Officer Algae

My brother Malachi has just finished his reading course and is wanting more and more material each day, so I decided to write a story for him to read. I asked him whether he wanted it to be comedy, mystery, or adventure, and he told me to make it a mystery. So I combined mystery and his favorite animal, to this result. (The main character, Officer Algae, is a sea otter.) He’s reading it with help on some of the bigger words, and likes it a lot. I hope you will too!




Chapter 1




The great officer Algae looked up from his papers, glancing out his window at the sparkling waters of the cove. A new mystery had just come in. A sea cucumber had gone missing, and he was on the case. The facts looked like this:




The Facts

{By the police force}

A sea cucumber went missing on June 5, 1856, and has been missing for two days. His name is Rory. He was last seen playing in the kelp forest. The last person that saw him was Old Starr, the starfish. Afterwards the starfish fell asleep, and the sea cucumber has not been seen since.

However, news has come to us that the evil shark, and terrible criminal is back, Mr. Slime. We highly suspect that Mr. Slime has stolen the sea cucumber! Now you, officer and detective Algae, are on the case.




Officer Algae was ready to go investigate.




Chapter 2







First, the Officer decided to search the kelp forest, and ask anyone who had been there lately if they had seen Rory.

So he packed his lunch. He dove into the ocean, grabbed an anemone, and was ready to go. Just then, another thought occurred to Mr. Algae. What if that poor sea cucumber had been eaten? That would be terrible! So before going to the kelp forest, he searched to find out who would eat a sea cucumber?

He found out that sea turtles, some fish, and crustaceans all eat sea cucumbers, but there were no sea turtles in the kelp forest now, since it wasn’t migration time. Next he went to ask the crabs if they had eaten a sea cucumber lately.

“Aye!” One crab answered. “At least, I tried to eat a sea cucumber today, but it fought me off with some weird looking tentacles! I think they were its’ guts!”

“So,” Officer Algae thought “They tried to eat the sea cucumber, but it got away! Something else must have made him disappear.”

And so, Officer Algae set off again, to find Rory the sea cucumber.

Chapter 3










Officer Algae set off on his next lead. He had decided that the sea cucumber hadn’t been eaten, and so his next guess was that Rory had just wandered off. He searched everywhere around the kelp forest, but all he found was one strange plant which was waving fern like stems in the ocean current. Of course, Officer Algae also found one unlucky clam which became his before-noon snack.

Next, Officer Algae decided to look into the possibility that the sea cucumber had been kidnapped by that evil shark Mr. Slime.

What do you think happened to Rory?

Algae gathered up all his courage, and went to visit Mr. Slime. He was indeed slimy! Even between his teeth was messy! Was that part of a sea creature on his teeth? The sea otter shivered, then asked in a timid voice: “M-M-Mr. Shark?”

“Yes?” He said in a terrifying voice.

“H-H-Have you seen a-any s-sea cuc-cumbers lately?”

“NO!” He growled, and Officer Algae ran away.










Chapter 4










The next morning Officer Algae woke up to his squid-phone ringing. “Yes?” He said sleepily.

“Officer, this is the police department. We have searched Mr. Slimes’ house, and taken him to court, but he is not who took Rory.”

“Then who did?” Asked Algae, rubbing his eyes and getting up.

“Its’ up to you to find out Officer.” The police captain said, hanging up the phone.

Algae stopped to think, and then he thought of something. “Of course!” He said. “I know where he went!” And Officer Algae went back to the kelp forest.

Do you know where he is?

Chapter 5

The last chapter







He swam toward the kelp forest as fast as he could go, darting in between the kelp stems, searching for that strange plant. Algae found where it had been before, but… oh no! The spot was empty! The Officer slumped to the ground, and then jumped back up.

He knew where to find the plant! He searched around the edge of the kelp forest, and then found the plant by a crevice in the reef nearby.

“Thank goodness!” He said, wiping his brow. Then he started talking to the plant!

“Rory?” He questioned it, and then something amazing happened. The plant retracted its’ leaves and its’ stems, dug itself out of the ground, and there standing before Officer Algae was… The Missing Sea Cucumber! The Officer gasped then said, “I knew it was you! It was you, the plant, all the time!”

“Sure thing!” The cucumber said. “I was just playing hide and seek with a friend. And what’s all this fuss about a missing sea cucumber?”

Officer Algae laughed. “Case Closed!”













Fun Fact: Sea cucumbers actually do bury themselves and send out fern-like tentacles to catch food!

Another Fun Fact: Sea Turtles only come to the kelp forest during migration.

Disgusting Yet Fun Fact: Sea Cucumbers do fight off predators with their poisonous guts!