Hopster is questing! Episode 1/25

“Whew! That was fun.” Claude Clawbank, a blue crab—who lived on the beach—set his surfboard down.

“Those waves were high today.” Esmerelda, a sweet hippo and good friend of Claude’s, replied. “I am hungry; did you say you had a salad at your house?”

“Salad and some cake I baked before you came over this morning. Let’s go.”

“Cake, yes please.” Esmerelda was known for her sweet tooth.

Claude and Esmerelda walked along the sandy beach under the blue sky of a warm summer day. They chatted about what they would do after they ate, and both thought a nap was in order.

A voice called out, “Claude, hey Claude, look what I found.” A figure rushed up to them. “I’ve been looking for you. Look what I found.” Hopster waved something in front of Claude's face.

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Claude's house was a well-known and popular place to hang out in the summer. A roomy beach house overlooking the sea had been built by Claude's grandfather. Many a party and late-night barbecue had taken place here.

Claude said, “This shell is a most unusual find, and you say you found it laying on the beach as you were walking to my house?”

Hopster answered, “Yeah, it was just laying there all sparkly and enticing, so I picked it up. I thought you might know what type it was. I have never seen a shell like this before, and you know how I like searching the beach for different shells.”

This was true, Hopster liked collecting shells and bits of oddly shaped driftwood.

“Let’s go inside, have some lunch, and think about this.” Claude led the way up the stairs and into his house.

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Claude served up the salad and cake, and all three sat down to enjoy a light meal.

“Any ideas about this shell?” asked Hopster.

Claude looked at Esmerelda, “No, I don’t, but after lunch, we can go outside and scour the beach, see if there are more shells like this. It can’t be the only one; that would be too big a mystery.”

Esmerelda just nodded with a mouth full of cake.

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Esmerelda grabbed a basket from a shelf, scooped up the shell Hopster had found, and they all trooped outside.

The three walked along the beach, peering at each shell they encountered.

“Look,” yelled Claude. “I found another unusual shell. It is sparkling just like the other one.”

Esmerelda and Hopster hurried over to where Claude was under a palm tree.
“Oh, that is pretty,” said Hopster.

“What we have here is a mystery. Do you want to continue looking?” Claude asked his friends. They all nodded.

“We had no plans so let’s go looking for more mysterious shells, but where should we start?” Esmerelda asked.

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Meanwhile, somewhere else.

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Claude thought a moment about Esmerelada’s question. “I think I will take a quick dive under the sea here. Maybe I will find another shell.”

Claude dove deep into the water, searching around the seaweed and poking around the rocks. Not too far from where he had dived in, Claude spotted another sparkling shell. Grabbing it in his claws Claude surfaced and waved at his friends.

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Esmerelda and Hopster gathered around Claude.

“So there was a shell under the water,” said Hopster. “I wonder if there are more. Maybe it’s a trail. I keep thinking about how odd that we have never seen this type of shell before. Why now?”

Claude nodded, “That is an excellent deduction. What if we got a boat and toured the other small islands? We can pack a bit of food and water.”

Esmerelda and Hopster thought that was a good idea. The weather was fine, and summer was the time for adventures and fun.

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The three friends set sail. It was not long before they arrived at a pretty little island where their duck friend lived during the summer.

“Ahoy, Simon.” Claude yelled out the traditional greeting of sailors everywhere.

Simon popped out of his beach hut. “Hello, Claude. Esmerelda and Hopster, welcome to my little island. Are you out for a day of sailing?”

As the three stepped onto the sand, Claude spotted a sparkly shell. “This is what we are looking for.” Claude picked up the shell and showed Simon. “Have you seen more shells like this on your beach?”

“Wow," said Simon, "I have not seen shells like this before. This is a new one for me. But say, now that you are here, would you like to help me gather some coconuts?”
Claude asked his friends if they would be fine with doing that. They all agreed.

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The afternoon passed slowly, as summer afternoons do. The friends collected coconuts as they laughed and talked about what other plans they had for the summer. With all the coconuts had been collected, Simon made drinks in coconut shells, and as Claude, Esmerelda and Hopster enjoyed the refreshing beverage, Claude asked Simon if he could take the sparkly shell they had found.

“Sure, be my guest,” said Simon, “I hope you solve the mystery. Let me know if you find out where they are coming from.”
Waving goodbye and setting sail again, Claude looked thoughtfully at Hopster, “I think we may be sailing longer than we think.”

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Meanwhile, somewhere else.

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“Ahoy, Sally, are you around?” Claude yelled out as they anchored the boat at another small island. Claude turned to Esmerelda and Hopster, “Sally just moved to this island. I met her a few weeks ago when I was looking for fruit. This island has some nice fruit trees further back from the shore.”

Sally, a bear, came running along the beach. “Hey, Claude. Nice to see you again. These are your friends?”
Claude introduced everyone and jumped when Esmerelda said, “Look, two more sparkly shells on the beach here.”

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“Say, Sally, do you know anything about these shells that have started to turn up on the beaches?”

Sally responded to Claude, “This is the first I have seen of them. They are really pretty shells. Maybe they have been dropped by a bird. Oh, by the way, if you have time, could you help me dig a firepit? Having just moved to this island, I spent the first few days settling in my house. I thought since the summer is so glorious I would cook outside.”

Esmerelda thought that sounded great, “We could stay the night and have dinner here, depart in the morning. It is getting a bit late to continue on.”

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The trio helped dig the firepit, placing rocks in a ring around the pit and filling it with old driftwood. They gathered fruit and Hopster caught some fish.

After dinner, the friends sat around the fire, watching the waves, staring at the star-filled sky and chatting about what tomorrow might bring.

Sally looked at the shells again, “I keep remembering the old story.”

” What story?” Claude asked.

“The story about the pirates and the lost island.”

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Sally began the story


“I don’t know much, but long ago, this story was told to me by my grandfather. There was this group of pirates, and they had found an old map. The map showed an island—that was not marked on any newer maps. The pirates wanted to find this island; they were always thinking about treasure, as pirates do. No one knows if they found the island, but there has long been a rumour that the island would not be found until it was found. Also, it is said to be guarded by fierce sea creatures.”

Sally looked at Claude, Hopster and Esmerelda, but they had fallen asleep.

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A beautiful morning greeted the friends.

“Thanks for helping me with the pit and for your company. We must get together again. Good luck with your shell mystery.” Sally handed Esmerelda a basket of fruit.
br]Claude, Hopster, and Esmerelda set sail, heading for the next island.

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“What is that?” Esmerelda pointed.

Claude looked in the direction Esmerelda was indicating. “That looks like a pirate ship. Hold on. Last night, Sally was telling a story. Did you hear all of it?”

Esmerelda shook her head.

Hopster spoke up, “I heard some of it, something about pirates and a lost island, but I fell asleep too.”

Claude surveyed the pirate ship and the island it was anchored at. “I don’t see any signs of activity. We have to proceed with caution. I will take our boat around and see if we can find a place to set anchor away from that pirate ship.”

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Claude found a small cove and anchored the boat. What they found on the beach was astonishing. Scattered over the sand were many more sparkly shells.
Esmerelda scooped them up and put them into the basket. “I have been thinking we are starting to find more shells which may mean we are getting closer to the source.”

“I believe you are right,” said Claude,” but this is becoming dangerous. I want you both back on the boat; I will take a quick peek, over there, behind those trees.”

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Claude approached the trees and hid behind some tall grass and bushes. Peeking between the leaves, what Claude saw left him feeling unsettled. In a clearing were a few huts, and Claude could see treasure chests and pirates. What was more upsetting was that one of the pirates had a sparkly shell in his hand. He seemed to be discussing something with another pirate. Claude wished he could hear what was being said, but he did not dare try to get closer. Claude was certain they were discussing the shell.

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Meanwhile, somewhere else.

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Claude hurried back to the boat and his waiting friends.

“I saw the pirates, and they have huts set up here; it must be their base. I also saw sparkly shells. One of the pirates was holding a shell and discussing something with another pirate.”

Esmerelda gasped, “So, do you think they are searching for the source of the sparkly shells?”

“I think so. I am not sure why. It is possible if these shells are super rare, they could sell for a lot, but that seems like a lot of trouble. We have only found a few, and though we are finding more---which leads me to believe we may be closing in on the source, I still don’t see why anyone would want to collect them other than they are pretty.”

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The trio set sail again and gave the pirate island a wide berth. They sailed for a few hours when suddenly the sky began to get darker, and the water became choppy.

“Look,” yelled Hopster over the sound of the wind and waves. “I see an island, but something is wrong; there are sharks everywhere and look down below; there are shipwrecks, and look at all the shells floating on the waves. This must be the place.”

Claude yelled above the noise, “We have to find a way through. Hang on.”

Claude used all his skills in sailing the small boat around the island, avoiding the sharks and looking for a way to the shore.
The wind howled the waves lashed out at the small boat. Esmerelda kept a tight hold on the basket of shells and wished with all her might that they might make it to the shore.

"I don't know why, but look, the waves are calming down, and I found the entrance to the beach." Claude yelled out to his friends.

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As they set paws on the shore, a monkey ran up to them calling out, “Hey! I am so glad to see you. My name is Montrose, the pirates grabbed me, but I escaped on a raft I found, and then I crashed into some rocks, and the next thing I knew, I was washed up on this island, and my raft was broken. See all these sparkly shells. I started to toss them out into the ocean, hoping someone would notice them.”

Claude, Hopster and Esmerelda looked around. Everything on the island sparkled, and there were sparkly shells all over the beach.

“That is quite the story,” said Claude, “Let’s get you on our boat, and we can go back to our island.”

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Claude gathered all the shells from the beach and made sure everyone was onboard before weighing anchor.

They set sail, and Montrose chatted about how he was sure this was the lost island. He had heard the stories too.

Claude said Montrose was lucky and explained how they had stumbled upon the pirates and that they were discussing the sparkly shells.

“I never thought of that," said Montrose. "I was lucky you found me and not the pirates.”

As Claude turned to look back at the island, he was surprised to see a dense fog had covered the area, and there was no sign of the island they had just come from.

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Finally, back home. Esmerelda, Hopster and Montrose helped make snacks and drinks. A summer beach party was defiantly in order. To welcome their new friend Montrose and tell the story of their adventure.

Friends from all over the island started to show up; some brought music, some brought food, and all wanted to admire the sparkly shells.

Montrose was overjoyed, not only at being rescued but finding such wonderful new friends as well. It had been decided that Montrose would build a beach hut on this island and make it his new home.

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Day slowly passed into night, and as the party was winding down, Claude thanked all for welcoming Montrose to their island. Claude invited Montrose to live with him until a new beach hut could be built. Claude went over to Hopster and handed him a specially painted egg and thanked them for joining in on such a scary adventure. Though when it all started with one sparkly shell, no one could know how it would end up.

Over near the water, Esmerelda stood, looking out over the waves. She was puzzling over all that had happened. She could not help glancing at the basket of sparkly shells and wondering why the storm had abated, why they had been able to get on the lost island and why they had been able to leave so easily. There was something about those shells.
Hopster has enjoyed his day on the beach! Please select another pet as visitor, so it can also play by the sea!