Another "Theodore Tugboat" story, this time it's "Foduck the Vigilant" Enjoy and comment.
One afternoon, Hank and Foduck were floating around the harbor.
"Foduck, what's the deepest place in the whole world?" asked Hank.
"Hank, to confess to you, I don't really know." replied Foduck.
All the tugs know that Foduck is very smart and knows lots of things, but that was a hard question.
Finally, Foduck had the answer.
"The Mariana Trench is the deepest place in the whole ocean."
"Foduck, you know everything!" said Hank.
But Foduck wasn't quite sure. He was about to get his V-word, which is meant to tell that he was a special tug.
Problem was, Foduck didn't know why he was special.
"What's the most special thing a tug can be?" he asked Hank.
Hank thought for a moment.
"Smart!" he exclaimed. "That's the most special thing a tug can be."
Foduck liked this.
A little while later, Foduck was looking at a old, rusty dock when George came over to see him.
"Look what I found!" said George. "I found some old wooden crates!"
"Must have fallen off a cargo ship." said Foduck.
Just then, Foduck noticed some sparks flying out of George's smokestack.
"You better go get your engine checked out." said Foduck.
"It's only just a couple of sparks." replied George.
Just then, a warning blared over the intercom warning about a strong storm.
"I better go warn everyone!" said Foduck as he hurried away.
But before he left, he asked George...
"What's the most special thing a tug can be?"
"Strong!" he said as he steamed away.
Foduck thought about which one he was, smart or strong?
The next morning, Foduck and Emily were tugging a big cargo ship into port.
"Is being strong the most special thing a tug can be?" he asked Emily.
"Being a good worker is the best thing a tug can be." replied Emily.
Now he was really confused.
Just then, loud pings were heard from Foduck's sensor.
"Be careful Emily! There's something in the water!
Foduck could see it was right in front of Emily. She barely avoided it, preventing an accident.
"Part of the old dock must have blew off in the storm last night." said Emily.
When he returned to the dock, he saw that most of it had blown off from the storm.
He was also thinking about what his friends had told him about being a special tugboat.
"Smart, strong, or great worker?" he wondered.
Just then Theodore came over to him.
"Maybe he can help me?" thought Foduck. "Theodore always has good ideas."
Then he asked Theodore...
"What's the most special thing a tug can be?"
"Working together." said Theodore.
"But I usually work alone." said Hank. "And which one is the most special for me?"
That night, all the tugs were sound asleep, except for Foduck and Emily.
"What's the matter?" asked Emily.
"Making sure everyone is asleep." replied Foduck.
Just then, he smelt smoke. This meant there was trouble.
Foduck raced over to George and noticed a terrible sight, fire! The old crates were now buring brightly!Foduck had special equipment to burn out the fire.
Soon all the other tugs smelt the fire and woke up. They were very scared.
Even though George was big, he couldn't put out his own fire.
"Help!" he cried.
Just then, it began to snow.
"Why's it snowing in the summer?" said Emily.
They then saw that the snow was coming from Foduck! He was using it to put out the fire.
The tugboats cheered!
Soon, the fire was put out.
"Thank you for saving me." said George.
The next morning, the tugboats gathered at the docks. Everyone looked serious as they noticed a big cloth covering Foduck.
Then the dispatcher began to talk.
"We are covering up Foduck's V-word." he announced.
"I wonder what it is?" said Theodore.
The cloth was taken out, and everyone gasped when they saw the new word vigilant written on Foduck.
"That means you are always looking out for others." said the dispatcher.
Foduck felt very pleased at himself, and so did everyone else.