Hunting Sea Monsters

An excerpt from my novel- "The Incident Concerning Howard's Shortwave Radio"


When little Adeline turned 10 years old, her father, Howard, had prepared a special day for her. It was a Thursday and he asked wife, Carol, if she could skip school for the day. She never liked the kids to be absent for even a single day of school, but she could tell that her husband was up to something. Howard's eyes were the deepest of brown, but when he was excited about something, they were positively black. Carol conceded and let Adeline have her special day with her pop.

The morning was kicked of with a drive into town for ice cream at Marvin’s Diner. Adeline had strawberry and Howard had Rocky Road. They walked down Evergreen Avenue licking their frozen treats.

Adeline squealed. “Daddy, can I go on that?” Pointing to a golden stallion with a fiberglass mane and a plastic lasso. “It’s only five cents! Pleeeeaase daddy?”

This was Adeline’s day.

“Ok, but finish your ice cream first.” Howard said as he chomped the last crunchy bite of the bottom of his cone.

“I don’t wannit anymore!” She handed the rest of her cone to her dad, who quickly chomped it down.

Howard wiped off the sticky ice cream from around Adeline’s mouth with a napkin and produced a nickel from his pocket. He plopped it into the slot in the stallion’s saddlebag and a tinny “Neigh! Neigh!” bellowed though the horse’s mouth. Adeline squealed again as Howard lowered her onto the galloping steed.

She grabbed the reigns and yelled “Gitty up Buckaroo! Gitty on up!”

Howard leaned down on one knee and watched his seven year old girl ride the fastest, most powerful, most beautiful stallion in all the world.

Of course, all good things must end. The horse slowly came to stop after a few minutes. Adeline was sweating a little from all the excitement. She had, after all, just barely escaped being scalped by a party of Lakota Indians.

“You wanna go again?” Howard asked.

After the second equestrian adventure, Howard and Adeline headed for home where Howard had another adventure planned. Earlier that year, Howard had read Adeline a condensed, sugary, kids-version of 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea. She was never in her life more fascinated than she was with the idea of the Giant Squid. Adeline became enamored with the thought of sea creatures. She never really pondered the Sea until that book. It was always just right outside her door. It was like the sky to her. She was aware of it, but spent little time thinking about it. Howard decided he would take little Adeline out in the dingy to hunt for sea monsters in the calm waters of the inlet cove near their house.

When they arrived back home, Howard told Adeline to run into the boat shed that sat at the foot of the yard and grab a couple of life vests.

"We're gonna take the boat?" Adeline inquired. She had only been out in the dingy one other time so this was an occasion in and of itself. Before Howard could answer 'yes', Adeline jumped out of the pickup and ran full speed down the hill toward the boat shed.

Howard grabbed a backpack out the bed of the truck and headed down to the rocky beach. It was a picturesque Spring morning and the waters in the cove were unusually glassy. Adeline made a bugle sound, as if a king or queen were about to appear, and leaped off the short bluff that separated the yard and the edge of the beach.

Howard feigned fright. "Ahhh! You got me!"

"Surrender all your treasure me matey and I may let you live!" Adeline said in a heart-meltingly terrifying grunt. She picked up a small piece of driftwood and held it up to her father's belly. "All of it, I say!" She gently poked his belly with her newly acquired sword.

"I surrender! You are far more salty than I, sir"! Howard said with his hands in the air.

"I'm not a sir, daddy! I'm a lady of the sea!" Adeline said in a decidedly less playful tone.

"My humblest apologies m'lady!,” Howard pleaded. He cleared his throat. "Lady of the sea." He took a bow and fell on one knee. "I can only offer my loyalty and these precious stones from the Orient." Howard unsnapped the backpack and pulled out a small plastic fishnet bag. It was filled, to nearly bursting, with plastic jewelry.

"Oh!" Adeline said with intrigue. She mercifully lowered her sword and upon closer inspection of the booty, dropped the weapon altogether. "Oh, these will do nicely!"

By the time the two had wandered down to the boat dock, Adeline was wearing every piece of jewelry that was in the bag. She had to keep adjusting the bracelets to make them less irritating on her young baby-soft skin, but taking them off was simply not an option. "This one's my favorite!" Adeline said as she held out her ring-covered right hand.

"Which one?"

"This one!" Adeline said impatiently. "The blue one. It's my favorite ring ever."

Howard chuckled and lifted the Lady of the Sea into the small, rickety boat. Adeline never took her eyes off her new treasures. "Alright now, fun's over." Howard said sternly. Adeline looked up to see her father holding a small gun of some sort. "You know what this is?" He asked her.

"No." Adeline said as if she'd done something wrong and been caught.

Howard held it a little closer to her. "It's a harpoon gun."

Adeline's eyes widened. "Like in 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea?"

"Exactly. You know what this is for?" Howard asked, tapping the gun and maintaining his dour tone.

Adeline shook her head in a hurried fashion.

"Well, there's been some reports of a sea monster pokin' his big, green, ugly face around here." Howard explained while scanning the horizon of the water. "And it's our job today to find it and kill it. With this very harpoon gun."

Adeline's posture stiffened. She slowly turned to face the water. "Here?" She, wisely, whispered. She knew she dare not alert the monster of their coordinates.

"Right here." Howard whispered back. He handed her the wooden gun and some spare rubber band harpoons. "Now, here's the plan. I need you to lean over the edge of the boat and watch for him. He'll be dark green and looooong as a football field. Now, we may be lucky because everyone knows sea monsters like to sleep-in late. If we can catch that bugger before he wakes up, we can be home in time for Gilligan's Island."

"Yes! Let's kill him in his sleep!" Adeline shout-whispered. She took her brave post, leaning over the edge of the tiny vessel.

Howard untethered the boat cord and quietly picked up the oars. Ever so gently the wooden paddles broke the surface of the water, and the mighty hunters were sea faring. Adeline took her job very seriously. She had plenty of time to gaze upon her sparkly jewels after the hunt, but for now, the safety of the entire town was resting on her monster spotting abilities.

"Daddy, what's that?" Adeline whispered nervously.

Howard peaked over the side of the boat and softly replied, "That's the cable mooring for the dock. Keep lookin'."

She held her post. Howard steered the vessel further and further away from the shore. There was a curved rock wall that provided a natural barrier between the cove inlet and the open sea. Howard rowed the boat all the way to the shadowy waters near the wall. "Ok, if I was a sleepy sea monster I would tuck myself into a spot that was out of the sunlight. Wouldn't you?"

Adeline nodded. She understood all too well. She hunched lower toward the boat and reached for her gun. Without taking her eyes off the water she loaded a rubber band around the tip and stretched it behind the trigger. Howard slowly crept the boat along the rock wall. Adeline gazed, bravely, into the shadowy water. Howard reached into his backpack and discreetly pull out a small mirror. Adeline quietly squealed, "Eeeeeeh! Daddy! I see it! I see it!"

Howard leaned over and saw the beast laying on the bottom of the water. "Stay calm. That's him alright. Luckily he's still sleepin'. Quick, shoot him before his wakes up." Howard quietly lowered the mirror into the water behind his back.

Adeline took a steady aim on the head of the creature. She slowly pulled her thumb back toward the trigger.

Howard angled the mirror back and forth, silently, behind his back.

Suddenly Adeline screamed so loud that the seagulls resting along the rock wall shot up in cloud of feathers and honking chaos. "He's awake! Daddy the monster's awake!" She watched in horror as the beast's eyes glowed in the murky water.

"Shoot it, Adeline! Shoot it now!" Howard yelled , still holding the mirror underwater.

Adeline fired directly toward the creature's glowing eyes.

"Bulls eye!" Howard yelled, causing Adeline to jump a bit.

She peaked into the water and the eyes were once again black. "I got him! I killed him!"

Howard shoved the mirror into his back pack and began to row toward the shore, quickly."You sure did! We better get outta here in case he's got buddies around!"

Adeline put her arms into the water and helped row. "You think there's more? 'Cuz, I could always just shoot...oh no! No! Daddy my ring fell off!"

Howard kept on rowing. "You got handfuls of them, Adeline."

"But my favorite one fell off! My blue, sparkly one!" Adeline pleaded.

"Well I'm sure we can find you another blue sparkly one." Howard assured her as he continued to row them away from monster-infested waters.




This was the daddy that Adeline would choose to remember. The playful, kindhearted and attentive daddy.

She would dismiss the memories of her daddy locked up in his radio room for days on end. She would set aside the years of him drinking too much and saying hurtful things. She would forget the man that once brought home another lady into their house while the rest of the family was at the carnival.

This was her daddy. And from the right angles, if you blocked out certain parts of the view, it was just perfect.

It wasn't until years later that Carol finally told Adeline about the log Howard placed against the rock wall the day before Adeline's birthday. About the two metal bottle caps he nailed to the head of the "beast", and about the mirror he used to reflect the sunlight onto bottle caps causing them to glow to life. On some levels, Howard never truly forgave Carol for telling Adeline his secret.

The rest of Adeline's birthday was spent at the petting zoo, just off the highway near Raymond. When Carol came home from school with the other kids, Adeline ran to greet her at the door. "Mommy! Guess what daddy and I did today!"

Carol set her purse on the counter and kneeled down to Adeline's level. "What did you do, Adeline?"

"We went hunting for sea monsters!" Adeline replied, in a voice loud enough for her siblings, still on the porch, to hear.

"Oh my goodness!" Carol said, as she flashed a loving look toward Howard. "Well, what happened?" Carol asked her overly-excited daughter.

Adeline held out her right hand. "I lost my favorite ring."