The Creature from Club Lagoona (2 page)

The jaws opened again.

“Welcome to Club Lagoona!” a tinny voice said.

Huh? A talking shark? I leaned forward. I could see a tiny speaker in the shark's throat!

“It's time to
get wet!
” the shark added. A stream of water shot from its mouth. It squirted me in the face.

Then the shark sank under the water again.

It's a robot fish! I realized. Of course! Like the ones they use in movies.

I plastered a big smile on my face and tried to look casual. As if I hadn't been faked out by a mechanical fish. I could hear Polly laughing hysterically as I dried my face on my T-shirt.

“Get wet!”
she shouted. She laughed so hard, she doubled over.

I shot her my nastiest look.

“Come on, Tad,” Dad called. “Quit clowning around. Let's get checked in.”

Checking in was the last thing I wanted to do. I was ready to turn around and head home.

I joined my family at the entrance to the club. The building looked like a gigantic whale head. To get in, we had to walk into the whale's wide-open mouth.

Cute.

Inside the whale's mouth was the lobby of Club Lagoona. I had to admit, it was pretty amazing. Huge
banana trees and coconut trees grew right up to the high glass roof. Red and blue parrots flew around free. Tiny green chameleons scampered among tropical plants.

The reception desk stood in the center of the room. Polly, Mom, and Dad clustered at the desk. They were firing hundreds of questions at the receptionist.

“Sign me up for scuba lessons and a trip on the glass-bottomed boat!” Polly requested.

“Great!” the receptionist replied cheerfully. “And what about water-skiing?”

“Sure!” Dad agreed. “Put me down for that!”

I flopped into a chair beside the desk. It was shaped like an open clamshell. I wished it would just close up, and I could spend the rest of the vacation hiding inside.
Not
getting wet.

“Tad?” Dad turned and glanced at me. “You want us to sign you up for all this great stuff?”

“Sure,” I mumbled. “Put me down for everything.” Then I had an idea. “Hey, do you have soccer or basketball here?” I asked hopefully.

“Sure do!” the receptionist bubbled.

My hopes rose. I darted over to the desk, ready to sign up. Hooray! I would be able to avoid swimming after all.

“Want me to put you down for Aqua Goals and Wet Hoops?” she asked.

“Aqua Goals and Wet Hoops?” I repeated uncertainly.

She laughed. “They're the Club Lagoona version of soccer and basketball. We play in the pool! Even better than boring land games, because this way we can all—” She paused and gazed at my family.

“Get wet!”
they shouted in unison.

Get me out of this place, I thought. My entire family is turning into a bunch of aqua-nuts.

The receptionist lined us up for a photo. As soon as she snapped the camera, my family unfroze and began firing questions at her again. “I'm sure we have activities for all of you,” I heard her say as I wandered off.

I explored the reception area. Maybe I would find
something
that didn't involve water. The lobby floor was blue and white marble. Everything else—the walls, the decorations, even the Club Lagoona uniforms—was aqua. I felt as if I were already in the water just being there.

Scattered around the walls were large color photographs of the attractions at the club. I found a picture of the Log Flume of Doom. It was really high. Really
really
high! Everyone in the picture looked as if they were screaming as they shot down the flume! Right into the deep pool below. Definitely one ride to avoid.

Another picture was of the Creature Water Slide. It showed people riding tubes down an amazingly tall slide. The slide was shaped like a giant Loch Ness monster. Another no-no for me.

Then I came to an aerial shot of the whole resort. It
was huge. No doubt about it—I was definitely stuck on an island. Completely surrounded by water. And I could see that the moat circled the entire resort. No escape—except for the rickety rope bridge.

I wandered through a doorway into a long hall. More photos lined the walls. I stared at them as I continued walking.

“Oops! Excuse me,” I said as I collided with someone else. I turned to see who I bumped into. A very short man wearing a bright green jump suit stood in front of me. My nose wrinkled. I could smell chlorine. I figured that must be what he carried in his bucket.

“It's okay,” he said. He had bushy gray hair and nearly black eyes. He stared at me a minute. Then he peered around nervously. “I saw you on the rope bridge just now,” he whispered.

Oh, great. I sighed. People had seen the dorky way I acted on the bridge. I felt my face flush. “Pretty silly, huh?” I smiled weakly. “Being scared by a mechanical fish.”

The man glanced around again. He stepped closer to me. “You're not silly at all,” he assured me. He seemed nervous, as if he didn't want anyone to overhear him. “This place is dangerous. Take my advice—watch out for the deep end!”

“Huh?” What deep end? What was this guy talking about? I wondered.

But before I could ask, the little man turned and hurried away. “Wait!” I called after him.

Mom, Dad, and Polly rushed up to me. The little man disappeared around a corner.

“All set, Tad,” Dad declared. “We signed you up for just about everything.”

I nodded. But I wasn't really listening. Instead, I thought about the little man's warning. Could things really be dangerous around here?

“That nice young woman at the desk took care of our luggage, so let's check out the grounds,” Mom suggested. “I want to see the restaurant and the gym.”

“I want to see
everything!
” Polly cheered.

I trailed along behind them, but I kept thinking about the little man with the chlorine bucket. Who was he? Why did he look so nervous? Why should I watch out for the deep end? The deep end of
what?

I tried to imagine what there was to be afraid of. After all, the scary shark turned out to be mechanical. And Club Lagoona was a resort. A place for people to have fun.

But something about the man bothered me. The way he whispered and kept glancing around. Why was he being so careful—as if he were letting me in on some sort of secret?

“Tad, you're not keeping up,” Mom called. “Don't you want to explore with us?”

I'd seen more than enough already. “I think I'll find my room and unpack.” My family stared at me as if I were nuts. I guess they couldn't imagine why anyone would want to be in a hotel room when they could be out
getting wet.

“My sneakers are soaked and my shirt's wet from being sprayed by the shark,” I explained. “I figured I'd change my clothes.”

“That's probably a good idea,” Mom said. “We'll find one another later.” She handed me a small map of the resort. Our rooms were marked with X's. Then they rushed away.

I located my room on the map. Polly and I were sharing a suite separate from Mom and Dad's. Well, at least there was
one
cool thing about staying at Club Lagoona—our own hotel room.

The rooms were situated along the moat. Ours were directly across the island from the reception area. To get there, I'd have to use the main boardwalk. Signs pointed out different attractions along the way. I heard the sound of splashing and laughter all around me as I crossed the island.

Soon I came to the middle of the resort and recognized the enormous fountain we'd seen from the plane. Circled around the fountain were the main attractions: the Log Flume of Doom, the Creature Water Slide, and the huge pool Mom read about—the Atlantis Swimming Pool. Sand surrounded everything—just like at the beach.

Between the three main attractions were restaurants, stores, and games arcades. I figured I could explore on my way back, so I hurried on to the suite.

I found the room without any trouble. Once inside, I stepped out of my soggy sneakers. I yanked off my wet T-shirt and tossed it on the bed. Since it was really warm, and since most of the people I saw on the way to the room wore bathing suits, I didn't bother putting a new shirt on. Wearing just my shorts, I headed back out to find my family.

I headed over to the Log Flume of Doom. People screamed as they hurtled down a river in a log-shaped boat. Everyone made a huge splash at the bottom and got soaked. Kids and their parents screamed and laughed, all having fun.

At the Creature Water Slide a kid zoomed down backward, riding a tube shaped like a seahorse. He grinned from ear to ear.

If only I weren't afraid of the water, I thought, I could be having fun like everyone else.

I remembered that little man telling me the place was dangerous. He said I wasn't silly to be scared. But I
felt
silly. Really silly. In fact, I felt like a big weenie.

I kicked at some sand and nearly tripped on the edge of a pool. I shaded my eyes and tried to see to the other side. I couldn't, it was so big. I figured it was about the size of two football fields.

The Atlantis pool.

I shuddered and took a quick step back.

Crowds of laughing people splashed and played nearby. I watched as boys and girls dunked each other and parents taught little kids to swim. Kids much smaller than me were having a great time in the shallow end. And here I was, terrified just by being this close to the pool.

My head whipped around at the sound of a loud crack. A teenage boy was jumping up and down on a high diving board. I shaded my eyes again and read the sign posted beside the board. “Deep end,” I murmured. There were no other people near him.

I watched with weak knees as the guy jumped higher and higher on the end of the board. His green and yellow bathing suit practically glowed in the bright sunlight.

He jumped again, bouncing higher than ever. This time he soared off the end of the board. I held my breath as he somersaulted once, twice, then plunged straight into the deep end. He broke the surface of the water cleanly, sharp as a knife.

Then he disappeared.

I waited anxiously for him to come up.

It seemed to take forever. I slowly walked toward the diving board, never taking my eyes off the spot where he'd disappeared.

A loud whirring sound startled me. At first I couldn't tell where it was coming from. Then I realized the sound came from the deep end of the pool—where the diver had disappeared!

I dashed closer to the side. How could he stay down for so long? Did he hit his head on the bottom or something? And the whirring—was it some kind of machinery or equipment? Did the diver get caught in it somehow?

The whirring noise suddenly stopped. Immediately, hundreds of bubbles rose to the surface of the water.

Those bubbles must have been the diver's, I realized. He must have stopped holding his breath!

I shaded my eyes and hoped for a sign of the bright yellow and green bathing suit. All I could see was the deep aqua of the pool.

The bubbles stopped rising to the surface of the water.

And still no diver!

Sweat beaded across my forehead. My legs and hands trembled.

Where was he?

The deep end of the Atlantis pool became calm and quiet.

I shivered, my stomach curdling.

Oh, no, I thought.

The diver's gone!

“H
elp!” I screamed. “Someone's drowning!”

I raced up and down the edge of the pool. “Lifeguard!” I screamed. “Where's a lifeguard?”

My eyes darted around the area. There were several lifeguard chairs lining the side of the pool. They were all empty.

I searched for something to throw into the water. An inner tube. A rope, even. But I couldn't find anything. And what good would it do anyway? The diver hadn't even surfaced yet.

But I had to do
something
.

If only I knew how to swim! I stood at the edge, gazing at the water. Wishing I could dive in and save him.

But there was no way. Even if I were brave enough to jump in, I'd just drown myself.

“Help!” I bellowed again. I've never shouted so loud in my entire life.

Someone raced toward me from the shallow end. “I'm a lifeguard,” he called. “What's wrong?”

“Someone's drowning!” I cried. “He dove off the board into the deep end!” I pointed to where I'd seen the bubbles. “He never came up!”

The lifeguard whipped his whistle and sunglasses off. He dove straight in and swam to where I pointed. “Here?” he demanded, turning back toward me.

“Yes! Hurry!” I shouted.

The lifeguard tucked and disappeared underwater.

I raced back and forth along the side. I didn't know what else to do. I couldn't stop my hands from shaking.

It seemed to take forever before the lifeguard surfaced.

He swam quickly to the side and hauled himself out. “I searched all around,” he explained between breaths. “There's no one down there.”