Coco and the Midnight Snacker

4-6 min read
9 pages
2+

Coco the parrot is the loudest chatterbox on the pirate ship, and he repeats everything he hears. When the porridge and fish disappear overnight, the pirates start blaming each other, until Coco’s funny nighttime noises lead them to the real snacker. This silly little mystery is about listening carefully before you point a finger.

The Salty Pickle sailed across every sea in the world. Pirates lived on board. But they weren’t the only ones…

The loudest one on board was Coco, a bright green parrot. He rode on Captain Hart’s shoulder or zoomed from mast to mast, squawking everything he heard. “Who ate the last banana? The navigator snores like a whale! The lookout’s spyglass is upside down!” Some pirates giggled. Others turned pink.

Coco repeated every word he heard. So the pirates whispered behind their hands and peeked over at him. They joked that this was the Quiet Deck. It never was.

One morning, someone shouted, “The breakfast porridge is gone from the galley! The fish, too!” Captain Hart didn’t stop to think. He poked the bosun right on the nose. “It was YOU!” “Not me! I was fast asleep!” cried the bosun. The other pirates traded looks. “Maybe it was the cook…” somebody mumbled.

Soon everyone was yelling. Then Coco, who’d been awake all night, muttered, “Slurp, slurp… Crunch, crunch… Tap-tap-tap… Creeeak!” “What was that?” asked Captain Hart. Coco cocked his head and looked at the hatch. “He knows something!” cried the navigator. “Follow that bird!”

Coco swooped down below deck. The pirates grabbed lanterns and hurried after him. It was dark and creaky down there…

Coco landed by an old chest. The lid was open just a crack. He nudged it with his beak… and out climbed a raccoon! Captain Hart sat right down in surprise. “Well, I’ll be! The little fellow from the Coral Island storm—in a chest!”

His name was Bobo. He was supposed to catch mice in the hold. But Bobo liked midnight snacks much better than chasing mice. Captain Hart smiled at Coco. “You’re not just a chatterbox. You’re a real detective!”

From then on, Coco had a brand-new job: Night Listener of the Salty Pickle. Each night, the crew gave him a cracker and the best perch on the ship. “That bird hears every slurp and every crunch!” laughed the navigator. Captain Hart told the bosun he was sorry. Next time, he would listen first. “Listen first!” squawked Coco.

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