How the Walrus Got Its Teeth

BY: Tobin

Many winters ago walruses had no teeth to open the clams. So they used their hands to open clams. It was so cold where they lived that their hands got extremely frostbitten and fell off. One day the chief of all the walruses called a council meeting and said, “I need some of our youth to find a new way to open clams.” Some of the youth thought they would get very popular if they found the way to open clams. Sasha was one of the young walruses. She thought for two days, two nights, and two hours, two minutes and two seconds. Then she got an idea. She tried to sew sticks to her flippers but she couldn’t even pick up the sewing needle. Another walrus named Jon thought for three days, three nights, and three hours, three minutes and three seconds. Then he got an idea. He put a clam under the bottom of an iceberg and pushed a big block of ice over it, but the clam went threw the block of ice. Peter, the youngest walrus was walking and thinking about how he could find a way to open clams that everyone could do. He thought for four days, four nights, and four hours, four minutes and four seconds. Then he got an idea. First, Peter looked for something to open the clam, but it took a long time and a lot of effort with flippers. So he thought he needed to do something better and easier. For his second try, Peter, put the clam in very, very cold water. This made the clam very, very cold. Then Peter raced to the top of the biggest iceberg he could find and he threw the clam over the edge. Peter raced back down and found the clam. It had split open but the yummy part inside was very, very cold and not very yummy anymore. Peter was very hungry from racing up and down the iceberg. So he figured he had to find a different way. Peter asked Penguin to fly up very, very high and drop the clam on a rock (penguins could fly then). Penguin flew up so high it got very cold. Her wing muscles froze and Penguin fell into the water and swam back to shore. (That’s how penguins stopped flying, but that’s another story.) Penguin was very mad at Peter, and didn’t give him back the clam. Peter was walking along and he didn’t realize he was getting closer to the edge of a frozen tidal wave. He fell through the edge of the ice and landed on two sharp icicles that went into his mouth, one on each side. He howled for five days, five nights, and five hours, five minutes, and five seconds. Then Peter heard “Jingle Bell Rock.” “ I wonder what that music is?” Peter said to himself. And then he heard “HO HO HO” and along came Santa Claus. Peter was happy to see Santa Claus because he knew that Santa Claus gave him big, juicy and yummy clams. Santa said, “What do we have here, a poor dying walrus? What can I do for you young man?” Peter said, “These icicles look like something I could use to open clams. Could you make them into something that is stronger and won’t melt in the summer?” “And what will you do for me young man?” Santa Claus said. “I could help you deliver your goodies to underwater homes.” Said Peter.  “Very well young man.” Santa Claus. Later as all the walruses were waking up, they noticed they had teeth that looked like elephant tusks. They wondered what to do with these new strange new teeth. But Peter told them they could use the teeth for opening clams. All the walruses were happy. Then five weeks later, the walruses heard a “HO HO HO!” Santa was there asking for eight strong walruses and Peter to help pull his sleigh underwater. The walruses all helped Santa. So that is how the walruses got their teeth.

The End