Otter POV

Day of Investigation New Objects In The River

By Anna of Bank Street School For Children, NYC.

Frank, the River Otter, was incredibly confused. What was this white, flat, thin thing floating in the water? What could it possibly be? When Frank was confused, he would swim around slowly, or maybe dig in the mud with great energy, so that he could think. For some reason, this always helped him to figure out a mind-boggling problem. As he swam around, his tail let little bubbles out. His short, powerful, flipper-like legs paddled and moved him through the water.

Frank kept swimming up to the white, flat, thin thing, and then swam away swiftly. Was it an animal that would attack him? Was it food? Should he be afraid of it and stay away?

Every time Frank swam back near the bushes, Frieda, another otter who was actually hiding from the white, flat thing, would urge him to go explore it again. She was controlling him in a way. He would have rather been behind the bushes as well.

But Frieda was also with the young otters, keeping them safe from any horrible danger that could occur. So of course, Frank was forced to do the investigating, for those reasons.

Just as Frank was thinking of the reasons that he had to look at the thing, he thought they were stupid and got fed up. He didn't care about the stupid white thing anymore. To make Frieda think that he was checking the thing out, he dug in the mud, so she couldn't see him. He just couldn't stand her sometimes. Why was she so annoying? Couldn't she do anything for herself? And what would she do if Frank wasn't there to help her or protect her (as she called it)?

The little clouds of dirt floated up to the surface of the water. Finally, Frank swam back to Frieda and told her the thing was okay, because honestly, he thought it was safe. After that, Frieda, Frank, and their little babies, Lyra and Sammy swam around and hunted. Frieda and Frank demonstrated hunting, and then Lyra and Sammy tried it. Sammy drove the fish towards Lyra, who would then kill it, and they would share their catch. They spent the rest of the afternoon swimming around and hunting. Finally, Lyra and Sammy got tired. Frieda and Frank took them home and put them to bed in the tree which was their home.

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