Once upon a time in the land of Watcherbach, several crabs from Watcherbach Bay found themselves in quite a predicament…….

“Oh NO! I know where we are!” wailed Diarfa, “This is what the humans call a CRAB POT. We’re doomed, we’re doomed.”

“A crab pot? Oh no, I’m not going out like this!” Deirti shouted as she rushed over to the side of the pot and started to scramble up. Just as she was gaining momentum she felt herself being pulled back down.

“You can’t. No one ever gets out of a crab pot!!” came the chorus from the crowd.

Deirti stubbornly headed back up the side of the pot only to be pulled down again. As other desperate souls struggled to escape their dire circumstance, they too were pulled back. Meanwhile, Plehon had quietly moved away from the crowd and was near the top of the pot when Deirti yelled, “Wait! Take me with you.”

“Sorry girlfriend, you have to make it on your own, just like I did.” And with that, Plehon swung herself over the edge and disappeared from sight.

“She made it.”

“I can’t believe she didn’t help us.”

“Good riddance,” echoed through the crowd. Suddenly, they were frozen by the chilling screams of agony erupting outside the pot.

“What was that?”

“What happened?”

“Is it Plehon? Oh no!” whispered the crowd.

A voice filled with determination rose above the crying and moaning, “We must work together. If we all work together we can save ourselves.”

“Look Naci, weren’t you paying attention”, moaned Diarfa, “just where do you think Plehon is right now?”

“Plehon went about this all wrong”, Naci calmly replied. “She didn’t look before she leaped, so she jumped out of the pot and into the fire. If we work together, the ones who get to the top first can show the rest of us the way. If we pull each other UP we can all make it, but we have to work together.” Slowly surveying the frightened faces, she asked, “Are you with me?”

**If you read the names of the characters backwards, you will recognize a familiar word or phrase.

Copyright 2000. Edited and reprinted here with my permission.