Suddenly a loud shriek filled the water: MOOOOOOOWHAWK! The sound vibrated throughout Kiki’s body.

“What’s that noise?” Echo squeaked.

Kiki and Echo froze, but Shelly pulled them along. “It’s the male humpback’s song,” she explained.

“Whales sing?” Echo asked, still squeezing her eyes shut. “I don’t remember that from my second-grade report.”

“Of course they sing,” Shelly said excitedly. “Didn’t you hear Dr. Mousteau’s lecture? Grandpa told me they have the longest songs of any creature.”

“I wonder if the humans are near and can hear it too,” Echo said. “Swim faster so we can see for ourselves!”

Splash! The class broke through the surface of the ocean.

Kiki felt the burst of air on her face. She felt the pleasant warmth of the sun.

“Students, slowly open your eyes,” Mrs. Karp instructed. Kiki did as she was told. Little by little, she opened her eyes.

And then she screamed and screamed!

No More Secrets

AAAAAAH!” KIKI HOWLED OUT. “AAAAAH!”

“What’s wrong?” Echo asked.

“What is that?” Kiki cried, and pointed to an oval object, shiny and huge.

“It’s just an eye,” Shelly laughed.

Kiki stopped screaming. “That’s the biggest eyeball I’ve ever seen. Let’s get out of here!” she said, and started to dive.

“Wait!” Shelly said. “Where are you going? What’s wrong? I thought you liked whales.”

Kiki started to cry. “Are you kidding? I’m petrified of them! I can’t believe how big they are!”

Shelly and Echo looked at each other in surprise. “Why didn’t you tell us?” Echo asked.

“Are you merladies all right?” Mrs. Karp asked, looking sharply at Kiki.

“Of course,” Shelly quickly answered. “Kiki was just startled by how big this whale is.”

Big didn’t begin to describe the creature in front of Kiki. It was massive! Part of it floated above the water, and that part was as big as ten ordinary merhouses put together. The whale had large creases in its neck, and Kiki saw two huge scars on its side. For a moment, she felt sorry that the whale had been hurt. But then she went back to being scared again.

All around her, she could hear excited merkids shouting. “Wow, this one is like an island!” Rocky yelled.

“Ick!” Pearl screeched. “This one is covered with barnacles.”

“Mine is the biggest one ever!” Adam shouted.

Kiki’s eyes darted around. There must have been at least twenty enormous humpbacks in this pod. Just then, one of them spouted water from its blowhole and showered the kids.

“I think that whale just spit on us!” Rocky yelled.

Kiki wanted to race home as fast as possible. But she was frozen in place. “Please don’t tell anyone in class how scared I am,” she whispered to Shelly and Echo. “Especially Pearl and Rocky. Pearl will make fun of me, and Rocky will tease me about how scared and small I am.”

“Kiki,” Shelly said, “don’t worry. Relax. The whales won’t hurt you. I promise.”