Once upon a time there were three best Brownie friends, Isabella, April and Summer.  They lived together in a large tree house in Central Park, New York.

Isabella was the sporty type. She loved to participate in any sport possible even though figure skating was her favorite and, was the kindest person you would ever meet.  She would even clean your house for you if you asked!  Every night before she went to bed she loved to read her favorite book – The Princess Bride. Her golden light brown hair sparkled in the sunlight and her blue eyes were as blue as the ocean.

April was also sporty but she loved gymnastics! Cartwheels and flips were her favorite thing to do, especially during her preferred season of the year – Spring! The melting of the snow and the warmer weather inspired the true artist in her! She loved to paint the animals that came out of their hiding places in the springtime.  Her fiery red hair was long and curly, just like that of Princess Merida from the movie Brave! Her eyes were as green as grass in the summertime.

Summer enjoyed winter sports. She played ringette for the local club team – The Central Park Rangers and was the best player on the team. Despite her sporty inclinations she was a fashion Diva and very bossy.  She would often tell Isabella and April what to do.  She had beautiful long black hair and hazel eyes that were the color of hazel nuts. The glasses she wore were really pretty.

One day the three of them decided to go to the beach. They drove out to the beach that was closest to New York City and laid out under the hot sun in their swimsuits.  It was a very hot day that day and they were sizzling! Summer told them all to get in the water because she was so hot! Even though she was being bossy, Isabella and April were happy to get into the water!

They were playing and swimming and having so much when all of a sudden the water surrounding them started to spin, like they were in the middle of a tornado, but they were not being spun around. Isabella was the first to realize that it was actually a portal taking them to another place! She had read about this happening in one of her books!

They all thought they were having so much fun when they realized that not only were they being transported to another place, but now they were Mermaids! Oh how fast they could swim!!! It was like a dream come true! Who doesn’t want to be a mermaid?

The excitement grew as they discovered they were now transported to a beautiful city of gold under water! What a grand adventure they were all on! How would they ever tell this story to their friends? No one would ever believe them!

Their excitement quickly came to and end as they noticed that city seemed abandoned! No one was around. It appeared completely empty, when all of a sudden they saw an enormous Sea Monster! It was as tall as a skyscraper, as wide as a house and as ugly as a zombie! It had 100 eyes, 4 arms and 6 horns all protruding out of its face. In one of its 4 arms it was carrying what looked like the queen!

“Oh no!” Summer said. “What should we do?”

Just then, the best friends spotted a lone mermaid weeping by a tree. They swam directly towards her.

“Hi there.” Isabella spoke first. She was always very friendly. “We’re Brownies, well, I guess we’re mermaids now and we’ve come here from the beach in New York. Where are we and what’s happening?”

The mermaid sadly replied, “My name is Coral Flipperland, you are in Atlantis and that horrible sea monster is taking away the queen! Everyone is hiding they are so afraid!”

“Why does it want the Queen?” asked April.

The mermaid explained: “The Queen has a special shell that controls the portal that brought you here. If the sea monster gets a hold of that shell, it will be able to transport itself anywhere it wants! That’s not good news for you guys in New York! The sea monster has been searching for that for a long time! We have to stop it!”

“But what can we do?” asked Summer.

“We have to find the magic pearl, the enchanted diamond and the eternal necklace and only when we unite the three together with the true bond of friendship can we defeat the Sea Monster!” replied the mermaid. “And only true friends can unite the three together.  Since there are three of you, you must be the only ones who can make it work. “

The three best friends looked at each other and together replied: “You can count on us! ‘Lend a hand” is our motto!”

They swam hard and fast! Mermaids were super fast swimmers!  It didn’t take them very long to find the three items they were looking for. They found them all in the queen’s kitchen. The mermaid told them to look there since they had to be separate from the magical shell.

Swiftly, the three best friends swam towards the sea monster.  They were more determined than ever! They knew how important it was to the people of Atlantis that they save the queen.

“Hey you! Come over here NOW! ” yelled Summer to the Sea Monster. She was really good at being bossy!

The Sea Monster turned immediately to see who was challenging it.

“Put the Queen down or we’ll have to destroy you!” they all chanted at once. (Even though sometimes Summer was bossy, she did inspire confidence in the three girls).

They could see that the Sea Monster was not going to do what they said so Isabella held up the eternal necklace while Summer positioned the magic pearl in its place and April placed the enchanted diamond.  Together, they held it up high for the Sea Monster to see and smiled at one another.  They could feel that this experience was going to make their friendship stronger!

Just then, the sea monster started to shrink! It was no longer as tall as a skyscraper or as wide as a house. It kept shrinking and shrinking until all of a sudden it was no more!  It disappeared into a puff of smoke! The Queen was free!!!! There were cheers coming from everywhere! The three girls swam to greet the queen!  She was so grateful!

“Atlantis extends its sincerest gratitude to you brave girls!” the Queen said.  She continued: “You must have a strong bond friendship since without that you could have never defeated the Sea Monster! Because of your fine act of bravery and your true friendship, I will give you this magical shell and the eternal necklace with its magic pearl and enchanted diamond. That way you can return here whenever you wish!”

The girls were thrilled! They thanked the queen and after some celebrating, they returned to their New York beach.  Everything was just as they had left it. They knew their adventures as best friends were just beginning!

The End

Written & submitted by Unit 77 Crestmont Brownies