South of the Bahamas

by Bruce Grimes

Tony and Alex were brothers who liked to go on adventures together.

They were in the Bahamas for a fishing trip. They rented a fast speed boat and set out to catch Free Willie, an orca that lived in the Bahamas.

After fishing for a while, they caught the wild orca! What a surprise!

When they caught Free Willie, they said, “Now what do we do?” They put a tag on his fin. But they didn’t see a dock for miles. They drove very fast with the orca in a net above the boat until they found a dock. 

They didn’t know it was secretly a portal! They stepped out of the boat but instead of stepping onto the usual wooden dock, suddenly they stepped through the portal right into Antarctica!
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Free Willie followed them through the portal and leaped right into the cold, fresh water when he landed in Antarctica. He felt so happy! 

But Tony and Alex were in trouble. They were wearing shorts and tank tops, which are good for the Bahamas but not for Antarctica. Man, were they cold! They needed some winter attire right away so they wouldn’t catch pneumonia.
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They met a group of scientists who were studying the coldest killer whales on Earth. The scientists were surprised to see Tony and Alex. “What are you two doing here?” they asked. “We don’t know how we got here! We ended up in a portal,” they said. The scientists took them in and gave them warm clothes and heavy parkas to wear. They gave them hot cocoa in Vikings Yeti cups.

That night, they watched the Southern Lights with the scientists through binoculars and telescopes. 

Free Willie had gone to find his family. He found them nearby, and they were so happy to see each other again!

Tony and Alex spent the night with the scientists at their research station. The next morning, they said goodbye and thank you to the scientists. They went back to the portal and stepped through . . . right back onto the beach in the Bahamas, still wearing their Antarctica parkas. 
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“What an adventure!” they laughed.