Spongebob gazed around Mr. Krabs' house. Though he'd been there before, the number of artifacts still amazed him.

"Isn't this great, Squidward?" said Spongebob.

"No," Squidward replied flatly.

It was late the next evening, and Squidward and Spongebob were bringing the antiques from Mr. Krabs' house to the stables to make the museum. Squidward was only going along because, in his words, "Spongemouth ruined it all!"

Mr. Krabs had asked them if they'd wanted to help move stuff, and, before the octopus could object, the sponge screeched happily, "SURE, Mr. Krabs! Squidward and I don't mind, right Squid?"

"But…" Squidward had gasped.

"Now, Mr. Squidward, we don't have any objections, do we?" Mr. Krabs growled, "If you go back on your word I'm docking you a day's pay!"

"But I didn't…"

"Spongebob wouldn't lie, he said you wouldn't mind!"

Yeah, Squidward had thought at the moment, but he can be stupid, and so can you, Mr. K.

Returning to the moment, he picked up an old book. The cover was cracked, even though it was underwater  . Squidward read the title to himself: The Shadow of the Silver Ship. He practically dropped the book. Mr. Krabs was reading this great literature? Mr. Tentacles was beside himself. The Shadow of the Silver Ship was an important novel by 18th century author Finnak Fishwell. It was an amazing epic about a dark time in Bikini Bottom's history.

Then a yellowed note fell out. It read:

Eugene. Here's the book you wanted to decorate your house with. It's a reprint of the original.

--Steel Toe Joe

Squidward flipped open the book. It was empty, except for a few old, faded, badly-drawn sketches of what Squidward presumed to be Mr. Krabs' old Navy buddies.

"Spongebob!" Squidward shouted to the funny fellow, who was carefully packing artifacts in a wheelbarrow, "Not only is Mr. K cheap, he's uncultured!"

Spongebob gave a loud gasp.

"Squidward!" he cried in horror. "How dare you say that of our great boss! He is a great man, a champion of…of…bossing," he faltered, unable to find the right word. "He pays us just enough, and asks for nothing in return!"

"Except for hours of unpaid overtime and complete submission," the cephalopod muttered to himself.

But saying things never changed anything, and through the night, the two were carting antiques to the future museum, and back again for more.

--

Sorry it is so short. I've run out of ideas. There's a lot going on in my life, so there will probably not be anymore chapters for a while. But this is what I have planned for the future:

The museum finally opens—but not long after, some government officials look at some of the artifacts and are convinced that Mr. Krabs owns them illegally! What will happen NOW? Will Mr. Krabs ever get good luck, and will Spongebob's and Squidward's hard work setting up the museum 'pay' off?