Pearl And The Fireworks
Pearl has been working in the Great Big Harbour for a long time now. She is one of the two pilot boats who helps the tugboats guide ships in and out of the harbour. Many visiting ships know her by now. Pearl has a strict tone and therefore, she takes her job very seriously. So, not many boats would like to be friends with her.
The other pilot boat is Petra. She's been in the big harbour shorter than Pearl. But by now, she's getting used to the way things work in the Great Big Harbour. Because she's not overly strict and serious like Pearl, she does have many friends. Nonetheless, both pilot boats do their jobs very well and everyone in the harbour are proud of them.
One afternoon, Pearl and Petra returned to their docks after helping the tugboats guide Aurea, a big tanker, out to sea. "That was a big tanker," Petra said to Pearl. "No kidding," Pearl agreed, "100 tons! She is a big tanker!"
"Wow," Petra gasped in amazement, "She must have been difficult for the tugboats." "She was," Pearl replied, "I haven't forgotten the last time she was here." "Right," Petra agreed. "I must be prepared for the unthinkable," Pearl said, "Always." "Ok," Petra greed, "You're right." "Remember that," Pearl said, "your time will come soon." After that, the two pilot boats then settled down to rest. "Maybe," Petra thought to herself. But she thought of it no more for the rest of the day.
Next morning, it was only Petra who had to help the tugs to bring in big ships. Pearl stayed behind. She won't be needed until later in the day.
For most of the day, Petra helped guide the tugboats to the docks. "Must be on my guard," Petra thought to herself while watching Emily and Foduck dock Elo Echo into a loading bay.
30 minutes later, she helped guide George, who was towing Brunswick and Bobby barge through a shallow part of the harbour. Petra didn't mind the routine jobs, although at one point, she had to get out of Carla's way. "I will be on my guard," said Petra.
That afternoon, it was time for Pearl's to go to work again. Right now, Cocomagh, a large container ship had just arrived and all five tugboats were needed. Today, Cocomagh is carrying a big load of containers. Theodore and Hank were the tugs in charge this time. Pearl was ready to lead the way. "Ready?" Pearl asked all the tugboats. "Ready!" all five answered. With that said, the tugboats began to bring in Cocomagh.
So far, the job is typical for everyone. However, Foduck immediately notice that something is wrong. "I have a bad feeling," he thought to himself. Pearl began to think the same thing, too. "Ok," she thought. The tugboats were approaching Bedford buoy when it happened. "Watch out!" Foduck and Pearl suddenly shouted. The tugboat couldn't react in time as suddenly, a container exploded followed by more explosions.
These explosions took the form of a multicolored sparkling flash. Bedford had no idea what had happened. "What was that?!" Cocomagh cried in alarm. "Stop!" Theodore shouted. Foduck and Theodore sounded their sirens at once as the tugboats immediately saw that one container is in ruins and there was a medium fire. "It can't be!" Pearl said. "Now!" Foduck shouted as he used his fire hose on Cocomagh.
"Come on!" Theodore shouted, "We need fire barges now!" Theodore, still blasting his siren, along with Emily and George left to collect fire barges just as another container exploded in a multicolored flash. "Help!" Cocomagh cried. "What's going on?" Hank called out.
"This ship," Pearl explained, "Is carrying a load of fireworks and some of them had gone off! They're going in all directions!" "Fireworks?!" Foduck and Cocomagh called out. "Don't let those missiles destroy everything!" Pearl shouted at the top of her voice. "Right!" Hank and Foduck replied.
Hank tried to help out with his emergency hose. "We can't let the fire spread!" Foduck shouted. Cocomagh had never been so terrified in her life. Theodore, Emily and George arrived with fire barges, but then 3 more containers exploded.
Fireworks exploded out of the containers, going off in all directions, and then exploding in a beautiful, but dangerous fashion. Bedford was lucky that he didn't get blown up. "I knew it," said George. "Fire works," said Emily, "We have to act now before Cocomagh is destroyed!" "Ok!" Theodore replied.
No tugboats wasted time in trying to save Cocomagh. Petra had approached the harbour entrance to see the disaster that is unfolding. "Oh no!" Petra thought as Constance and Nautilus raced out to the disaster area.
Also, Millie, who was about to go out fishing, floated close to Petra. "I'd never though something like this would happen," Millie said to Petra. "Me too," Petra replied. The tugboats with help from Constance and Nautilus tackled the raging inferno, fueled by fireworks going off.
Theodore managed to get one blaze under control, but another container exploded. Fireworks flew everywhere. "We can't give up now!" Pearl shouted. "Right!" Everyone agreed. Cocomagh had never been so terrified in all of her life. "We're not giving up now!" George shouted, using his barge's firefighting hose. The others agreed.
That's when one firework rocket flew towards Petra. Pearl immediately noticed this. "Oh no!" she called out. Petra gasped, but couldn't move in time. "Look out!" Millie shouted, shoving Petra out of the way. Behind Millie, the fireworks rocket exploded in a bright flash. "That was close!" Foduck thought. "Are you okay?" Millie asked Petra. "Yes," Petra answered, "I think so." Millie had to comfort Petra for the rest of the day.
Finally, after 10 more minutes, the fire had been extinguished and no more fireworks had exploded. Cocomagh wasn't hurt, but she was terrified. Constance and Nautilus had to check the whole area while Foduck examined Cocomagh's ruined cargo. Also, Pearl had to check on Petra as well. "What's going on?" Hank asked Theodore. "A lot of things," Theodore answered.
Foduck inspected the remains of the cargo on Cocomagh's deck. "Just as I thought," Foduck said at last, "Those morons had incorrectly packaged these fireworks! They placed a set of lighter matches in the same packaging! Which somehow ignited! I know how!" "Oh my!" Emily replied.
"Lighter matches," Nautilus repeated. "They explode when crushed," said Constance in a dramatic voice, "The matches must have been crushed during the journey and the small explosions started the fire." "And the rest is history," said Emily. "Yeah," said Theodore, "We're glad that the fire didn't do anymore damage to Cocomagh."
"And we're lucky that we'd never entered the harbour," said Foduck, "Out here, the fireworks couldn't do any damage." "You're right," said Theodore, "I hope Petra is okay." "She will be," said Constance, "Millie saved her life and Pearl is comforting her now." "Yes," Theodore replied.
"Don't worry, Pearl," Millie said as Pearl arrived to see her friend, "Petra is okay." "I know, Millie," Pearl said, "Thank you for saving her." "No problem," said Millie. Petra remained silent for a really long time. "Let's let her recover after that near miss," said Pearl. "Agreed," Millie agreed.
Afterwards, George took Cocomagh to the repair dock while Foduck told the Dispatcher what had happened. "Well done, everyone," the Dispatcher told the tugboats as well as Pearl, Nautilus and Constance, "Thanks to you, the fire and the rouge fireworks had caused less damage. Thank you for your participation."
"Participation in a firestorm, with works, is more like it," Hank said. "Which had been contained," said Foduck, "If we had gone further." "We will address the situation immediately," the Dispatcher concluded. "Right," said Theodore. "At least we gave Bedford a fantastic show?" Hank added in, trying to lighten up the situation. The tugboats then set out to clear the mess.
Meanwhile, Pearl was still comforting Petra, whom after a few hours had finally recovered. "So that's how serious things can get," Petra said, "It is scary." "Right," said Pearl, "Thankfully, you didn't get hurt." "Yes," Petra said, "Still I've got a lot to learn." "And soon," said Pearl, "You'll be a great pilot boat." "Right," Petra agreed.