Poppy-Seed Bagel awoke to the sound of strange voices and they were talking
about him. He was wet, and cold, and more scared than ever.
"He must come from that house at the top of the hill," he heard one voice
say. "That's one funny looking fish," said another. "Yeah, you'd think a
fish like that would just stay in his own house, and not try to swim
anywhere else," a third voice exclaimed. "How could he think to swim
anywhere --- he doesn't even have a tail!"
Poppy-Seed Bagel soon realized that these were those dreaded Herring Boys,
and that he might be in real trouble now. He remembered how he tumbled off
the curb and into the rain water, and how the other two Bagel Boys were left
far behind, watching him swiftly disappear in the water's flow.
As Poppy-Seed Bagel tried to right himself, he could see the three Herring
Boys near him. They were sloshing around in the water at the curb and were
glowering at him with their strange round eyes.
Finally, feeling very helpless, and with a timid and scared voice, he asked
"Who are you?" "We are some of the Herring Boys. I am the boss, Salt
Herring, and this guy is Pickled and the other guy is Chopped," said the
biggest one in a gruff, but not unfriendly manner. "And just who are you and
what are you doing in our neighborhood, you miserable round, spotted
creature. You sure don't look like any respectable fish that I've ever
seen."
"I'm Poppy-Seed Bagel, and I didn't mean to come here," he replied. " I
accidently fell into the rain water and it washed me down the hill. I just
want to go home, but I can't roll up hill and I'm too far away to flip up
all that way on my sides." And his voice broke, and tears started to roll
down his entire body.
The Herring Boys looked at each other. Then they whispered to one another.
Then they turned their backs away from him. He could hear them laughing.
They did enjoy giving him a good scare. Finally Salt Herring said "We ought
to just leave you here to rot, you miserable creature, but stop your crying,
or we won't help you get back to your own block."
Now usually the only way the Herring Boys could get around was to work their
way down the drains in the tubs and sinks in their house and swim around in
the sewers of the neighborhood. But when there was a lot of rain, or even
melting snow, they could swim both downhill and uphill along the curb in the
street.
"There is still enough water in the street" growled Chopped Herring, the
mushiest- looking of the three. "Flip over on to my back," he said, "And the
other two will help by pushing me as we swim up the hill."
Nervously, Poppy-Seed Bagel worked his way on to Chopped Herring's back. It
had a strange, squishy feeling, and a funny smell of onions and other stuff.
And so they all started working their way up the hill, next to the curb. By
now the water was very shallow and Chopped, Pickled and Salt had to work
really hard, and stop and rest many times. But, finally, they were in front
of the house at the top of the hill.
"Thank you so much," said Poppy-Seed, " Now stay out of trouble, and don't
have any more accidents, you weird creature." Then Salt gave Poppy-Seed
Bagel a swift swish of his tail, which definitely did not tickle. And the
three Herring Boys dived into a nearby sewer opening and disappeared.
Poppy-Seed slowly flipped his way up the front steps, onto the front porch
and into the Bagel Boy house, where his brothers were so happy to see him.
When Poppy-Seed pushed the door open and rolled into the hallway, all the
Bagel Boys crowded around him and greeted him with great joy." I thought we
would never see you again," said Water.
"Yes," said Cinnamon, "We were just organizing a rescue party to go and look
for you." Chocolate Chip Bagel wanted to know all the details about his
adventure, and he peppered him with one question after another:
"How far did you go?" "How did you get out of the stream of water?" "What
did you see?" "What are the Herring Boys like? Did they try to hurt you"
And, "How did you get back?"
All the Bagel Boys sat around in the living room as Poppy-Seed told them
about his sudden trip down the hill, falling asleep on the grass, waking up
to hear the Herring Boys talking, and his strange return home on the back of
Chopped Herring.
The Bagel Boys listened carefully to Poppy-Seed's every word. How amazing
that the Herring Boys had worked so hard to bring him back home! Maybe they
weren't so dreadful as the Bagel Boys first thought.
But finally, Water Bagel said, "Maybe we've misjudged them, but I still
think we ought to steer clear of those guys. They're strong swimmers, they
hit hard with their tails, and I don't think they'd like too many of us
coming near their hangouts."
When Poppy-Seed told them about Salt calling him a miserable creature, they
all laughed, and from then on, "Miserable Creature" became Poppy-Seed's
nickname.
But now, night has fallen on the little house near the top of the hill, and
the time has come for you and the Bagel Boys to go to sleep.

Bagel Boys Main Page

Last revised: 28 October 2016. Conditions of Use.
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