Fireside Books:  Fireside Books in Parksville now has a second location in Port Alberni, The Bookwyrm. Used books are just $5 or less. The Bookwyrm, on the corner of Redford and Anderson, opens seven days a week from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Fireside Books, at 464 Island Highway East in Parksville, is a book dragon’s dream come true. Browse their extensive collections seven days a week, or order online at firesidebooks.ca and pick up at either location. Ask about returning books for a book credit.

Eddie Van Haddock & The Rockfish:  In a little town by the sea, where the stories never end, lived Captain Dave and his crew, every child’s favourite friend. With a smile as wide as the ocean and a heart that’s full of dreams, he sails a Mellow Submarine where magic gleams and beams. Every morning at sunrise, when the world awakes anew, Captain Dave and his crew set sail in waters deep and blue. Through the ticking clock of time, where adventures come alive, they laugh and learn and play each day in their underwater dive.

Dave Graham: The morning fog hung low over the water near Nanaimo, curling around the Mellow Submarine like soft grey ribbons. Captain Dave stood on deck, sipping his tea and watching the mist drift past.

"Larry," he called down the hatch, "come see this fog. It's so thick I can barely see the bow."

Larry the Lobster scuttled up the ladder, his claws clicking against the metal rungs. "Ooh, spooky," he said, peering into the grey haze. "Captain, this looks like the perfect day for a ghost story."

Captain Dave chuckled and stroked his beard. "Funny you should say that, Larry. I was just looking at the charts this morning, and there's something nearby I think you'll find very interesting. An old shipwreck."

Larry's eyes went wide. "A shipwreck! You mean a real sunken ship? Is it haunted?"

"Well," said Captain Dave, "some people say old shipwrecks are haunted. They tell stories about ghostly captains wandering the decks at night. But I think the truth is even more wonderful than any ghost story. Would you like to go see for yourself?"

Larry clicked his claws together, half excited, half nervous. "I suppose so, Captain, as long as we're careful."

"We'll be very careful," said Captain Dave. "Let's dive."

Captain Dave climbed down into the control room and pressed the button to fill the ballast tanks. The Mellow Submarine hummed quietly as she slipped beneath the waves, sinking down, down through the green water near Nanaimo. As they descended, the light above them grew dimmer and dimmer until everything outside the portholes turned a deep, soft blue.

"It's getting dark down here, Captain," said Larry, gripping the navigation wheel a little tighter.

"That's just because we're going deeper," said Captain Dave gently. "The deeper we go, the less sunlight can reach us. It's nothing to be scared of. Turn on the floodlights, Larry, and let's see what we can find."

Larry flipped a switch, and two bright beams of light shot out from the front of the submarine, cutting through the blue gloom. And there, resting on the sandy bottom, was the shipwreck. It was an old wooden ship, its hull tilted to one side, covered in barnacles and seaweed. Fish darted in and out of the broken windows, and thick green moss covered the old wooden boards.

"Oh my," whispered Larry. "It really does look spooky, Captain."

"It does look mysterious," agreed Captain Dave, steering the submarine closer. "But let me tell you something amazing, Larry. This ship has been resting here for many, many years, and in that time, it hasn't just been sitting empty and lonely. It's become a home."

"A home? For who?"

"For hundreds of creatures," said Captain Dave. "Look closely."

Larry pressed his face to the porthole. At first, all he saw was the dark shape of the old ship. But as his eyes adjusted, he began to notice movement everywhere. Tiny orange fish swam in and out of cracks in the wood. Purple sea stars clung to the railings. A school of silverfish swirled around the old mast like a sparkling cloud.

"Captain, it's full of life," Larry exclaimed.

"That's right," said Captain Dave. "When a ship sinks, or when people place an old ship in the ocean on purpose, it doesn't stay empty for long. Plants and tiny animals begin to grow on it. Fish move in to hide and hunt. Crabs scuttle along the deck. Before long, the whole wreck becomes covered in life, just like a coral reef. People call this an artificial reef."

"Artificial reef," repeated Larry slowly. "Because people made it instead of nature making it?"

"Exactly," said Captain Dave. "Sometimes communities will even sink old ships on purpose in just the right spot so that new reefs can grow. It gives fish and other sea creatures a safe place to live, and it gives divers somewhere wonderful to explore. There's even a famous one not far from here, an old navy ship that was carefully cleaned and sunk on purpose just so it could become a reef."

"A ship becoming an underwater home on purpose," Larry said, shaking his head in wonder. "Nature is clever."

"People can be clever too, when they work together with nature instead of against it," said Captain Dave.

Just then, something pale and wavy caught Larry's eye near a dark, broken doorway in the ship's hull. It seemed to glow softly in the floodlights, its long, white fingers swaying gently back and forth as if beckoning them closer. Larry jumped back with a startled clatter of claws.

"C-C-Captain, did you see that? Something pale and ghostly is waving at us from the doorway. It looks just like a ghost reaching out."

"Ah, I see her," said Captain Dave, peering through the porthole and smiling. "Larry, ease us in a little closer, nice and slow."

"Are you sure, Captain? That thing looks like it belongs in a ghost story."

"Trust me," said Captain Dave kindly. "Sometimes the things that look the most ghostly turn out to be the gentlest of all."

Larry nervously guided the submarine forward until the floodlights lit up the creature fully. It looked rather like a pale flower, with a soft, round body stuck to the wood and dozens of long, frilly white arms waving slowly in the current, almost like a feather duster swaying in a breeze.

"What is it?" whispered Larry.

"That," said Captain Dave, "is a sea anemone. Some divers even call them ghost flowers, because of just how you described her: pale and glowing and waving in the dark."

"A ghost flower," Larry repeated slowly, trying out the words. "That fits her perfectly."

"It does," said Captain Dave. "But ghost flowers like her are completely harmless to creatures our size, and they never move from their spot once they've settled in. They simply sit and wave their soft arms to catch tiny bits of food floating by in the water. She's probably been living right there on that old doorway for many years."

"So she's not reaching out to grab us at all?"

"Not at all," said Captain Dave. "She's just doing what sea anemones do best: swaying gently and waiting patiently for her dinner to drift past. She wouldn't even notice if we said hello."

Larry watched the sea anemone for a long moment as it swayed softly in the current, its white arms glowing like little candle flames in the floodlight. "She doesn't look like a ghost anymore," Larry admitted. "She just looks peaceful. Almost pretty."

"That's the funny thing about looks," said Captain Dave. "Lots of sea creatures look strange or spooky at first glance, but once you learn more about them, you discover they're really quite gentle, and sometimes even beautiful."

As they drifted along the old deck, they spotted more surprises. A giant Pacific octopus was curled into a porthole, its skin shifting colour to match the wood around it. A bright red rockfish hovered near the broken mast. Tiny hermit crabs wearing borrowed shells scrambled across the deck planks like a parade of tiny knights, and clusters of ghost flowers bloomed all along the railings, swaying together like a little garden in the wind.

"It's like an underwater town," said Larry, his fear melting away into wonder. "Everyone has a little home in the wreck."

"That's a lovely way to put it," said Captain Dave. "And there's something else important about old shipwrecks like this one. They aren't just homes for sea creatures. They're also like time capsules from the past."

"Time capsules?"

"That's right. People called marine archaeologists study old shipwrecks very carefully. They look at how the ship was built, what cargo it might have carried, and what life was like for the sailors who once sailed on her. A shipwreck can teach us about history, just like an old book or a museum, except this museum is underwater."

"So we should be careful not to disturb anything," said Larry thoughtfully.

"Exactly right," said Captain Dave, looking quite pleased. "Marine archaeologists never take things from a wreck without great care and good reason, because once something is moved, you can lose important clues about the past. We're just here to look, Larry, not to touch."

Larry nodded seriously, then pressed his claws together. "Captain, I have a question. Why do people tell ghost stories about places like this if it's really just full of fish and crabs and swaying ghost flowers?"

Captain Dave thought for a moment. "I think it's because the unknown can feel spooky, Larry. When something is dark or quiet or different from what we're used to, our imaginations can run wild and turn it into something scary. But when we take the time to look closely and learn the truth, we usually find something far more interesting than a ghost story. We find real life, real history, and real wonder."

Larry looked back out at the wreck, now glowing softly under the submarine's lights, fish drifting lazily among the old wooden beams. "I think I like the truth better than the ghost story, Captain."

"So do I," said Captain Dave.

They circled the old ship one final time, watching a young rockfish chase a cloud of tiny shrimp around the broken railing, before Captain Dave gently steered the Mellow Submarine away.

"Should we come back and visit again sometime?" asked Larry.

"I'd like that very much," said Captain Dave. "Wrecks like this change a little every time you visit. As more creatures move in and more sea life grows, there's always something new to discover."

As the Mellow Submarine rose back toward the surface, the blue water around them slowly grew lighter and brighter, until at last they broke through into the morning sunshine. The fog had lifted, and the sea sparkled all around them.

Larry climbed up to the tower and took a deep breath of fresh sea air. "Captain, I have to admit, when we started this adventure, I thought we were going somewhere frightening."

"And what do you think now?" asked Captain Dave, joining him at the railing.

"Now I think it was one of the most peaceful places we've ever visited," said Larry. "All those creatures just quietly living their lives in their cozy little wreck. Nothing scary about it at all. Not even the swaying ghost flower."

"I'm glad you're not scared of her anymore," said Captain Dave, laughing warmly, "but I understand why you might have mixed her up with a ghost in the dark on your very first visit."

"Next time someone tells me a ghost story," said Larry, "I think I'll ask them if they've ever actually met the ghost. I bet most of the time it turns out to be something soft and harmless, just waving hello."

Captain Dave smiled and looked out across the water toward Nanaimo. "That's the thing about exploring, Larry. The things that seem the most mysterious are often hiding the gentlest secrets, if only you're brave enough and curious enough to take a closer look."

"I'm glad we went, Captain, even if my claws were shaking the whole time," said Larry, settling beside him, watching the morning light dance across the waves.

"Brave doesn't mean you weren't scared," said Captain Dave kindly. "Brave means you went and looked anyway."

And as the Mellow Submarine cruised gently through the sunlit water, Larry the Lobster decided that some of the very best adventures begin with something that looks a little bit scary, and end with something wonderful.

Eddie Van Haddock & The Rockfish: When the night falls softly and stars light up the sky, Captain Dave tucks his crew in with a gentle lullaby. Dreams of whales and mermaids, of treasures lush and green, await each little sailor aboard the Mellow Submarine.

Fireside Books: There's exciting news for book lovers. Fireside Books in Parksville now has a second location in Port Alberni, The Book Worm. Used books are just five dollars or less. The Book Worm, on the corner of Redford and Anderson, opens seven days a week from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Fireside Books, at 464 Island Highway East in Parksville, is a book dragon's dream come true. Browse their extensive collections seven days a week. Order online at firesidebooks.ca and pick up at either location. Details available online. Ask about returning books for a book credit.