Chapter One Aaaaaaaahhhh The scream didn't come from a couple of frightened fishermen It came from the ocean depths Specifically from the mouth of twelve year old sea monster Luca Paguro Luca floated in front of an undersea barn its doors wide open Nothing was inside His family's goatfish which were supposed to be in there were swimming all over the place eating everything in sight Fish out of the barn Luca exclaimed Fish out of the barn One of the goatfish bleated Luca shouted Caterina Wait But Caterina was already off Luca followed her swimming right past another farmer feeding some crabs Good morning Mr. Branzino Luca said hurriedly
Ah Mr. Branzino shouted startled by the interruption Hi Luca and also I'm sorry Luca said struggling with the goatfish How's Mrs. Branzino The goatfish kept swimming and Luca left without waiting for an answer He passed another farmer Mrs. Gamberetto Excuse me ah ma'am Luca asked politely Have you by Yes Mrs. Gamberetto replied sternly Then she turned her head giving Luca an excellent look at the goatfish nibbling on the back of it Luca let out a nervous laugh as he quickly collected his goatfish But another one had gotten away it was Giuseppe Luca saw the fish moving along a hill heading toward the ocean surface Giuseppe Get back here Luca cried He threw himself at the goatfish but Giuseppe wriggled free Luca wasn't going to give up that easily He kept grabbing and at last he got a solid grip You wanna run off like your buddy Enrico Luca asked Because I've got news for He's either dead or you he's out there somewhere Seeing the world Luca's voice trailed off as he imagined what it would be like to go out there somewhere and see the world
Snapping out of his reverie Luca said But he's probably dead Rejoining the flock Luca looked at all the goatfish before him and took a quick head count Whew he said Okay That's everyone Then he noticed one of them had a slight grin on its face Monalisa Why are you smiling he asked Monalisa just stared as a smaller fish swam out of her mouth Anyone else in there Luca asked And then a few more fish escaped Luca was so distracted by Monalisa that it took him a moment to realize that Giuseppe was breaking from the herd once again Giuseppe Luca said exasperated What did we just talk about Giuseppe But the goatfish kept going All right Luca said mustering some enthusiasm Let's head out At last Luca managed to move the flock along the landscape of farms and silos His neighbors were already out in the fields tending to their land Hi Mr. Gamberetto Luca shouted He hoped that Mrs. Gamberetto hadn't told her husband about the goatfish trying to take a bite out of her head
Good morning Mr. Gamberetto replied with a smile Whew Good morning Mrs. Aragosta Luca said as he continued Hey Luca she replied Good morning Luca Mrs. Merluzzo said Morning Mr. Merluzzo added Luca smiled and gave a big wave Good morning The young sea monster swam over to the corral on his family's farm and gathered his flock herding them toward the pasture When they arrived at the pasture entrance he stopped the goatfish and peered inside Okay all clear he announced and the fish swam in Let me know if you need anything Anyone The goatfish looked up at Luca with blank stares No Okay Then Luca swam over to a rock and sat down He blew a bubble and watched it drift away for a moment before turning his gaze to one of the goatfish It was poking at something Giuseppe Luca said and he swam over to see what had caught the goatfish's interest He didn't know it was the alarm clock from the fishermen's boat To the young sea monster it just looked like a mysterious round object The clock began to ring and Luca panicked until it stopped Whoa he said Then his eyes drifted toward the surface of the water Bright rays of light shone down illuminating the farm
