Being the Adventures of a Knowledgeable Stingray, a Toughy Little Buffalo, and Someone Called Plastic Read Online Free PDF Page A

floaters,” adds the one-eared sheep, nibbling the pillow fringe.
    “What?” asks StingRay.
    “Floaters. Toy boats, bath toys. Bath toys go to the beach all the time.”
    “Do you think the Girl likes floaters better than sinkers?” wonders StingRay.
    “I’m just saying, she takes them to the beach.”
    “I’m a sinker,” says Lumphy. “What about you, Sheep?”
    “A sinker for sure,” says the sheep. “All this wool, weighs me down.”
    “I’m a floater,” says StingRay in a loud voice.
    “Are you?” asks Lumphy. “Wow.”
    “I can float as well as Plastic, any day.”
    … …
    StingRay spends the next hour thinking very hard. Truth is, she has never floated in her life. She has never even gotten wet.
    But the Little Girl likes floaters. And a fish is a fish, and a fish should swim.
What if the Little Girl sees Plastic floating and loves her better than me?
she wonders.
What if she loves her better,
    and starts to sleep with her on the high bed with

the fluffy pillows,

and sends me to the dump,

and says “StingRay who?” whenever anyone

mentions me?
    It is a terrible bunch of thoughts.
    When no one is looking, StingRay sneaks down the hall to the bathroom.
    TukTuk is there, hanging on a rod.
    “Hello,” says StingRay as if nothing is out of theordinary. “Don’t let me bother you. I’m just going to do my regular floating that I do.”
    “Your tag says ‘dry clean only,’ ” remarks TukTuk.
    “So?” says StingRay. She puts the plug in the bathtub, turns on the water, and gets in.
    “So that means don’t take a bath.”
    “I’m a fish,” says StingRay. “I can float.” She sits in the tub, feeling the wetness seep into her plush belly and flippers.
    “No you can’t.”
    “Can, too! Look at me!”
    “Your tummy is still on the floor of the tub.”
    “Mind your own business,” snaps StingRay. “I’m doing my floating.”
    The water is icy cold. StingRay tries to ignore it. She is waiting for her tummy to come off the floor of the tub. Waiting for proof she is a floater.
    But her tummy stays right where it is.
    The water goes over her gills, then over her back.
    It goes over her eyes, and covers the tip of her tail.
    … …
    Plastic rides in the trunk of the car, where it is very hot. Then the car stops, and she is lifted out. The air is fresh and salty.
    The ocean really does go on and on forever. Plastic can hardly keep from wiggling, she is so excited.
    The Little Girl and her parents get their beach blanket and cooler and umbrella set up. They have paperback novels and a portable radio, too. The mother wears a baseball cap and a black bikini. She forces the Little Girl to put on suntan lotion, and the Girl whines. The father runs down to the water and back, yelling about how cold it is. The Girl drinks apple juice from a cardboard box.
    Then Plastic is tossed straight up in the air until she nearly touches the sun.
    She is rolled through tunnels of damp sand and comes out the other end.
    She is the center of a game called Keep Away.
    She is perched on top of a large sand castle.
    She is tossed onto the surface of the ocean, where she floats upon the waves.
    And floats.
    And floats.
    For longer than she’d like, floating all by herself.
    And then, she is eaten.
    An animal with musky, wet fur takes Plastic in its jaws with a sudden snap. She can feel the sharp teeth and the floppy warm tongue. The creature makes soft grunting noises as it paddles out of the ocean and onto the sand. Plastic tries to wiggle free, but it has her tight.
    Is it a shark.?
Plastic wonders.
    Does it think I’m a tasty piece of garbage?
    The possible shark trots across the sand wagging itstail. It heads a long way down the beach. Again, Plastic tries to get out of its grip, but it has a good hold. It trots and trots, occasionally poking her with its tongue.

    Then the possible shark drops Plastic onto a pile of seaweed, pins her down with one enormous paw, and begins to chew.
    … …
    In the