Jennie and Stevie Meet Some Prawns

“What are those things?” asked Jennie one day as Mum emptied something pink into a bowl. “Prawns,” said Mum, and went on putting her shopping away. Jennie looked at the pile of bright things with black eyes like closed doors. Then she wandered into the sitting room. “We’ve got prawns,” Jennie said to Stevie. “Prawns?” asked Stevie, “What’s that?” “I don’t know.” Jennie wrinkled her nose. “They smell fishy and they’ve got long feeler sort of things.”

Just at that moment there was a voice behind the children. “Er .. ahem!” it said. “Did you hear something?” asked Stevie. “Ahem!” “There it is again!” Both children spun round.

The wall of the sitting room had bookshelves on it reaching from floor to ceiling. All the shelves were crammed with books; thin books, fat books, blue, green, brown, and black books. Some were standing up, some were lying down and some were leaning against each other. “Er .. ahem!” The voice seemed to be coming from the third shelf up. “Look!” said Jennie. A blue, middling-sized book was bobbing up and down. It reminded Stevie of school when someone wanted Miss to see them.

Suddenly the book spoke. “Take me down, Young People.” it said. “Take me down and I will show you what prawns are.” Jennie and Stevie stared – whoever heard of a book that talked? “Go on!” It spoke again. “Go on, don’t be afraid! Take me down! ” Stevie began to raise his arm slowly. Then he made up his mind all at once, reached up and took the book.

Instantly the house vanished. Stevie and Jennie found themselves in a rather dim place. It was a bit like being in a field on a very foggy day. “Where are we?” Jennie asked.

For some reason it wasn’t at all frightening. Beside the children Book was standing looking pleased with himself. “We’re at the bottom of the sea,” he said. “It’s a bit dark down here, but you’ll soon get used to it.” “Whatever are we doing here, at the bottom of the sea?” asked Stevie, wide-eyed. “You both wanted to know what prawns are,” said Book. “I’ll show you.” And with that he started moving carefully forward.

By this time the children’s eyes were becoming used to the gloom. Under their feet they could feel sand. It was soft and grey. Every time they lifted a foot they kicked up a cloud of it. Gradually they could make out some plants waving about as if they were in a wind. “Is that seaweed?” Stevie wanted to know. “Yes,” said Book. “Nice, isn’t it? But a little hard to walk through in some places, all the same.” Behind the seaweed rose a cliff. It seemed to go right up to the sky. The children couldn’t see the top of it at all. “That,” said Book, who saw what they were looking at, “that is the edge of the land coming down into the sea.” “Is that where we were before we came down here?” asked Jennie, who always wanted to know everything. “Almost,” said Book smiling. “Up there is the beach where you play in summer.” They were trying to walk forwards, but it was hard in all that water. They had to think about lifting their feet and pushing themselves forward step by step.

Suddenly Book said, “Stop!” He pointed to a rocky space they had come to. There were things moving about. At first the children couldn’t see very well. Then they could make out thin things like strings waving around. There was a sudden commotion in front. A huge thing hurled itself away to the right. “Ooh! What was that?” Jennie was startled. “It’s alright,” said Book calmly. “It was only a prawn. We gave him a fright. Keep still and we’ll see what happens.”

It seemed ages before anything did happen. Then a strange creature appeared. It was about two inches long. Stevie first noticed its legs – it seemed to have them everywhere. In front were two long feelers waving this way and that as the creature moved. “Look at its eyes!” whispered Jennie. “And its wearing armour,” said Stevie, who had just been learning his history. “That’s right,” said Book. “It’s got that thick skin to protect it from its enemies.” The children could now see lots more prawns. “What are those ones doing?” Jennie asked.    “Eating,” said Book. “What are they eating?” Stevie asked. “Oh, some are eating seaweed and others are picking up any bits they can find that other creatures have dropped.” “That’s what Cat does,” giggled Jennie, remembering the time she had dropped some chocolate cake and Cat had licked up the last crumb with gusto. “Yes,” said Book. “Prawns are scavengers keeping the seabed tidy.”

Just then a large shape came up out of the gloom. There was a flurry of movement. A prawn was swept up by a big, flattish thing with two eyes in front like searchlights. The thing then proceeded to stuff the prawn into itself. “What’s that?” shrieked Jennie. “And what’s it doing to the prawn?” “That’s a cuttlefish,” said Book. “It’s eating the prawn. It isn’t only humans who find prawns delicious, you know.” “Oh!” said Jennie, and shivered.

Soon the children could see something else going on nearby. A prawn had begun to jerk up and down. As they watched they saw the prawn lift its head. Its legs waved wildly. Suddenly it arched its back and jumped forward. To the children’s surprise it had left something behind on the sand. They went over to have a look. An empty shell lay at their feet – the prawn had shed its skin just like a snake! Book said, “Prawns have hard skins. But prawns grow and their skins get too tight. Their skins don’t grow with them so they have to climb out of the tight skin and grow a new one. While the new skin is getting hard prawns have to be even more careful than usual not to hurt themselves.” “Does it take long?” Stevie asked. “No,” said Book. “But I expect two days must seem a long time to a prawn!”

“Come, take my hands,” said Book suddenly. “I’ll show you something else.” No sooner had the children taken Book’s hands than they found themselves in clear, blue water with sunlight twinkling everywhere. Beautiful frondy weeds were waving around them and brilliantly coloured fish darted to and fro everywhere they looked. “Where are we now?” gasped Jennie. The children had never seen anything so lovely. “We’re in the tropics,” said Book. “That’s why it’s so warm down here.” At that moment a huge prawn appeared. “Is that a prawn?” asked Stevie wonderingly. “Yes,” said Book. “That one’s a big cousin of the ones we were watching before. Let’s go down deeper.”

Taking the children’s hands Book dived. Down and down they went. Darker and darker it grew. When they stopped it was pitch black. “Don’t let go my hands will you?” said Book anxiously, “I don’t want to lose you in this dark place.”

Stevie and Jennie held tight. They certainly didn’t want to get lost! “Look,” said Jennie, “There’s a light.” “Can’t be!” said Stevie. But he was wrong. A small light floated very slowly towards them. As they watched another light turned on, then another, and another. Soon it looked as if a small submarine was hovering near them. “Whatever is it?” whispered Jennie. The children were fascinated. “It’s another prawn,” said Book, pleased. “It can’t be,” said Stevie. “How can a prawn light up like a spaceship?” “Nobody knows how they do it,” said Book. Suddenly all the lights went out. “What happened?” complained Jennie, “Did we upset it?” To her surprise a new light turned on just above where she was looking. As the children watched they saw a whole row of lights come on one after the other. “Hooray!” shouted Stevie, “We’re in Piccadilly Circus. It’s a neon sign!” “Don’t be silly!” said Jennie, “We’re at the bottom of the sea.”

“Can it really be another prawn?” asked Jennie. “Do the ones Mum bought have lights too?” “It really is a prawn,” said Book, “But I shouldn’t think the ones in your kitchen are the kind that have lights. You see there are many kinds of prawn all over the world. The ones your mother buys probably come from the seas around Britain. It costs a lot to get food from faraway places. But it’s time to go home now. Hold tight.”

Jennie and Stevie found themselves in their kitchen again. On the draining board Mum was sorting a bowlful of pink prawns. She was throwing the shells into the bucket. “What do you think of these?” Mum asked. Stevie and Jennie looked at each other. “I know where prawns come from,” said Jennie. “So do I,” said Stevie. And if they had been in the sitting room just then they would have seen a blue, middling-sized book on the third shelf of the bookshelves give a big wink.