Evie and the Whale

A children's tale

Herbert the blue whale is shy. He is a pygmy, pygmy blue whale living in Grandad Patrick's garden pond. He is sometimes teased by the goldfish with whom he shares the pond because he is different and six year old Evie, who is the only person apart from Grandad Patrick who can see and understand Herbert, teaches him that being different is no bad thing.

 

Evie and the Whale

Evie enjoyed visiting Grandad Patrick; He looked a bit like Santa Clause with his greying beard and he was always very kind to her and her little brother Zack. He had a rambling garden full of trees and bushes where Evie could play hide and seek or pretend she was in an enchanted forest. Recently she and Zack were seeing more of Grandad Patrick because mummy worked and daddy’s boss had asked him to work different hours.

Evie also liked being a big sister because it made her feel special and in some ways grown up. Mummy and daddy always told her to “look after Zack” and she took this seriously. Zac was three and a little headstrong and oblivious to danger. One day, when playing in ‘the enchanted forest’ with Zack as an elf, of course Zack didn’t know he was an elf but he happily chased her round the bushes and shrubs in any case, Zack was running after her and tripped and almost landed in Grandad’s fish pond. Evie helped him up and scolded him the way mummy and daddy did when he did something naughty or dangerous. Zack didn’t like being told off by his sister and swung his arm, catching Evie on the side of the face and making her cry. Grandad Patrick heard her sobs, stopped tending his tomato plants in the greenhouse and came to comfort her.

She was standing by the pond her sobs coming in long sighs. By now Zack had wandered off and was happily playing on a mound in the middle of the garden pretending to be a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle.  Grandad Patrick knelt down and put his arm round her. She always came off worst in these encounters because Zack, being so young, had little sense of right and wrong and always hit or kicked hard.

Evie was standing beside the pond, tears streaming down her face and her gaze fixed on the pond below her. As her sobs subsided to Grandad Patrick’s soothing she suddenly stopped crying and let out a squeal of excitement and said,

“Grandad, Grandad, I saw something, something blue in the water!”

Grandad looked at her and smiled without saying a word.

“I did, I did I saw something blue swimming and it went under the lily pods in the corner over there,” she said pointing.

Grandad patted her head gently,

“They’re lily pads,” he said, continuing, “And I am going to let you into a secret Evie but you must not tell a soul,” he paused, “It was Herbert you saw. And I thought I was the only one who could see him,” he chuckled.

“Who is Herbert and why can’t anyone else see him? I saw him!” she said triumphantly.

With that Grandad proceeded to tell Evie the tale.

He told her that Herbert was a pygmy, pygmy blue whale. He explained that the blue whale is the largest animal ever to have lived on Earth, larger than any of the dinosaurs ever were. The biggest blue whale ever was more than three and a half times the length of a double-decker bus and as long as a Boeing 737 aeroplane. The tongue alone of a blue whale can weigh as much as an elephant and its heart is about the size of a VW Beetle car.

He said that even pygmy whales, pygmy means a person or creature who when fully grown is smaller than normal, are huge compared to us. But Herbert was even smaller, much, much smaller. Otherwise he could not have fitted in the garden pond. Grandad told Evie that after Gran had passed away he had decided to restock his pond from which a heron had been stealing his goldfish. He went to a local pet store called Bruno’s in Kingsthorpe, now a carpet shop, to buy some more goldfish. He walked in found the aquaria and started browsing the tanks full of different fish. He saw tanks of very exotic and colourful fish but they were from warm parts of the world and would need an indoor tank so were not suitable for the pond. He saw terrapins and turtles which again needed an indoor tank as they would easily climb out of a pond and wander off or get caught by a cat or large bird. He even saw a shark, another creature unsuitable for a garden pond for obvious reasons.

Eventually he came to the goldfish and began selecting the ones he liked the look of. He chose ten in all and was on his way to the counter when he passed another tank that was sitting on a shelf in a corner away from the main display. He thought he heard someone call to him but there was no sound just a voice in his head. He turned and a flash of bright blue caught his eye. He moved closer to the tank and peered in and to his complete surprise he saw what looked like a small blue whale. As he was standing looking at it in amazement he heard someone speak to him again.  He turned to see who it was but he was the only customer in the shop at that time and the old lady who owned the shop was out at the front desk on the telephone.

“Get me out of here please,” said a very polite little voice.

Grandad turned and his eyes bulged in astonishment as he realised the ‘voice’ in his head was coming from the tank.

“Please,” pleaded the voice, “I have been here for years on my own and it is quite boring.”

Grandad Patrick moved closer to the tank and peered into it. To his amazement looking back at him was a tiny blue whale that was right up against the glass staring at him.

Something inside him made him feel sorry for the creature and the shock of a whale ‘talking’ had a magical effect on him.  He was transfixed. He went to the counter and told the old woman that he had decided which fish to buy. She took a net and a plastic container which she filled with water from the sink next to the fish tanks. Grandad Patrick pointed out one by one the ten goldfish he had selected and she scooped them up with the net and gently lowered them into the box full of water. As the old lady was about to return to the counter to accept payment Grandad Patrick pointed into the corner and said,

“I’ll take that one too please.”

The old lady looked at the tank, then looked at Grandad Patrick, then looked slowly back at the tank.

“But it’s the empty tank we use to decant new fish,” she said puzzled at the request.

Realising that it was a strange situation and not wanting the old woman to think him crazy he replied,

“Yes I’d like that tank too please.”

“But it is not for sale I am afraid sir.”

“I would rather like it though, I’ll give you fifty pounds for it,” he offered.

The old woman raised her eyes to the ceiling, shaking her head in disbelief.

“Ok,” she replied.

“Oh and I’ll take it as is, with the water and all.”

“What, with the water in it?" she asked checking to see if she understood correctly.

“Yes please,” Grandad Patrick responded.

The old woman shrugged and shuffled back to the counter where Grandad Patrick paid for the ten goldfish and the tank full of water before going out of the shop to bring his car round to the front door. The old lady summoned her grandson from the flat upstairs and he helped Grandad Patrick carry the full tank and put it in the back of his car with the plastic box containing the goldfish. He drove as carefully as he could so as not to spill too much water from the tank, much to the annoyance of some impatient drivers stuck behind him. It took him twice as long to get back to Brixworth where he reversed his black 2003 Ford Focus into his driveway, opened his tailgate and carried the plastic box to the pond. There he tipped it gently and released the goldfish with wriggle after wriggle and splash after splash. He watched as the goldfish swam around their new home before returning to his car with the box.

The blue whale was swimming around slowly but it seemed much more alert than it did back in the shop on the shelf in the dark corner. Grandad Patrick gently submerged the plastic box into the tank and let the whale glide gently into it before lifting it out slowly and returning to the pond. It was then he heard the voice in his head,

“Thank you so much for getting me out of there,” it said

Grandad Patrick held the box up and peered inside at the electric blue whale. He thought it a thing of such natural beauty.

“What happens when you start to grow,” he thought to himself and almost dropped the box when back came a reply in his head.

“Oh don’t worry about that,” said the voice.

“I am fully grown already.”

Grandad Patrick stood in amazement for a few seconds and then submerged the box in the pond and let the whale float out into the pond with the goldfish. He sprinkled some fish food pellets onto the surface and headed indoors to make himself some dinner.

Next day he went out to mow his lawn and stopped at the pond to watch the fish. He saw the goldfish gliding around and swishing from side to side, their sparkling skin reflecting the bright early autumn sunshine. He peered into the four foot deep pond and stood for ten minutes but did not even catch a glimpse of the blue whale. He hoped it was still alive. He went and mowed his lawn and had just finished when sure enough he heard the voice in his head.

“Good morning to you,” it said, “I don’t want to complain or anything and I am grateful for you helping to get me out of that shop. Everyone just ignored me there. Lucky enough they often put some of those ignorant goldfish into the tank and fed them so I always had food to eat.”

“I am sorry to hear that,” Grandad Patrick thought sympathetically.

“Oh it is not your fault, but goldfish are not very bright and they don’t like me because I am not like them so they don’t really talk with me, just tease me. So I keep myself to myself.”

“What can I do to help you?” Asked Grandad Patrick.

“Oh nothing, I will be ok.” with that he dived to the bottom of the pond and disappeared.

Grandad Patrick thought long and hard about the situation. It was difficult to understand how it was that he could see the whale and no one else seemed to. He wondered about the voice he could hear in his head as it seemed quite strange. He was retired from his job as an engineer and lived alone with his elderly cat. He was a calm man who spent his time tending his garden, the garden of his daughter and his son and two allotments. He loved growing things and felt very close to nature. So he decided to accept that the whale was a gift of nature and that he was indeed fortunate to be able to see and communicate with it.

Over the weeks he and the blue whale struck up a close relationship. One day he asked the whale what its name was. The whale told him whales don’t really have names but he would like to have one. Grandad Patrick thought long and hard and recalled that Herbert was a name introduced into Britain during the Norman Conquest and one meaning of it was bright. Indeed he was the brightest creature in the pond as his electric blue colour stood out and he was the only one who could talk. So Herbert it was.

For a whole year Grandad Patrick kept his secret and he and Herbert grew closer and closer. They were very good friends and often chatted. Herbert told tales of the high seas and of the other creatures he had encountered. He told frightening tales about his family evading the harpoons of those large ships, mainly from Japan, that hunted and killed whales for their blubber.

Grandad Patrick was still a little concerned that the dumb goldfish were still shunning Herbert and teased him remorselessly. Herbert seemed upset but un-phased by this so Grandad Patrick simply let it go.

It was quite a shock to Grandad Patrick when Evie declared that she could see Herbert. He felt a sense of panic but also relief, because if Evie could see Herbert then he was not going crazy after all. He resolved to let Evie into the secret as she was a clever little girl with a sensitive disposition. Besides he felt he wanted to share his secret and his joy at having such a unique and wonderful creature of beauty in his life.

Evie listened transfixed by the tale. She returned home that day knowing her Grandad had shared something precious to him with her and it made her feel special. And so she did not breathe a word of it despite her excitement. She did not tell her best friend at school either and for the next few months pestered her parents to visit Grandad Patrick.

Grandad Patrick told Herbert that his granddaughter had seen him. But Herbert was afraid in case more people got to know, as he preferred solitude for the most part and knew that if it got out that a tiny whale was living in a garden pond in Brixworth, then who knows what might happen. After all he didn’t want to become extinct.

Grandad Patrick explained to Evie that although she had seen Herbert that Herbert was shy and might not easily talk to her. He advised her to be patient and to spend time quietly by the pond with nice thoughts in her head.

So once a week when Evie came to Grandad’s house she would spend many hours just standing or sitting by the pond. She did this whatever the weather although Grandad Patrick made sure she was warmly dressed when it was cold or rainy. At home she had asked her mother to help her go on the internet to study blue whales. So when she was by the pond she would fill her head with as many lovely thoughts about whales and wildlife as she could, but for two months nothing happened and she did not even see Herbert.

Eventually on a rainy Thursday afternoon Evie left her vigil in tears and ran crying to Grandad Patrick

“Herbert doesn’t like me,” she sobbed.

“Evie, precious, I am sure that is not true. He is incredibly shy,” her Grandad said as he hugged her and wiped away her tears.

Grandad Patrick spoke gently to Evie. He explained that some creatures were cautious by nature and kept away from humans. He reminded Evie that whale hunting was still depleting the planets whale population despite a moratorium on commercial whaling. He told her the sad fact that whalers had taken nearly all of the blue whales from the Ross Sea, which is 4,000 km south of New Zealand and extends out from the ice edge of the Antarctic continent and which is said to be the jewel of the vast Southern Ocean; so much so that they are now ‘Critically Endangered’. He asked her to stay patient but not expect to see or hear Herbert, and maybe she would have to be happy knowing she had seen him once; that, he said made her a very fortunate girl.

Evie was so concerned to hear about the plight of the blue whale she forgot her sadness and decided she would fight to save them. At school she told her friends all about whaling and the danger of whales and other mammals and fish becoming extinct. She watched as many wildlife TV programmes as she could and, with her mother’s help continued to read up on the internet about whales and conservation. She even persuaded her father to adopt a whale through the organisation Whale and Dolphin Conservation who campaign so that every whale and dolphin is safe and free.

Armed with her new knowledge she would visit the pond each time she was at Grandad Patrick's house and she would think about all the things she had learned. Another two months passed until one day she was standing on a cold blustery day with her coat wrapped around her and her hat pulled down over her head and she heard something.

“Thank you,” said a voice in her head.

“Thank you?” she thought.

“For caring so much,” said the voice.

She almost squealed with excitement but managed to contain herself. She peered into the pond and to her delight a blue shape slowly emerged from a corner heavily shielded with lily pads.

“Herbert I am so sorry for what people are doing,” she said with conviction, “It is so wrong and I am going to fight it,” she ended with determination.

“You are very kind, just like your Grandad,” Herbert said with gratitude.

“Herbert,” Evie asked, “Do you like Grandads pond, there are no bad people here to harm you?”

“Yes Evie I do like Grandads pond, thank you for asking. The only thing is that I am so different to the goldfish and they are so indifferent and tease me sometimes, I keep out of their way as much as possible,” Herbert responded.

“I have a friend at school Herbert, he is black and when he first came to the school he used to keep away from the rest of us, sit on his own at lunch and play alone at break times. We all thought he was odd so he got teased a little. One day I dropped my lunch box in the playground and my sandwiches fell in a puddle so I couldn’t eat them. He saw what happened and came over and gave me one of his sandwiches. We started talking and I learned a lot about him, his family and his people. We became friends and soon other pupils wanted to spend time with him learning about him and his life. He felt so much better and soon we all forgot he was black but not that he was a boy, because they suck!” Evie explained.

Over the next few days Herbert thought long and hard about this parable and decided to take his chance. He came out from the dark corner under the lily pads and began swimming amongst the goldfish. Now goldfish are rather dumb creatures but very curious, and soon they were captivated by Herbert. Herbert showed his true colours and began to swim like the majestic creature he was instead of skulking in the dark part of the pond. The goldfish were impressed and soon stopped teasing him. From then on they all got on fantastically.

The next time Evie came to the pond to her delight Herbert was swimming amongst the goldfish. He popped over as soon as he knew she was there.

“Hi Evie!” he chimed, “Thank you, thank you so much for telling me your tale. I am so happy now.”

A tear of joy rolled down Evie’s cheek. Grandad smiled gently as he came from his workshop and placed his hands on her shoulders, kissing her on the top of the head.

“Do you see what happens when we care and do good things?” he said rhetorically.

From then on Evie pestered her parents to take her to Grandads more often and she persuaded them to let her stay over during some weekends and on the school holidays. Each time she went to the pond she and Herbert would chat and exchange stories. As she grew she never did tell anyone else about Herbert and it remains her and Grandad's secret.

Eventually Evie finished sixth form college with five ‘A’ star ‘A’ levels and went to Plymouth University where she obtained a first class honours degree in marine biology. On leaving University she got a job with a conservation charity as deputy campaigns manager for whales. She travelled the globe campaigning and lobbying for better protection and conservation for whales. But whenever she returned home she always visited Grandad Patrick's garden to spend time with Herbert. Several years later Evie was working off the Balleny Islands in the Antarctic. She had set up an observation post to spot whales and was working alone in a remote cove where large rock pools remained when the tide was out. She loved her work and felt that the campaigning was getting through, although not swiftly enough. Her mind had wandered to her New Zealander fiancé, a professor of marine biology like she, when suddenly her thoughts were interrupted.

“Get me out of here please,” said a very polite little female voice.

 

 

© John Alexander McFadyen, 2015

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Reviews

[RomaJ]

This is truly a delightful story. Very heartwarming and beautiful. Children and the young at heart would enjoy reading this. Teaches so many lessons on diversity, patience, caring, to name a few. Oh and the most important part, saving the whales. Very informative, I shall look into adopting a whale.

“Oh it is not your fault, but goldfish are not very bright and they don’t like me because I am not like them so they don’t really talk with me, just tease me. So I keep myself to myself.”

aww he is so delightful, I love how you describe, Herbert. I can picture him in my head and he is magnificent. The ending, leaves me so excited!!! Hoping to read more:) Your story has touched me and brighten my day.

Wonderful

[John Alexander McFadyen]

Roma your review is most touching and thank you for taking the trouble to read it.

[RomaJ]

You're welcome and it was a pleasure to read:)