Crusty by Headline Books / Zoom Into Books

From the ocean depths of the Deep Dark to the nurturing skills of one intelligent crab, Don Stansberry brings to life a wonderful story of coping with daring to be different and finding a better life. Crusty lives on a planet far, far away. Crusty is unhappy and goes out exploring. He finds not only a new food source that changes his appearance; he finds strange new friends and plenty of exciting adventures! Crusty will encourage your child to use their imaginations while improving reading skills. This beautifully illustrated book will create hours of reading fun for you and your children. International Award winning author, Don Stansberry, is a native West Virginian and an elementary school teacher. His novel, Vulture Bend, was released in Boston at NEA, the National Education Association national conference. Don is the author Secret Blood, a multi award winning book that took top honors for best spiritual fiction at the London Book Festival. It was named a Winner at the Indie Book Awards at a reception at The Plaza in New York City during Book Expo America. He also authored two middle school books, Inky & the Missing Gold and Inky, Oglebee, & the Witches, and his children’s book—which he also illustrated, Crusty, was named a Finalist in the USA News Best Book Awards. Don was the head coach for the Parkersburg High Girls’ Basketball team for 16 years and retired from this position with four state championships. Don Stansberry is a Zoom Into Books Author.

Crusty

Written & Illustrated by Don Stansberry

Crusty copyright ©2009 Don Stansberry All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any other form or for any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording or any information storage system, without written permission from Headline Books, Inc. To order additional copies of this book or for book publishing information, or to contact the author: Headline Kids P. O. Box 52 Terra Alta, WV 26764 www.headlinekids.com

To my family, Patty, Shay and Sydney for their patience and encouragement.

Tel/Fax: 800-570-5951 Email: mybook@headlinebooks.com www.headlinebooks.com www.headlinekids.com

To my parents, who didn't get the chance to see any of these wild ideas actually get to paper.

ISBN 0-929915-88-7 ISBN-13: 978-0-929915-88-3 Library of Congress Control Number: 2008937513

PRINTED

THE

U N I T E D S TAT E S

AMERICA

Far across the galaxy, in a distant solar system, on an obscure planet called Odoe, lived a strange little creature named Crusty. He was so shy and quiet no one paid any attention to him, not even the other creatures of his own kind. No one did, that is, until he started using his brain…he was able to think.

Many creatures like Crusty lived underwater. Some lived in the shallow water near the land, where the light made everything bright and cheery. Others lived in the deep dark. They were big and scary and would eat you right up given the chance. Crusty’s family stayed together, spending the days looking for puffy worms, which were the only thing they ate. They never shared with each other. Often they fought over the food. Sometimes when there weren’t many puffy worms around, they stole from each other. “Mama why do we only eat puffy worms?” Crusty asked one day. “Who are you?” his Mama asked, her brain was so small she could not remember anything longer than five seconds. “Look, out of the way, I see a big fat puffy worm,” and she pushed Crusty out of the way.

Even though Crusty was very hungry he let his mother get the puffy worm. For the first time he realized he was different. He walked away from the rocky bottom where the puffy worms lived and headed toward the leafy place where no one ever went. He walked for a long time. It was the farthest he had ever been from his family. There, growing in the center of the plants were the brightest, juiciest berries he had ever seen. He snipped one off with his claw and nibbled on it. It tasted better than the sweetest puffy worm he had ever eaten. He ate until he was full. Crusty hurried back to the others and told them the good news. “Father, I’ve found another food for us to eat. We won’t have to fight over the puffy worms anymore!” “Who are you and what are you yelling about? We don’t eat anything besides puffy worms!” His father had a small brain also, about the size of a grain of sand.

The next day, and the day after that, Crusty went back and ate the berries. No one missed him or asked where he had been. No one said anything to him until he started changing color.

“What’s wrong with you? You don’t look like the rest of us,” his uncle said. “Maybe the Orangies are coming to steal our puffy worms!” one of his cousins shouted. You guessed it; she had a small brain, too. They looked at him with flat eyes. Crusty turned and walked away for good.

Now, you would think he would have been lonely—going off by himself. But that was not true. Sometimes you can be lonelier in a group than by yourself. He liked searching through the bushes to find berries. He liked going to new places like an explorer. And sometimes he would look at the world outside of the water.

One day, while he was looking for berries on a reef, he found something looking back at him. He couldn’t see the body just two bulgy eyes staring at him through the green leaves. “Hi,” Crusty said, “My name is Crusty. Are you looking for berries, too?” There was no answer from the leaves. “Is it all right if I eat some of these? I’ve been walking for a long time and these berries look very good.”

A beautiful fish floated halfway out from the leaves. Her fins were lacy and delicate. She nodded.

Crusty snipped off a berry and started chewing it. Then he noticed something. He and the fish were the same color. The same color as the berries. “I guess you have been eating the berries, too,” he told the fish with a smile. The fish squished up its face in a yucky expression. Then she ate a berry. She chewed with the same yucky look on her face. Then she slid smoothly back into the long leaves. For the rest of the day Crusty talked to the fish. He told her about his family, and how the only thing they cared about was finding puffy worms. But he could not get her to talk back to him or come farther out of the leaves. There were no other fish around and it seemed the fish was just as alone as he was.

Crusty decided to spend the night right there next to the bush. He folded his legs in and settled in a comfortable place. He looked forward to the next day with his new friend. The next morning when he awoke, the fish was back in its same place looking at him. It floated serenely as the current gently moved the leaves around it. “Are you waiting for me?” Crusty asked. It was the first time in his life that someone had wanted to spend time with him. The fish looked at Crusty and opened its mouth as if to speak, but only a trickle of bubbles came out. Embarrassed, she slid farther back into the leaves. “Aw, that’s OK. It doesn’t matter if we don’t speak the same language. Maybe you can teach me fish and I can teach you…well, whatever I am.” A smile formed on the fish’s mouth. Crusty was the happiest he had ever been.

Since the fish would not come out of the leaves, Crusty decided to go into the leaves with her. She glided through the undulating masses of plants, barely touching them as they weaved their way across the ocean floor. Crusty had a bit more trouble navigating the maze of moving leaves. His long legs constantly became tangled in the plants and his normal speed was much slower than hers. Tiny bubbles escaped her lips as she giggled at him trying to keep up.

After quite awhile they came to an opening in the bushes and stepped to the edge of a cliff. They peered over the edge and could not see the bottom. It was deeper than any place Crusty had ever been. The fish stayed hidden at the edge of the bushes and Crusty crawled to the side to look down. There was nothing. The water grew darker and darker until it turned into the purple-black of the Deep Dark. “Wow!” Crusty said, backing away from the edge. “This must be the Deep Dark. “Have you ever gone down there?” The fish shook its head. “Are there monsters down there? The fish nodded. “Wow,” Crusty said again “Have you ever seen one?” Crusty said and looked over the side again. The fish hesitated for an instant then nodded. She inched a little back into the leaves. “Oh,” said Crusty. “Is that why you don’t like to come out of the leaves?” The fish beckoned with its fin for Crusty to follow. They moved along the edge of the cliff until they came to a patch of the sweet looking berries. They settled in with the fish just sticking out of the leaves and Crusty with his back to the cliff. They ate lunch in a comfortable silence. The fish ate the berries like she was eating sour lemons. Crusty thought while he chewed. When he was full, he asked “So you would rather eat these berries which you hate, than come out of the leaves to get the food you like?” The fish nodded. “I’ll help!” Crusty said. “If you could have anything in the whole world to eat, what would it be?” The fish brought its front fins together in a long thin motion. “Oh, no! Not a puffy worm!” They both burst out laughing.

Then from behind Crusty rose a thick stream of bubbles. Something was rising from the Deep Dark. Crusty was facing the fish so he could not see the bubbles behind him. But the fish could. She slowly backed farther into the leaves as a monstrous animal floated up right behind Crusty who was still laughing. It had large black eyes mounted on a boney shell of a head. There were several spindly legs that dangled from the bottom of a flattened body. Most menacing of all were the two long pincers that sprang from its sides and circled forward.

The monster floated behind Crusty. Just as the pincers were about to shoot forward, an orange flash shot out of the leaves, circled around, and knocked Crusty back into the maze of plants. The pincers savagely sliced the plants to ribbons. Hiding back in the plants Crusty and the fish watched the monster turn and disappear into the distance. There were leaves floating all over the place.

“You saved my life!” Crusty whispered. “And you came out of the plants to do it.” The fish closed its eyes, leaned to the side, then passed out. After that, the fish would leave the plants to travel with Crusty as he explored the underwater world. They looked for puffy worms and berries together and they always kept an eye out when they got near the Deep Dark. They were very happy with their lives, but on Odoe, as on Earth, nothing ever stays the same. One day, while poking around a new place, Crusty found something sticking out of a crevice. It was red and smooth and beautiful. He got the fish’s attention and together they looked at it. Crusty tapped it. To their surprise it began to crack open. Just a little at first, then, it split wider and wider. They stepped back and waited.

From the crack sprang a single eyeball on a thin stalk. It blinked as it looked at them. “Eep, eep,” came the cry from inside the egg, “Eep, eep.” “Let’s get out of here,” Crusty said, “before its’ mother comes back.” The fish glided and Crusty scurried into the flora.

But it was too late; the tiny little creature had seen them. It wiggled out of its shell and fluttered behind. After the mad escape Crusty and the fish traveled for a long time. Finally they settled down in an open space on the sea bed. “That was close, I wonder what kind of creature that was?” The fish spread its front fins out wide. “Yeah, I wonder how big its mother was.” Crusty said. The fish nodded.

“Eep eep,” came a sound from behind them. They spun around. There was the one eye looking at them. Below it, attached to the stalk was a tiny strange body. At the end were several tentacles. The little creature floated only a few feet away. “Eep,eep,” it cried. “It followed us! What are we going to do?” Crusty asked. The fish shook its head. The creature swam closer still and looked at Crusty with its giant eyeball. “Eep, eep, Mama,” it said. The fish let loose a stream of bubbles.

“This is not funny,” Crusty said. “It thinks I’m its’ mother!” “Eep, eep,” it said again and opened its mouth. The fish picked a berry from a nearby bush and smacked it toward the creature. Its eye got big and it swallowed the berry whole. “If you feed it we’ll never get rid of it!” Crusty said. They spent the rest of the day traveling home. Crusty was right, the creature followed a few feet behind them. Every little bit the fish would pick a berry and toss it back toward the little creature. Not one of the berries touched the ocean floor. When they reached their home on the reef, the creature was still with them. “I guess we will have to name it,” Crusty said.

“Eep eep,” the creature said. The fish nodded enthusiastically. “Eep? You want to name it Eep?” The fish nodded again. That evening Eep never left their sight. Yes, he explored the bushes and the surface above, but he did not stray far enough to lose eye contact. When it came time to settle down for the night the fish found its usual place in the bushes and Crusty went to the spot where he always slept. Eep wiggled in right beside Crusty’s folded legs and his eye closed gently. Crusty looked at the fish. It smiled back.

When he woke the next morning the giant eye was staring at him from only a few inches away. A group of berries lay nearby. The eye blinked. “Did you bring me breakfast little fellow,” Crusty asked. “Eep eep, Mama,” he said.

Reluctantly at first, then, with the fish’s silent encouragement Crusty taught Eep about the reef. He showed him where the best berries were and the spots to find puffy worms for the fish. They also went to the cliff and looked at the Deep Dark below. They played hide and seek in the leaves.

The days passed happily and the three friends grew closer. But their friendship was not the only thing that grew. Eep was changing. His long eye stalk was shrinking and a lump was rising from the other side of his head. His body was becoming very large and more streamline. After only a few days he could not hide in the leaves anymore. The supply of berries that Crusty thought would never run out began to dwindle. In the evenings when they slept, Crusty was pushed further and further out of his spot by Eep. “Something tells me that our little friend is not a shallow water kind of creature,” Crusty said one day. Eep spent more and more time at the edge of the cliff looking down at the Deep Dark. Crusty and the fish stayed with him, gazing down into nothing.

Then one morning, Crusty woke and found a pile of berries, but no Eep. He was gone. The fish looked at Crusty with sad eyes. They waited and watched all day, but Eep did not return. Nor did he return the next day or the next. Weeks went by with no trace of Eep. Each morning the fish would set out a new pile of berries to play ball with, just in case Eep came home. Crusty spent a great deal of time at the edge of the cliff looking into the darkness below. They waited. The water turned cold as the frigid season came. The days were never bright and cheery, and rarely did either one of them laugh. Weeks passed. The water became warm again but their spirits did not lighten. They kept watch, but not always together.

One day, when Crusty was feeling particularly blue, He went to the cliff alone and—a very scary thing happened. He was looking over the edge and not paying enough attention for such a dangerous place. Silently, two sea scorpions rose up out of the Deep Dark, and before he knew it, they were close enough to grab him.

With nowhere to run he stood motionless and looked at their razor sharp teeth. Then he heard a voice so loud and deep that it sounded like mountains being torn apart.

Suddenly, the water around the scorpions was filled with tentacles. Something giant was rising from below. It seized them and yanked them away from Crusty.

It rose out of the water and into the air. The great tentacles flung the two scorpions clear out of sight.

Crusty was sill motionless at the edge of the cliff as the giant eye sank down level with him. “Eep, is that you?” “EEP EEP,” came the thunderous voice again. The fish came swooping toward the cliff and froze. She floated, staring at the once tiny creature. Slowly, almost gently, Eep touched Crusty with the tip of a great tentacle. A tear welled up in both their eyes. Gone was the creature that had followed them home. The one long eye had melted into the body and another eye had appeared. Eep had grown so big that a game of ball or a chase through the leaves was impossible. Crusty realized that the games were only memories now. He was so sad that he felt hollow.

But, now he knew why Eep left. He knew for sure that Eep was safe and living in the Deep Dark where he was meant to be. Eep realized something too. Now he knew that the shallow water could no longer be his home, and even though he could always visit, things would never be the same. They stayed that way for a long time. Then Crusty began talking, he told Eep all the things that had happened since he had been gone. He told him all the things he and the fish were planning to do in the future. This was news to the fish. He kept talking until he had cheered himself up and worn himself out. Eep listened quietly until the fish and Crusty both fell asleep.

The next morning when Crusty woke, Eep was gone. He looked at the fish and wondered what they were going to do for the rest of their lives. As they traveled the short distance back to their home, they found that Eep left them with a surprise. There, where Eep left that first pile of berries, was a red egg. “I guess Eep wasn’t a he,” Crusty whispered. The egg began to crack open. A tiny voice cried out, “Eep.” Crusty smiled in a way he hadn’t smiled for a year. “Uh, oh, here we go again.”