Chapter 1: A Day at the Beach

Jason and Natalie ran laughing across the sand and down into the ocean surf.  The waves crashed against their legs and felt cool in the hot summer sun.  “Come on!  Don’t stop!” Natalie cried as she plunged further into the water past her waist.  She looked back over her  shoulder at her younger brother and waved her arms beckoning him to follow her.  Jason hesitated for a second and, seeing that the water was not too deep, raced forward  determined to keep up. 

Natalie stopped when the water reached her stomach and jumped up and down in the water splashing and laughing.  “Isn’t this great?” she yelled. “The water’s just perfect.”  “Yeah!” Jason said grinning and picking up a hunk of floating seaweed, he tossed it toward shore and then yelled as loud as he could, “Hey Dad!  The water’s nice and warm!  Come on in!”

“I’ll be there in a minute!  I’m going to finish putting up the umbrella,” Mr. Brown answered.  Under the sound of the waves pounding on the beach, Natalie and Jason thought they heard a cell phone ring and watched as their Dad reached into his beach bag to pick it up.  They looked at each other and shrugging their shoulders began laughing and splashing water at each other again. 

They waited for several minutes, but when Mr. Brown didn’t join them, Natalie waded through the shallow water searching the ocean bottom for shells.  She hadn’t gone far when he felt a big splash behind her.  She spun around expecting to see Jason with a handful of seaweed.  But Jason was walking on the beach and not anywhere near her.  She felt a shiver go down her spine and searched the water looking for a sea creature lurking in the shallows, a shark, an octopus, a sting ray.  She scanned the sea but didn’t see anything.  Then, about five feet away, a large black creature struggled to the surface that was nothing like she had seen before. 

Chapter 2: The Creature in the Water

Natalie grimaced as she looked at the thing in the water.  It had to be alive because it squirmed and moved, but it wasn’t swimming or walking.  A large wing flipped out of the water, and Natalie realized it was a bird.  Then she saw a long neck and a beak, but it didn’t seem to have any feathers at all.  Instead its coat was shiny black and … gooey.  “Jason!” Natalie yelled with a slight quiver, “Can you come here, please.”  A moment later Jason was at her side, and the two of them peered carefully at the creature struggling helplessly in the water.

Jason scrunched up his face, “Eww.  What is it?”

“I…I think it’s a duck,” answered Natalie, “Look at its wings and head.  But it’s got something on it.  Look at the water around it.”  Jason looked and saw a shiny rainbow all around the wretched looking duck.

“Oil!” Jason screeched, and he turned and raced up the beach toward Mr. Brown.  “Dad!  Dad!  There’s a duck in the water, and it’s covered with oil!” he cried.  Mr. Brown was still talking on his mobile phone intensely, but when he heard Jason, he looked up at his son and then down the beach where Jason was pointing.  His face suddenly turned to a look of horror, and he yelled out, “No, Natalie don’t!”  Jason looked around to see his sister standing in the water holding the oil covered duck in her hands. 

Mr. Brown and Jason ran down the beach toward Natalie.  She held the duck out pleading, “It’s OK, Dad.  Look!  It’s so tired it can’t even struggle anymore.”  Mr. Brown raced up to his daughter and could see that she was right.  The duck lay in her arms quietly with only just enough energy left to breath.  He gently took the duck’s head in his hand and wiped the black gooey oil off its nostrils on top of its beak.  Then he held his fingers to his nose and smelled it.

“Number 6 fuel oil,” he said softly.

“What’s that?” Jason asked.

Mr. Brown looked at the duck sadly, “Number 6 fuel oil is a heavy oil burned in large boilers to heat factory buildings.  It’s very toxic to birds and other animals.  This little guy is in rough shape and needs help.”

Natalie squealed with delight, “I can help him, Dad.  Can I?  What do I have to do?”  “Me too!” Jason chimed in, “I want to help too.” 

The cell phone in Mr. Brown’s hand squawked again, and Mr. Brown looked at it with a big sigh.  He lifted it to his ear and spoke, “Well Bill, its No. 6 all right.  We’ve got a duck here that’s covered in it.”  Then looking sadly at Natalie and Jason, he said, “I guess we’ll be there in a few minutes,” and he hung up the phone. 

   Chapter 3: The Oil Spill

 “Kids!” Mr. Brown announced, “You wanted a day at the beach and, well, you’re going to get more than you bargained for.  There’s been a big oil spill in the bay just to the south of us, and my office has asked me to help clean it up.  Do you want to help too?”  “Yeah!” Natalie and Jason screamed with delight.  Natalie stopped quickly as the duck almost slid out of her hands.  Mr. Brown offered to carry the bird, but Natalie held onto it pointing out that he had to carry the umbrella and other stuff.  Reluctantly, Mr. Brown agreed and went to clean up their things.  He gave Natalie a towel to wrap around the duck to keep it warm and then pointed to the south where the oil spill was.

“It’s just a short distance,” he said, “Why don’t we walk?” and the three of them started off.  When they reached the end of the beach, a rock jetty rose out of the sand and into the ocean a couple of hundred yards.  They climbed the large boulders until they reached the top and looked out across the scene of devastation. 

    Chapter 4: Scene of Devastation 

Natalie and Jason stood on the top of the rock jetty with their mouths open gawking at the scene.  Black shiny oil lay on top of the ocean water as far as they could see.  It glistened in the sun and undulated on the ocean waves like a blanket blowing in the wind.  Here and there, stuck like flies on fly paper, they could see birds struggling to get free, unable to fly because the heavy oil coated their wings and bodies.  Several small boats floated in the slick, their hulls covered with black goo.  The oil had washed up onto the sandy beach and mixed with the sand where a few birds flopped about.  Many had completely exhausted themselves and lay hardly moving or did not move at all.  

People in white suits and large yellow boots were starting to appear on the beach with plastic bags and large white pads.  Some of them walked along the shore and picked up the birds.  Others stood on the beach and pointed out to sea at the far end of the beach.  Jason and Natalie looked in that direction and saw a huge half sunken barge stuck on the end of the next rock jetty.

“Is that the reason for the oil spill?” asked Jason.

“Yes,” Mr. Brown answered solemnly.  The barge ran aground about three hours ago.  It was full of Number 6 oil, about 50,000 gallons of it.  This is a big spill.” 

Natalie took a deep breath as she surveyed the enormity of the scene.  It was bigger than she dreamed possible, and she looked at her father and wondered what they could do to help.  She knew that her father worked and that he was an environmental scientist, but she had never really asked what he did at his job.  She had never thought about it too much.  She really wanted to take her dad by the hand at the moment, but she was still holding the duck that lay quietly in her arms.  Instead she looked up at him and asked softly, “Is this what you do at your job all the time?”

Mr. Brown looked down and smiled at his daughter knowingly.  “Yes”, he answered, “This is what I do, clean up oil and other chemical spills.”  Even though Natalie couldn’t hold here dad’s hand, she felt relieved when Jason reached up and grabbed it. 

The three of them stood silently for a long moment taking in the view and devastation.  Then Mr. Brown pointed down to the water near them and said, “Look the oil slick has not made it all of the way down the beach yet.  If we hurry, we can set out some booms to catch it before it reaches the jetty.  Let’s go.” 

     Chapter 5: Getting to Work

 The three of them climbed down the rocks and onto the beach.  Mr. Brown strode in front of them briskly and encouraged them to keep up.  They walked up the beach to where some men and women with hard hats were standing and looking at a map in front of a large van.  They looked up as the Mr. Brown, Natalie and Jason approached, and a man waved and greeted them.

“Hey guys.  Hi, Natalie and Jason.”  It was Mr. Thompson, a co-worker and a friend of their dad’s.

“Hi Mr. Thompson,” they said together.  Natalie showed him the oil covered duck she was carrying.

“Let me take that for you,” said a young man who was close by.  Natalie looked up at her Dad with fierce eyes searching for help.

“Um, Rich, why not take Natalie with you and show her how to clean that duck,” he suggested.

“Sure,” Rich smiled.  “We could use all the help we can get.  We’ve picked up quite a few birds.  We’ve set up the wildlife cleaning area over on the parking lot.  Are you ready Natalie?” Natalie smiled at her Dad and Rich and said, “You bet!” 

Jason watched his big sister and Rich walk off toward the wildlife cleaning area.  He wanted to go with them but before he could say anything, he felt a hand on his shoulder and heard his dad’s voice.  “We could use your help here, son.  Do you want to help us clean up some oil?”  A big smile suddenly lit up Jason’s face, and he gave a vigorous nod yes.

“Great,” said Mr. Brown, “Because here comes the equipment truck.”  Then in a loud voice, Mr. Brown spoke to the crowd, “Let’s get the truck unpacked, people.  The first thing we need is the boom and boats.  We need to catch that oil before it reaches the rock jetty at the end of the beach!”  Everyone quickly ran for the truck.  Mr. Brown then said to Jason, “You’re pretty good at driving small boats, how would you like to drive one of our skiffs to help set the boom?”

“Sure!” Jason said delighted with his assignment.  They had a small boat at home that he drove everyday during the summer.  He was the best boat pilot of all his friends.  He knew he could do that job easily.  What he didn’t know was what a “boom” was.  His dad smiled and said, “You’re about to find out, son.” 

  Chapter 6: Cleaning the Birds

 Natalie followed Rich to the parking lot where three men were tightening the last tie rope to the large white tent.  At the front, was a pen where several oil soaked birds squawked weakly.  Under the tent, people wearing white suits stood in front of tables with big tubs filled with water and soap suds.   People were already starting to clean birds at couple of the tables.  Natalie watched as one held the bird while the other gently wiped the oil off with white pads.

 Rich walked over to an empty table, and handed Natalie a white suit.  When they had both donned their suits, he said, “Let’s take a look at that duck of yours.”  Natalie placed the duck on the table, and Rich began to wipe off the oil with one of the large white pads.  Rich explained that the pads were made of special lipophylic or oil-loving material; the pad absorbed oil but would not soak up any water.  After several wipes, Natalie noticed that the duck’s feathers were still black with oil and asked Rich if something was wrong.  “No”, Rich answered reassuringly.  He explained that it took several baths and a couple of weeks to clean a bird.  Right now, they had to get the sludge off and keep the bird alive.  Next they had to flush out the bird’s eyes and then its stomach, so that he doesn’t absorb any of the oil it swallowed while trying to clean itself.  That’s when the fun really began.

“I hope you can hang on tight to this duck!” he said is if he were challenging her.  Natalie smiled.  The bird was still lying quietly on the table, and she looked into its eyes.  The duck looked back at her and something seemed to pass between them, an understanding that Natalie was here to help and the creature knew it.  Natalie had a new friend, and she wasn’t going to let anything happen to it.

“I think I’ll name it,” she said impulsively. “Yeah! What are you going to call her?”  Rich laughed. “Her?  How do you know it’s a girl?” Natalie asked. “Look at her feathers.” Rich pointed to the ducks head.  “See the three white spots on her rounded head and the brown feathers on her body.  She’s a female Harlequin Duck.”  “Oh, well, I’ll call her … Red,” Natalie said making up her mind.

“Red? Why Red?” Rich asked throwing an oil soaked pad into the garbage bin and taking a new one from a big stack under the table.  “Because I think her feathers have a reddish color to them,” Natalie answered.

Rich laughed again and said, “OK, Red it is.  But just remember, Red’s a wild animal, and if she lives, she needs to go back to the wild.” 

A great squawking noise and shouts rose up from one of the tables behind them.  Natalie spun around to find two people wrestling with a large pelican flapping its gigantic wings.  The bird seemed five feet tall, and its giant wings spread twice as wide.  Natalie looked in horror as its three foot beak snapped shut like a giant pair of scissors on a woman’s hand.  The poor woman let out a screech and yanked her hand out of the bird’s mouth.  “Ouch,” Rich said quietly.  Natalie felt a shudder go down her spine. 

Two more people rushed to the table to hold the bird down, and soon they had the creature under control again.

“Ever been pecked by a bird?” Rich asked.

“No,” said Natalie.  Actually she couldn’t remember ever touching a bird.  There were plenty of ducks and birds on the lake at their house, but they always flew away long before she got close to them.  “Does it hurt?”

“Oh yeah!” Rich said.  “Cleaning birds is not easy.  Are you ready to start flushing Red’s eyes and stomach?”

Natalie gulped and then straightened her back and said, “I guess I have to be, don’t I.”  “That’s the spirit,” Rich said putting down the blackened pads and reaching for some tubing.  “Let’s get Red cleaned up.” 

    Chapter 7: Deploying the Boom

 Before unpacking the truck, everyone had to dress in white chemical protective suits.  Mr. Brown handed Jason a suit and said, “It’s an extra large.  Sorry, it’s the smallest we have.”  The suit was very light and was covered in a thin film of plastic to make it water proof.  Jason sat down on a rock and put the legs on first, then his arms in the sleeves, and zipped up the front.  It was much too big for him and scrunched up in great big bunches over every part of his body.  Everyone laughed and said he looked like the Michelin Man.  Jason didn’t think they looked any better.

The workers quickly unloaded the equipment from the trucks and carried the boats, motors, and other gear to the shoreline.  Once the boat was in the water and the outboard motor firmly bolted to the stern, Jason connected the gas tank to the motor just like he did at home and gave the bulb three pumps.  Then he pulled the starting cord and the motor roared to life.  “All right!  Started on the first pull,” he thought to himself. 

Meanwhile, two men were pounding three large metal poles into the sand near the water.  They then tied a yellow rope from the poles to a tree at the top of the beach.  Several men grunted under the weight of a large yellow boom as they carried it down to the water’s edge and dumped it on the sand.  The boom was a long yellow strip of plastic that was thick at the top with foam inside it, and the bottom was thin with metal chains dangling down. 

After the men had brought several more pieces of the boom down to the shoreline, Mr. Thompson called to Jason who was still sitting in the boat, “Hey Jason, can you help us set the boom now?  We’ve got to hurry if we’re going to catch that oil before it gets here.”  Jason looked around at the black slick on the water.  It had moved quite a ways since they first arrived and a lot more of the beach was contaminated.

“What can I do?” Jason offered scrambling out of the boat.

“Help us put the oil boom together.  Can you connect the ends?”

“Sure,” Jason said a little unsure of himself.  He’d never seen the boom before and didn’t know quite what to do, but he would try his best.  He looked at the ends and quickly figured out how they bolted tightly together.  Once the first one was done, it was easy, and Jason ran form end to end until all the boom pieces were joined snuggly together.  Mr. Thompson then tied one end of a long coiled rope to the boom and handed the rest of the coil to Jason, “Now, jump in your boat and take this out to the men on the rock jetty”.  Jason looked out along the jetty and spotted three men wearing orange life vests climbing the rocks close to the end.

“Yes Sir!” he said and leapt into the boat and threw the engine into gear.  The boat lurched ahead, and Jason cranked up the throttle to gain some speed.  At first the boat bounced around as the incoming surf pounded the bow.  But soon he was out past the breakers and the ride was smoother.  He pointed the bow toward the men who were now standing at the end of the jetty.

When Jason arrived, he threw the ball at the end of the rope to the men and then dumped the rest of the rope overboard.  He then drove the boat back to shore and nosed the bow up onto the beach. 

Mr. Thompson then called out to the men on the jetty to pull the boom into place.  The men began to heave on the yellow rope, and the long boom began to snake its way out into the water toward them.

“Heave!  Heave!  Heave!” The men yelled as they pulled on the rope.  The boom ran quickly out onto the water, the top foam section floating and the thin curtain sinking below the water’s surface weighed down by the heavy chains.

“Heave! Heave! Heave!”  The people on the shore chanted to the chorus of the men.  Jason got into it to and began yelling “Heave!” as loud as he could. 

Soon the men had pulled the boom into place, and tied the rope off on a large rock.  The boom floated with the waves and stretched into a long “C” shape.  The rope tied to the tree and metal poles grew taught and stretched, but it held and everyone cheered.  Soon afterward, the oil slick floated down onto the boom.  Jason, his dad, and the other people watched as the oil began to collect in the “C”.  Everyone cheered again, and Jason high-fived his dad, Mr. Thompson, and several people he didn’t even know.

Mr. Brown then shouted so everyone could hear, “OK folks!  So far, so good.  We’ve stopped the oil.  Now we’ve got to clean it up.  Let’s get the vac trucks down here and deploy the skimmers!”  Everyone headed back up the beach toward the equipment trucks. 

   Chapter 8: A Bird Dies

After Natalie and Rich flushed Red’s eyes and stomach and administered the drugs to stop the absorption of the poisonous oil, they placed her in a tub with warm soapy water.  Natalie gently rubbed the suds into the feathers on Red’s back and under its wings.  Rich remarked how amazed he was that Red remained so calm and described in detail each time that he had been bitten by an uncooperative bird.  He said he never forgot an animal that bit him.  Natalie was pleased with herself that she and Red had developed a deep friendship and felt confident that Red would not peck her. 

After Red’s bath, Natalie placed her into a small pen and left her there to recuperate.  The duck sat in the bottom of the pen for a long before moving.  Natalie came by every few minutes to check on her.  After about an hour Red finally began to preen her feathers.  “Good girl, Red” Natalie said in a soothing tone.  The duck looked up at her and then continued preening. 

In the meantime, Natalie and Rich helped clean several more birds and a starfish that a young boy brought to them.  The starfish was pretty easy, the ducks weren’t too bad, but the seagulls were downright ornery creatures.  One of them pecked Rich with its large beak, and he let out a yelp.  After that Rich wasn’t fooling around anymore.  He grabbed the bird by the neck and held it down firmly while Natalie scrubbed it, flushed its eyes and stomach, and administered the medicine.  After a few birds, she got better at the job, and soon she and Rich were working together like a team.  Some folks stopped to watch them work and cheer them on. 

Natalie liked helping the animals they worked on.  She felt happy each time they finished cleaning one and put it in the resting pen.  So it was very hard when they were brought an animal that was too weak to survive.  The first time this happened was a Harlequin duck just like Red.  Thick black oil covered its body and was mixed deep into its feathers. Oil covered its beak and head, so its eyes were hidden.  The bird lay on its side barely moving.  Natalie cried and begged them to let her clean it, but in her heart she knew there was nothing they could do.  In the end, Natalie relented and Rich took the dying bird away.  Natalie felt a little better when a larger cormorant was placed in front of her that squawked and pecked at them.  She knew this one would be trouble, but she didn’t care.  It would survive. 

Natalie looked over her shoulder at the pen where all the new birds were waiting.  The pen was full of birds of every size.  Even though she felt tired and her fingers were sore, Natalie felt like she could do this forever.  Just then a pizza delivery man walked into the tent area carrying several boxes of pizza.

“Anyone hungry?” Mr. Brown called.  There was a resounding cheer throughout the tent, and even Natalie was happy to take a break for lunch. 

   Chapter 9: Cleaning Up the Oil 

Back down at the beach, Jason watched as the vac truck driver connected a large rubber hose to the back of the tank and revved the truck engine.  Immediately a very loud sucking sound came from the end of the hose.  A worker took the hose into the water placed the end just above the oil.  Like a great big vacuum cleaner, the vac truck began rudely slurping up the oil.  Jason had to put his hands over his ears because of the noise.  “Don’t get too close to the end of that hose, Jason,” his father said tapping him on the shoulder.  “That thing is strong enough to suck you right up into the truck.” 

Jason shuddered at the thought.  From the load hissing sound, he believed it could.  “How much oil will this truck suck up?” he asked looking up at his dad.

“Oh, about five thousand gallons.  We’re going to need quite a few vac trucks to finish this job.” 

After watching the vac-truck for a moment, Mr. Brown beckoned Jason with his hand.  Jason followed him down the beach happy to get away from the awful racket.  They passed by a small aluminum boat that didn’t look like any boat Jason had ever seen.  A decal on the side of it read “Disc Oil Skimmer” in bright red letters.  The skimmer was about five feet square and seemed to be an empty bin.  On the front of it were ten vertical metal disks on a shaft attached to an electric motor. 

Two workers were busy tying a rope to the skimmer, and then, with the flip of switch, they started the motor and pushed the skimmer out into the oil slick.  The metal disks began rotating and immediately oil started pouring into the empty bin.  Jason watched as the disks rotated up out of the water covered in oil, then small squeegees scraped the oil off the disks, and the black goo dripped into the empty bin.  The disks spun quickly and the oil poured into the bin filling it in a few minutes.  The workers then pulled the skimmer back into shore and a vac truck sucked out the oil.  The workers then sent it out to collect more oil.  “Cool,” thought Jason. 

Looking up, Jason saw his dad standing by his boat directing some workers and wondered what they were doing.  He walked over and saw that they were attaching a large platform to the bow.  “What’s that?” Jason asked quizzically.

“Another oil skimmer,” Mr. Brown answered directly.  “Your next job is to drive this skimmer into the oil slick, collect the oil, and bring it back to shore for the vac trucks.”  “OK,” said Jason smiling.  This was a great job he thought to himself.  “When will the boat be ready?”

“It’s ready now,” Mr. Brown answered and then turned to him with a serious look on his face. “I only want you to obey one rule.  Please don’t go out past the jetty.”

“Don’t worry.  I won’t,” Jason reassured him and scampered into the boat.  Then his dad pulled a radio out of his bag, turned it on, and handed it to him.  “Here you go.  Keep it on at all times.  To speak, just push the black button on the side.  To listen, you have to let the button go,” Mr. Brown instructed him.

“Got it!” Jason said as he ripped the starting cord, and the motor roared to life again. 

Mr. Brown shoved the boat out into the water, and Jason put the motor into gear, turned the bow skimmer seaward, and headed out into the slick.  Immediately, black oil began flowing up the chute of the skimmer and into the collecting bin.  Jason steered the boat toward the thickest part of the slick, but he didn’t make it there.  The bin filled with oil very quickly, and he had to return to shore where a very noisy vac truck sucked out all the oil in a matter of seconds.  Then he headed back out into the slick again. 

    Chapter 10: Blowing up the Barge

 Late in the afternoon when the sun touched the top of the trees to the west, a loud speaker mounted on a large bus with the words “Mobile Command Post” or “MCP” emblazoned on the side announced that all the oil had been removed from the wrecked barge.  Everyone cheered.  But everyone’s mood soured again when they announced that the Coast Guard had been unable to tow the empty barge off of the rocks.  “In half an hour, at 5 pm,” the announcement continued, “they will detonate an explosion to dislodge the barge and then sink the crippled vessel.”  A sense of concern came over the crowd, and people began to prepare for the coming blast. 

Jason was still out in the oil skimmer when he heard his radio crackle, and then his father’s voice, “Jason, come in, please.”  He picked up the radio, pushed the black button and spoke into it, “Go ahead, Dad.”  His voice cracked nervously, and he quickly released the button.  He’d never used a radio before, and he knew that everyone at the spill was listening and could hear him.

“I’d like you to come to the beach while they blow up the barge.  It won’t take long, and you can have a snack while you’re here.”

“Roger,” Jason answered pushing the black button again.  “The boat needs more gas anyway,” he thought noting that the gas gauge was just below the quarter tank mark. 

Jason steered the boat toward shore and slowly made his way back to the beach while black ooze slopped up the oil skimmer and splashed into the bin.  Small drops of oil splattered everywhere covering the bow with dripping black spots.  Driving the oil skimmer was slow and difficult.  The heavy skimmer on the front pushed the bow deep into the water causing the boat to resist turning.  It wasn’t like his boat at home where he could zoom along at 15 miles per hour and turn on a dime.  He didn’t mind though.  He loved being outside in the sun and on the water, even if he was sweating in his protective suit. 

When Jason reached the beach, several folks helped him pull the bow up onto the sand, and then they walked up to the Mobile Command Post where people were gathering to watch the explosion.  He spotted his dad wearing a blue hard hat, listening to his radio, and nodding his head.

“Hi Jason,” Natalie said walking up behind him and then asked, “Have you seen dad?”  Jason pointed through the crowd toward him.  After a few seconds, Mr. Brown put the radio down and looking up, he spotted Natalie and Jason, gave them a wink and a smile, and then stepped inside the MCP.  Seconds late, his voice boomed out of the loud speaker, “Folks, the Coast Guard has announced that the detonation will occur in five minutes.  Don’t expect to see much.  They’re using only enough explosive to dislodge the barge.  Then they will tow the barge off the rocks and as far out to sea as they can before it sinks.  Five minutes people!  Be safe!” 

Natalie and Jason looked out at the crippled barge abandoned on the rocks.  The square bow stood up in the air looking very awkward and rocked slowly up and down with the rhythm of the ocean swells.  Next to it, a large white ship with a red stripe down the middle and the words “Coast Guard” on it began to pull away.  “Here we go,” said Mr. Brown appearing behind the two youngsters. 

“Dad?” said Natalie with a very serious look on her face.  “Isn’t it bad to sink the barge in the ocean?  Won’t it cause more pollution or something?”

“Well … good question, Natalie,” he began.  “But the boat is too badly damaged to tow anywhere, so we can’t do much else.  We were lucky this time to get all of the oil out.  Sometimes, we’re not so lucky.  The ship itself will be OK in the bottom of the ocean, it gives the small fish a home to live in.”

“Like a reef!” Jason said smiling.

“Exactly,” agreed Mr. Brown.  “Better watch now.” 

A few seconds later, they were amazed to see a small fire ball rise up out of the barge and immediately felt a small pressure pulse on their lungs.  A couple of seconds later, they heard a loud bang, the then the crowd cheered as the barge slid off the rocks and into the ocean.  “Wow, that was great!” Jason cheered.  But Natalie still had a very serious look on her face.  She still wasn’t sure she liked the idea of sinking the barge in the ocean. 

The Coast Guard boat towed the barely visible barge out to sea for a few minutes before it disappeared and sank.  Mr. Brown put a hand on each of their shoulders and said in a voice that was half command, “Don’t forget to get something to eat before getting back to work.  The mess tent is over there,” and he pointed to a tent not too far away.  Then Mr. Brown turned toward the MCP and yelled out to the crowd, “OK folks!.  We’ve recovered about 20,000 gallons of oil.  We’ve got lots more to do.  Let’s get back to work!” 

Jason and Natalie were amazed as the crowd dispersed quickly at their father’s command.  But then, he wasn’t just the boss, he was the incident commander!  Jason turned to Natalie and said, “I’m hungry.”

“Me too,” agreed Natalie, and they ran off to the mess tent. 

  Chapter 11: End of Hard Day 

Neither Jason nor Natalie noticed that the sun was down and night was settling in when their mom arrived to pick them up.  Jason lost count of how many loads of oil he brought in to the hungry vac trucks, and Natalie couldn’t remember how many birds she had cleaned.  But both knew they had never worked so hard in their lives and had never felt so happy.  Back on-shore, everyone laughed at Jason in his chemical protective suit.  Jason looked down at himself to find that he wasn’t white anymore.  He was covered with black spots of oil from head to toe.

“You look like a Dalmatian dog,” Mrs. Brown quipped and everyone giggled.

Natalie held up her arms for everyone to see and said, “My arms are so sore, and I got pecked twice by seagulls.”  Jason looked at the bruises on Natalie’s arms. “Ouch,” he said grimacing.

Mr. Thompson stepped into the group and said, “You both were heroes today.  You should be very proud of yourselves.” “Yes,” agreed Mr. Brown, “I’m very proud of both of you.  You’re both Oil Clean-up Technicians now.”

Then Mr. Thompson pulled two caps out from behind his back and placed one on each of their heads.  Each cap had the letters “NJ Environmental” written in gold across the front.  Natalie and Jason beamed with pride.  “What does NJ stand for?” asked Natalie. “Natalie and Jason, of course,” said Mr. Brown proudly. 

They all agreed there was a lot more work to do tomorrow, but it was time to go home and get some rest. Tired and sore but feeling very happy, the Brown family got into their car and headed for home. Natalie and Jason began talking all at once about their day, but before long Mrs. Brown noticed that it grew quiet in the back seat. Glancing back she saw Natalie and Jason curled up together asleep. She smiled and suggested that Mr. Brown look back. Mr. Brown snorted, and Mrs. Brown knew she had three sleeping workers in her car.