Once upon a time, there was a little ship named the S.S Sniffles. The crew of the ship consisted of a skipper named Skipper Skunk, who loved to wear a shackled hat, and a group of mischievous snipes.

One day, while sailing the seas, Skipper Skunk suddenly got sick and had to be taken to the sickbay. The snipes, who were in charge of the ship while the skipper was away, decided to have some fun.

They created a semaphore system, using ropes and pulleys called sheaves, to send secret messages to each other all around the ship. However, they soon realized that they had no idea how to actually read the messages they were sending!

As the snipes tried to figure out the semaphore system, the ship suddenly hit rough waters and started to list to one side. The snipes panicked and didn't know what to do.

Just then, the skipper returned from the sickbay, feeling much better. He asked for a "sitrep" (situation report) and was shocked to find the ship in such disarray. Skipper Skunk quickly took control and got the ship back on course.

As a reward for their hard work, Skipper Skunk gave the snipes each a shot of their favorite drink. From then on, the snipes made sure to always listen to the skipper and never tried to send secret messages with the semaphore system again.

And that's the story of the S.S Sniffles and the mischievous snipes who learned their lesson and sailed off into the sunset. The end!

Reflections

1. Who was the skipper of the S.S Sniffles?
2. What did the snipes do while the skipper was in the sickbay?
3. What did the snipes use to send secret messages to each other?
4. What happened to the ship while the snipes were in charge?
5. What did the skipper do to help the ship?
6. What did the skipper do as a reward for the snipes?
7. What did the snipes learn from this experience?