Manpot's Tales of the Tropics (8 page)

Beverly was in paradise.

A few hours later Beverly found herself walking hand
in hand with Rick along Cane Garden Bay as the sun set behind Jost
Van Dyke...

It was the start of a beautiful romance...

It wasn't long before Beverly moved from the "guest
cottage" to the "villa". They worked the season together almost
doubling the business of the bar and restaurant. Everyone loved
Beverly at the bar.

Life was wonderful.

As spring turned to summer and things slowed down
Rick came up with a plan ...a pal had a cruising catamaran they
could borrow and Rick would show Beverly all the beautiful Virgin
Islands…

Rick and Beverly were last spotted sailing towards
Anegada with a dream to find a new spot to open a beach bar...

And, if they found that spot, they knew exactly what
they would call that dream bar…in honour of Shep it would be…."The
Dead Dog Saloon".

Bongo the Pelican circled high above the turquoise
waters of Mango Bay…It was his favorite place on the beautiful
Caribbean island of St Kids ...There were the swaying palm trees
that lined the beach with sand as soft as talcum powder and the
water so clear that he could see all the swimming fishes…and that
was important to a pelican who survives by diving into the ocean
and catching fish for dinner…and breakfast and lunch.

And Bongo was the best fisher of all the pelicans in
Mango Bay…maybe even on the whole island of St Kids.

There was another big reason Bongo liked Mango Bay so
much…his two special pals Sidney and Sharon, who came to play there
every day after school.

Sidney and Sharon would sit on the beach doing their
homework…sometimes they would use a pointed piece of driftwood to
write the alphabet in the sand…sometimes they would do their
math...but always they would laugh and sing…and that made Bongo so
happy.

But the best time of day for Bongo was after Sharon
and Sidney finished their homework. They always played on an old
tire swing that hung from a big curving palm tree over the sand…and
then went for a cooling swim.

As Sidney and Sharon jumped up and down in the warm
Caribbean Sea their curly locks bounced in time…then Bongo would
swoop out of the blue sky and skim along the water right by his
friends…Sidney and Sharon would laugh and cheer…and they were sure
they could see a smile on the face of their pelican pal.

There was one other thing that made Bongo different
from all the other pelicans on Mango Bay…on top of his head he had
a little tuft of squiggly feathers that looked just like Sidney and
Sharon’s curly locks.

All summer long Bongo played with Sharon and Sidney.
They loved being at the beach with their pal. As the hot days went
by they noticed the tips of their dark brown locks slowly turning
blonde…and they saw exactly the same thing happening to Bongo’s
squiggly feathers.

One day they went looking for perfect pink shells
along the shoreline and then spelled out “BONGO” in the sand. When
they put the last shell on the last “O” Bongo landed right on the
beach in front of them…they were sure he was reading his name in
the sand because he looked up at them and then back to the letters
two or three times. Then Bongo took off and flew round and round
them. Sidney and Sharon spun around following him ‘til they got
giddy and landed in the soft, warm sand in a big giggling heap…And
that made Bongo REALLY smile.

On a sunny afternoon in late summer Sidney and Sharon
went to the beach as usual…but something was missing…Bongo wasn’t
there. He wasn’t skimming over the waves…he wasn’t sitting on his
favorite rock…and he wasn’t even on top of the nearby sea grape
tree where he sometimes liked to perch. Sidney and Sharon decided
to go searching for their friend. They didn’t have to look far.

Down the beach under a palm tree they found Bongo…but
something was terribly wrong. Bongo tried to look up and smile but
he was very weak...and his eyes that used to sparkle so brightly
looked dull and cloudy. Sharon and Sidney were very worried. Gently
they picked up their feathery friend and Sharon wrapped him in her
big beach towel.

Bongo looked up at her.

Sharon and Sidney gently carried Bongo down to the
other end of the beach where the kindly fisherman lived. He was
sitting outside his shack mending his nets when they walked up. The
fisherman took one look at his pelican pal and knew what was wrong.
The fisherman quickly ran inside his shack...minutes later he came
back out with a plate full of fish cut into tiny pieces. The
fisherman immediately gave a morsel to Bongo….Bongo slowly
swallowed the fish then opened his big beak for another piece.

The fisherman explained to Sharon and Sidney that
Bongo had not been eating and that was why he was so weak. And the
fisherman said he thought he knew why Bongo had not been eating. He
hadn’t been able to dive into the water for fish because his
eyesight was getting bad.

All those years of diving into the water with his
eyes open to catch fish had caused the damage. Sharon and Sidney
were very sad but the fisherman told them not to worry…he would
catch enough fish for both him and Bongo and he would help make
their friend strong again.

Slowly Sidney and Sharon walked back along the beach.
They believed the fisherman when he told them he could make Bongo
strong again…but they new life would never be the same for their
pal if he could not see properly.

It was bad enough that he wouldn’t be able to dive
for fish but they also knew that if Bongo could not see well he
would never be able to fly again. They just could not imagine
swimming in Mango Bay without Bongo whizzing by.

Just then Sidney’s bare toes kicked something in the
sand…

Sidney bent down and brushed the sand away…t was a
pair of old swimming goggles. Sidney looked at Sharon…Sharon looked
back at Sidney and they both broke into big smiles...if they could
get some special lenses for these goggles maybe Bongo would be able
to fly again.

There was only one person who could help them…the
wise old lady who lived in the village over the hill. Everyone
called her Jennifer Jumping Up because she just loved to dance to
the island music. No one knew how old Jennifer Jumping Up was but
she looked so young because of all that exercise she got from
“Jumping Up” in the sand. Sidney and Sharon scooped up the goggles
and ran off to the village.

Jennifer Jumping Up was sitting on her front porch
when Sidney and Sharon ran up. They were panting from running and
sweat trickled down their faces but they were so excited they
immediately started to tell their story. Jennifer held up her hand
and then disappeared inside her little pink and blue
house...Moments later she came back with two large frosty glasses
of lemonade. “Drink first…then tell me your tale”, she said in a
voice just as sweet as the lemonade they were sipping.

Finally Sidney and Sharon finished the lemonade and
told Jennifer Jumping Up the whole story…then they showed the old
lady the goggles they had found in the sand. ”Bring me Bongo” she
said in her sing-song voice. Sidney and Sharon ran back to the
fisherman’s hut. Bongo seemed a lot stronger when they got
there…and they were sure he smiled at them. They told the fisherman
they were taking Bongo to Jennifer’s… then Sharon wrapped the
pelican in the beach towel and carried him to the village.

When they got back to Jennifer’s the second time
there were two more cold glasses of lemonade waiting for them, some
water and chopped up fish for Bongo…and beside the old lady was a
brightly painted bucket filled to the top with pairs of old
eyeglasses. Jennifer told her two young friends that she collected
the glasses to give to the other villagers so they could read when
they got older. Now she was going to see if there was a pair in
there that would help Bongo.

Jennifer told Sharon to hold the glasses in front of
Bongo’s eyes...then she held a piece of fish in front of him. Bongo
tried to catch the fish. Sometimes his beak went past the tasty
snack…sometimes he would snap at it when his beak was inches away.
Slowly Jennifer and the kids worked their way through the bucketful
of glasses...but none seemed to be helping Bongo’s eyes to focus on
the fish.

There were just three pairs left. Patiently Sidney
held the glasses in front of Bongo, Jennifer held a piece of fish
in her fingers…Bongo moved his beak forward and perfectly snapped
the fish. They tried it again and Bongo grabbed the fish perfectly
again. Sidney and Sharon clapped. Jennifer cheered…and Bongo seemed
to have a big smile on his face.

But there was no way Bongo could keep these glasses
on his long beak, so Jennifer gently removed the lenses...then the
clever old lady took the swimming goggles and removed the scratched
glass that was in them. Jennifer wanted to put the lenses from the
eyeglasses into the swimming goggles but they were much too big.
Using a wax crayon Jennifer drew on the glass showing the size they
needed to be to fit. Then Jennifer dug deep in a bag she kept by
her side and pulled out a smaller velvet pouch. Sidney and Sharon
watched in amazement as Jennifer gently removed a large, sparkling
diamond...it was so bright the sun reflected off it in rainbows of
color.

“This was a gift from a very special person…a sea
captain.., given to me long ago,” said the old lady mysteriously,
“diamonds are the only thing that can cut glass…so I’ll use it to
make these lenses just the right size”. The diamond glittered and
shone as Jennifer cut the glass…then popped the lenses right into
the swimming goggles. Sharon and Sidney cheered. Bongo cocked his
head to one side and looked confused.

It was time for the big test. Sharon stroked Bongo as
Sidney gently slipped the goggles over their buddy’s head. Jennifer
carefully adjusted the strap…the bushy feathers on top of his head
stopped the strap from slipping forward.

The goggles made Bongo look like one of those pilots
in an old open airplane…but would they help him fly again??

Sharon, Sidney and Jennifer carried Bongo back to the
beach….from the far end of the bay the fisherman saw them coming
and he joined them all at the water’s edge. For a few moments they
all stared out to sea…then Sidney held his pelican pal out in front
of him, raised him gently into the air…and let go.

Bongo seemed to drop, then flapped his wings and
started to climb out above the turquoise waters of Mango Bay. Bongo
swooped down, slightly misjudged the distance to the water and just
skimmed the surface...he climbed into the sky...swooped down a
second time and pulled out of his dive just in time. Bongo could
see perfectly again.

On the beach Sharon, Sidney, Jennifer and the
fisherman danced round and round in circles cheering…out over the
bay Bongo did a wild, triple victory roll before heading right to
the beach and then turning round and round in the air above his
friends.

With the help of his very special friends Bongo could
fly again…and life returned to normal on Mango Bay on the beautiful
island of St Kids.