Don't Go Near the Water!, page 1
CONTENTS
The Creek Part 1
Children with Green Teeth
(Marcos’ Story)
Deadly Beach
(Leon’s Story)
Waterman
(My Story)
The Creek Part 2
Afterword
Where the Stories Come From
THE CREEK PART 1
On Monday, it rained.
Tuesday, it poured.
By Wednesday, the rain stopped
and the sun came out.
“Let’s go for a walk,”
I said to Marcos after school.
We went to Leon’s house
and rang his doorbell.
“Can Leon come out and play?”
we asked his mother.
“Yes,” she said,
“but don’t go near the water!
The creek is high after the rain.”
We walked to the park
and looked at the creek
from the path.
“Look at all the foam in the water!
It’s like there is soap in it,”
I said.
“Maybe it’s the water people
blowing bubbles,” Marcos said.
“I’ll tell you a story if you want.”
“About the water people?”
asked Leon.
“Yes, and about a quarry,” said Marcos.
“What’s a quarry?” I asked.
“It’s a huge hole in the ground,
where people have dug out rocks,”
explained Marcos.
“So tell us the story,” I said.
CHILDREN WITH
GREEN TEETH
(Marcos’ Story)
Henry could take the road
to school,
or he could take a shortcut
past the quarry.
The quarry was filled with water,
and people said that long ago,
two children had drowned there.
Now their ghosts
haunted the place.
One day, Henry was late
for school.
“I’ll take the shortcut,”
he told his mother.
“Be careful,” she said.
“And don’t go near the water!”
Henry hurried off,
but slowed down
as he passed the quarry.
There was a bad smell in the air.
What was down there?
Henry walked to the edge
of the quarry.
The water was bubbling.
Was it hot? Henry leaned over
and stuck his hand in.
Something grabbed him!
Four slimy green arms
pulled him underwater,
and pushed him
through a hole
and up onto a ledge in a cave.
In the dim light, Henry saw
two skinny green children
with big green teeth.
“We’ve been here for a long time
and we are bored,” they said.
“You have to play with us
or we will eat you!”
The children threw something.
“Catch our ball,”
they ordered.
It was a skull!
Henry was scared.
He thought fast.
“I have a better idea,” he said.
“Let’s play hide and seek.
Close your eyes and count
to sixty, while I hide.”
The children covered their eyes
and started counting.
“One, two, three …”
Henry looked around.
“Ten, eleven, twelve …”
He had to find the opening.
“Twenty, twenty-one …”
Where was it?
There!
Behind a pile of bones was a hole.
It had to be the way out.
Henry squeezed through it
and disappeared.
“Thirty, thirty-one …”
Henry was in the tunnel,
and could see a gate
ahead of him.
He pushed it open
and dived into the water.
He saw light and swam toward it.
But two dark shapes
were coming after him.
Their mouths were open,
their long teeth ready to strike.
Four slimy green arms
reached for him….
They were fast,
but Henry was so scared,
he was faster.
He burst out of the water
and ran all the way home.
And after that, Henry never
went near that water again.
“I know a story about
water people, too,” I said.
“Okay, but so do I,” said Leon.
“Can I tell mine first?
It’s about the ocean.”
DEADLY BEACH
(Leon’s Story)
There was only one beach
on the island.
It had white sand and clear water.
It was a beautiful,
but deadly place.
Sometimes people who swam
there didn’t come back.
When Kai and Lana went out,
their father would always say,
“Don’t go near the water!”
But sometimes it was hot,
and Kai and Lana would go to
the beach with their friends.
To get there, they had to pass
by Makani’s house.
Makani was a strange man.
He had a hump on his back
and wore a cape to hide it.
Whenever people passed by,
he would ask,
“Are you going to the beach?”
Then Makani would point
to someone and say,
“You, with no legs,
enjoy your swim!”
Later, that person would
float ashore … with no legs.
One day Lana asked,
“How can Makani tell
what will happen?”
“I don’t know,” Kai answered.
“And why does he wear
that cape? He’s strange.
Let’s spy on him.”
They hid near Makani’s house.
When he came out,
Kai and Lana followed him.
They saw Makani climb into
a lava tube that led
to the ocean.
Kai and Lana peered in,
but they didn’t see Makani.
They went inside.
“Look! There’s his cape!”
said Lana. “He must have gone
for a swim.”
Suddenly Makani was back.
He stood there dripping,
and then he bent down
to get his cape.
“Ahhh!” Kai and Lana screamed.
Sticking out of Makani’s back,
were the jaws of a shark!
“SHARKMAN!” they cried.
The Sharkman looked up
and saw the two children.
He chased them,
but he was too slow,
and they made it home.
Now they knew why
their father always said,
“Don’t go near the water!”
“So he could still be
out there, right?” Marcos asked.
He looked a little scared.
“He is a shark, so he can
only be in the ocean,” I said.
“No,” said Leon.
“He is a sharkman.
He can go anywhere he wants.
He could even be in this creek!”
“Oh, you’re silly,” I told him.
“Now it’s time for my story.
It’s about the Waterman.”
WATERMAN
(My Story)
Marie and her mother
lived in a house by the river.
Every day Marie went to
the water to wash their clothes.
One morning, Mother said,
“Last night I had a bad dream.
I saw you all wet
and covered with fish scales.
Don’t go near the water, Marie!”
“Oh, Mother!” Marie sighed.
“It was only a dream.”
And she went to wash
their clothes.
She put her blouse into the river.
SPLASH!
The water exploded beside her.
A Waterman burst out of
the water and grabbed Marie.
He dragged her
to the bottom of the river
and into his house.
There were puddles on the floors
and green slime on the walls.
“I’ve been watching you,”
the Waterman said.
“You’re good at cleaning.
From now on,
you will clean my house.”
Marie had no choice.
She washed slime off the walls
and sang to keep from crying.
“La, la, la, la.”
“Stop that!” said the Waterman.
“I can’t stand your singing.”
“I can
“I sing because I’m sad.
I didn’t get to say good-bye
to my mother.
La, la, la,” she began
to sing again.
“I would turn you into a fish,
but then you couldn’t
clean my house,”
the Waterman said.
“Promise to return by sundown,
and you can go to say good-bye.”
“I promise, I promise!” said Marie.
So the Waterman took her up
to the riverbank.
Marie’s mother was happy
to see her daughter again.
“You’re not going back,”
she told Marie.
“But I have to keep my promise,”
Marie cried.
“Don’t worry, you’re safe now,”
said Mother.
And she locked the door.
At sundown, they heard footsteps.
Bang! Bang!
Someone was knocking
on the door.
“Time to go, Marie!”
It was the Waterman.
“You can’t have her!”
cried Mother.
BANG! BANG! BANG!
The Waterman was angry.
“Come out, Marie!
You promised,” he called.
“Go jump in the river!”
Mother shouted.
“Leave my daughter alone!”
It was quiet outside.
Then Mother heard
footsteps leaving.
“He’s gone, Marie!
Everything is all right now,”
Mother said, as she went
back to the kitchen.
“Marie?” There was no answer.
Marie wasn’t there.
But on the kitchen floor,
flopping in a puddle of water
was a fish.
It had a face.
It looked like Marie….
THE CREEK
PART 2
“Look!” Leon shouted.
“There’s a fish beside the creek.
I’m going to take a look.
Maybe it’s Marie.”
He got up and walked
toward the creek.
“Come back!” I called.
“Don’t go near the water!
It’s slippery there.”
“No, it’s not,” Leon called back –
and he slid on the mud.
SPLASH!
Leon was in the water!
We ran to the creek.
“Help!” Leon screamed.
I yelled to Marcos,
“Quick! Get a stick!”
Marcos found a branch
and we held it out to Leon.
He grabbed the branch
and we dragged him
out of the creek.
“Ahhh!” Leon cried.
Something green and slimy
was stuck to his leg!
“It’s the children with green teeth!”
We pulled him free and ran.
We reached Leon’s house.
“I’m freezing,” he shivered.
“My mom makes me
take a hot bath when I’m cold,”
I said. “Try it. It will warm you up.”
“No way,” said Leon.
“I’ve had enough!
I’m never going near water again!”
AFTERWORD
At the end of Waterman,
Marie has just been turned into
a fish. But what happens next?
Is there a way for Marie
and her mother to break the spell?
Will Marie be a fish forever?
What will her life be like then?
WHERE THE STORIES
COME FROM
The characters in Children with
Green Teeth were inspired by an
English water spirit called Jenny
Greenteeth. Deadly Beach is
based on a Hawaiian legend.
Characters like the Waterman
are often found in the folktales
of Central Europe. In the past,
such stories may have been
invented to frighten children
away from unsafe water.
Text copyright © 2007 by Veronika Martenova Charles
Illustrations copyright © 2007 by David Parkins
Published in Canada by Tundra Books,
75 Sherbourne Street, Toronto, Ontario M5A 2P9
Published in the United States by Tundra Books of Northern New York,
P.O. Box 1030, Plattsburgh, New York 12901
Library of Congress Control Number: 2006903147
All rights reserved. The use of any part of this publication reproduced, transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, or stored in a retrieval system, without the prior written consent of the publisher—or, in case of photocopying or other reprographic copying, a licence from the Canadian Copyright Licensing Agency—is an infringement of the copyright law.
Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication
Charles, Veronika Martenova
Don’t go near the water! / Veronika Martenova Charles; [illustrated by]
David Parkins.
(Easy-to-read spooky tales)
eISBN: 978-1-77049-055-0
1. Horror tales, Canadian (English). 2. Children’s stories, Canadian (English). I. Parkins, David II. Charles, Veronika Martenova. Easy-to-read spooky tales. III. Title.
PS8555.H42242D59 2007 jC813’.54 C2006-901940-1
We acknowledge the financial support of the Government of Canada through the Book Publishing Industry Development Program (BPIDP) and that of the Government of Ontario through the Ontario Media Development Corporation’s Ontario Book Initiative. We further acknowledge the support of the Canada Council for the Arts and the Ontario Arts Council for our publishing program.
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Veronika Martenova Charles, Don't Go Near the Water!
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