Purple Scales
By Allison Sayde
Once upon a time there was a mermaid named Kelly. Kelly lived in the warm
waters of the Caribbean in a little town called Shellville. There were many
mermaids in Shellville and after school every day, all of them would swim up
onto the rocks and laugh and gossip and talk about the cute human boys that
windsurfed.
cuteeee
So cute
You see, all of the mermaids in Kelly’s town had purple scales; bright,
shiny, sparkling, purple scales and they all hung out together. Kelly
was an outsider. Her tail was green. “ GREEN SCALES, GREEN
SCALES, HERE COMES GREEN SCALES!” The other mermaids
would laugh. This made Kelly really sad." If only I could have one
purple scale, then I’d fit in,” she sighed. “But no one would ever share
one with me.”
HAHAHA
GREEN
SCALES!
So Kelly swam home that night, crying, and slammed her bedroom door shut.
“KNOCK, KNOCK,” sounded the door.
“Come in,” said Kelly.
“Hey girl,” smiled Kelly’s mischievous merbrother, Finn, “ What’s wrong?”
“It’s my scales!” Cried Kelly. “ I need to find a way to get a purple one!”
Finn shook his head.“ This has been going on for far too long, Kelly. We’re
taking care of this tonight. I have a plan.”
Kelly was watching time slowly tick by on her shellphone, when she got a text
from Finn, “meet me out back.” Kelly quietly swam out her bedroom window and
followed Finn into the night.
Ten minutes later, they arrived at a very gloomy looking cave. “Wh…what is
this place?!” Whispered Kelly nervously to Finn.
“It’s the cave of the Witch of the Sea,” Finn whispered back. “Lets go.”
Upon entering the cave, Finn and Kelly were greeted by the Witch of the Sea.
“What brings you here tonight, Finn?” She asked eerily.
“Kelly needs a purple tail full of purple scales,” he replied. And with that, Finn
handed the Witch of the Sea 600 scallops and she got right to work.
She carefully placed a purple scale on Kelly’s tail, then cast a magic spell.
Right before Kelly’s eyes the scales began replicating like crazy. Before
she knew it, she had the purple tail she’d always dreamt of!
“You must tell no one of this,” warned the Witch of the Sea. Handing Kelly
a shiny shark tooth necklace as a bribe, she shook her head in agreeance
and swam home with Finn.
Kelly and Finn swam silently through the waters. It was 11:35 PMcurfew was 10:00. Shellville was packed with merpolice. They knew if
they weren’t careful, they could get caught and sent to Coral Prison.
Shhhhh…
All of a sudden, Finn heard a scream from behind him! It was Kelly! She was tied
up in a seaweed tree! “Help me!” She cried.
HELP
ME!!
BUSTED. Merpolice came rushing from everywhere and Kelly and Finn
BUSTED. Merpolice came rushing from everywhere and Kelly and Finn were
were surrounded. “Put your tails where I can see them!” Screamed one
surrounded. “Put your tails where I can see them!” Screamed one
merpoliceman. Kelly and Finn just looked at each other. No where to
merpoliceman. Kelly and Finn just looked at each other. No where to swim! It
swim! It was off to the Coral Prison, thought Kelly as the merpolice
was off to the Coral Prison, thought Kelly as the merpolice tailcuffed her and
tailcuffed her and Finn. As the merpolice swam them to their car, Kelly
Finn. As the merpolice swam them to their car, Kelly looked up at Finn with tears
looked up at Finn with tears in her eyes. “Don’t worry Kel, I have a plan.”
in her eyes. “Don’t worry Kel, I have a plan.” Finn whispered.
Finn whispered.
I have
a plan.
Upon arriving to Coral Prison, Kelly and Finn were lined up against a
wall along with other juvenile merkids. “HEY IT’S GARY!” Finn shouted,
“I was wondering why you hadn’t been in algebra!”
A merpoliceman whipped around. “You spoke out of line, you’ve broken
the rules. I’m afraid it’s off to the chain gang for you and your sister.”
Kelly looked up at Finn with dissapointment as the merpolice chained their
tails to the long chain gang line that swam around the prison on a daily.
The chain was long and rusty and really hurt Kelly’s tail. After swimming
around the prison for an hour or so, the chain gang came across an area
where no merpolice were. Thinking on his tail, Finn jumped on the
opportunity. “Kelly, give me your shark tooth necklace!” He whispered
anxiously.
“What for?” she whispered back.
“I’m going to pick the lock. On the count of three, I’ll wedge it between the
links and we’ll both swim in opposite directions.” It was a genius idea.
“One, two, THREE!” With a twist of the necklace Kelly and Finn swam, as hard
as they could in opposing directions, breaking the chain that bound them
together. “SWIM, SWIM, WE HAVE TO GET OUT!” Kelly cried. They swam this
way and that way, back and forth, side to side with all of their strength, until
they finally reached the prison door and high tailed it out of there.
“We did it Finn, we did it!” Kelly rejoiced.
“What a rush!” Screamed Finn.
With their great adventure behind them,
Kelly and Finn swam home laughing and
reflecting on the past two days. “At least
you got that purple tail you’ve always
wanted,” Finn joked.
“You know Finn, this whole scale
obsession was so silly. I mean, it
shouldn’t matter what color your scales
are, people should like you for you!”
Kelly remarked.
“It’s what I’ve been trying to tell you all
along sis,” Finn replied.
Kelly smiled and looked down at her
purple tail half heartedly, “ So Finn do
you think the spell is reversa-”
Finn rolled his eyes, “WE’RE NOT
GOING BACK.”
What a
rush!
We did
it Finn,
we did
it!
Steps of Mitosis explained:
Interphase: replicating of the scales (Chromatids replicated, scales represent
chromatids)
Prophase: Kelly gets “tied up” in the seaweed ( Chromatids connected at
centrospheres)
Metaphase: Kelly and Finn line up against the prison wall ( they are the
chromatids that are lining up along the equator. The chain that holds Kelly and
Finn and the other juvenile merkids together is like spindle fibers)
Anaphase: Finn uses the shark tooth and him and Kelly swim in opposite
directions to separate ( just like how the spindle fibers pull apart the two sister
chromatids.)
Telophase: Kelly and Finn separate themselves from the chain gang and swim
away ( sister chromatids are pulled apart and the spindle fibers return to
microtubules.)
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