny smell

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Speaker 1: of the seaweed and the pungent smell of the dark

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Speaker 1: creosoded pilings. She spent the morning playing pirate ship in

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Speaker 1: a beat tulk near a stack of broken old lobster

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Speaker 1: pots in the protection of the sheds. Lee did not

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Speaker 1: pay much heed to the gathering storm. The sky grew dark,

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Speaker 1: the wind gusted and swirled. By noontime, when Lee went

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Speaker 1: to the end of the wharf, the wind was so

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Speaker 1: strong it pushed her along. Just as she reached the edge,

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Speaker 1: a strong burst of wind swept her cap right off

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Speaker 1: her head. As Lee grabbed for the cap, another terrific

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Speaker 1: gust of wind swept her right off the wharf down.

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Speaker 1: She fell down towards the water. Choppy waves slapped at

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Speaker 1: the pilings, Salt spray filled the air, Seaweed torn loose

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Speaker 1: from the ocean floor was churned and swirled by the waves. Help,

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Speaker 1: screamed Lee, Help me, And then she was in the water,

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Speaker 1: and she was sinking, sinking. She was over her head

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Speaker 1: in water and sinking. The next moment she rose to

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Speaker 1: the surface and gasped for air. Lee knew how to

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Speaker 1: swim in a rough sea. But a wave slapped her

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Speaker 1: in the face and she swallowed a big gulp of

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Speaker 1: salt water. Help she choked, and then the weight of

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Speaker 1: her water soaked clothes pulled her down once more. Lee

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Speaker 1: rose to the surface a second time and gasped for air.

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Speaker 1: She flailed her arms and kicked her feet. Her clothes

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Speaker 1: were heavy and her lungs clogged with salt water, but

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Speaker 1: she kept kicking and moving her arms. She could almost

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Speaker 1: reach one of the pilings. Then another wave hit her,

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Speaker 1: and again she was pulled underwater. Down she went for

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Speaker 1: the third time in the depths of the sea. Lucky

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Speaker 1: heard Lee's call for help. He gathered his friends and

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Speaker 1: swam towards the wharf. Then Lee felt something pinch her

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Speaker 1: first on her legs, and then on her back and arms.

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Speaker 1: She was rising to the top. Her head was above

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Speaker 1: the water. She coughed her lungs clear and swam through

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Speaker 1: the waves. Lee grabbed onto a piling and clung tightly.

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Speaker 1: The storm was wild. The sky opened up and huge

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Speaker 1: raindrops pelted her. Lee grabbed hold of the cribbing under

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Speaker 1: the wharf and hoisted herself up to safety. She lay

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Speaker 1: on her back, breathing hard. You forgot your cap, came

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Speaker 1: a familiar voice. Lee rolled over and looked down into

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Speaker 1: the turbulent sea. There was Lucky in his big right claw.

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Speaker 1: He had her cap. Lucky flung the cap towards Lee.

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Speaker 1: A big wave caught it and carried it up onto

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Speaker 1: the wharf with a splash. Lee grabbed her precious cap,

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Speaker 1: squeezed it, and pulled it on to her head. Oh

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Speaker 1: thank you, Lucky, Thank you for helping me. I thought

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Speaker 1: I was going to drown. You really save yourself, Lee, girl.

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Speaker 1: You kicked and you swam free. But it can't hurt

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Speaker 1: You have a friend who lives beneath the sea. And

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Speaker 1: with that, Lucky disappeared under the waves. Lee crawled away

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Speaker 1: from the edge of the wharf. The driving rein stung

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Speaker 1: her face, and the wind buffeted her as she made

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Speaker 1: her way back home through the storm. Look at you,

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Speaker 1: where have you been? Her mother asked with alarm, rushing

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Speaker 1: to Lee. Lee's father and grandmother came running. Oh, mom,

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Speaker 1: I got blown off the end of the wharf, said Lee.

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Speaker 1: I was blown right into the water. You're sopping wet girl,

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Speaker 1: said grandma the end of the wharf, said dad. Are

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Speaker 1: you okay? Are you hurt? You mean you were actually

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Speaker 1: in the water in the storm. How did you get out?

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Speaker 1: My friend Lucky saved me, said Lee, reaching up to

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Speaker 1: touch her cap. Who is lucky? Her mother and father

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Speaker 1: asked in unison, you know my lobster friend? Now now, Lee,

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Speaker 1: Her father began to reprimand her It's hardly the time

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Speaker 1: for making up stories. Lee's mom gave her dad a look.

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Speaker 1: Let's get you out of those drenched clothes. Lee, Dear,

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Speaker 1: she said, we can hear what really happened later. All

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Speaker 1: that matters is that you are safe. But grandma gave

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Speaker 1: Lee a knowing look and winked. I guess today is

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Speaker 1: your lucky day, said grandma. Lee suddenly felt tired and cold.

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Speaker 1: She began to shake with delayed fear from her near drowning.

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Speaker 1: She looked from the worried faces of her mother and

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Speaker 1: father to Grandma's smiling face, and then she followed Grandma's

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Speaker 1: gaze to the floor by the wood stove. There, surrounded

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Speaker 1: by a new family of kittens, was her cat, Nosy.

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Speaker 1: Lee began to laugh. Well, I just guess this is

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Speaker 1: my lucky day, she said, And wet as she was,

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Speaker 1: she threw her arms around Grandma and gave her a

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Speaker 1: big hug.