Nim's Island

My dad always told me stories about her--

How she was this great oceanographer.

Stories about the baby they had...

and how my mom just had to name her... Nim.

She invented that name.

At least, that's how my dad tells the story.

That's all my mother is to me now-- just these stories.

But they're really some amazing stories.

Like the one he calls "The Oceanographer and the Great Blue Whale."

Once upon a time, the oceanographer went out on the wide-open sea...

to find out what was in the stomach of the great blue whale.

As my mother was staring into the mouth of the whale...

a mysterious ship came out of nowhere.

It was called The Buccaneer Ship.

It got much too close, and it frightened the whale.

And the oceanographer was swallowed and taken by the sea.

Dad felt that we should sail the ocean and look for that blue whale--

That, someday, that whale would bring her back to us.

I think he just missed her.

We both did.

By my fourth birthday, we had sailed around the globe... twice--

From the Cape of Good Hope to the tip of Patagonia...

from Singapore to the Cook Islands.

Then one day, we found it--

Our home.

This is my island.

Not a bad place to grow up, huh?

See, I don't have to go to school.

- I'm home-schooled. - Hey, Selkie!

Watch out! Move it!

Or, technically, island-schooled.

- - Sorry!

- - Everything I know about the world I learned from my friends.

Galileo!

Like, do you know that two objects...

no matter how big they are, will fall at exactly the same speed?

Galileo proved it. He's my pelican.

Selkie, my sea lion, taught me how to swim.

- So I returned the favor by teaching her soccer. -

She's an excellent midfielder.

Oh, and I'll bet you didn't know that sea turtles and certain species of lizards...

really get on each other's nerves.

Anything else I need to know about the world...

I just open one of the books my dad brought for me.

- With a little imagination, I can go anywhere. -

All in all, not a bad life.

For dinner, I throw together some vegetables from our garden.

And for a little extra flavor, I toss in some freshly dug-up mealworms.

Mmm. My dad's favorite.

Incredible day, Nim. A new species, I think.

Well, if it's new, remember what you're naming it.

"Protozoa Nim." I haven't forgotten.

See, my dad's a marine biologist.

He's obsessed with nanoplankton, the tiniest little particles in the ocean.

They're not really my thing, but to each his own, right?

Did you know there are millions of picoplankton in a milliliter of water?

Protozoa Nim could be here right now.

- - What? Wha--

- Hey, Lizard! - He's not "Lizard." His name is Fred.

- -

For a guy who loves nature, you'd think he'd be more into animals.

When they have more than one cell, Jack sort of loses interest.

Scientists write to him from all over the world with questions about all sorts of things.

He even writes articles sometimes...

like this great one for National Geographic.

- What's the reading? - Thirty-seven knots!

Hey, I'm not saying a scientist's life is for everyone...

but it is the life for us.

Every few months, the supply ship comes, bringing us things that we need.

New books and paper, nails and cloth--

All the things we can't make for ourselves.

We sail out into the open water to meet it.

No one, not even the supply ship's captain...

has ever seen how amazing our little island really is.

We take care of our island, Nim, our island's gonna take care of us.

And that's the way we wanna keep it--

Our own perfect, secret world.

- Are ya ready? - I'm ready.

Ah, bounty.

Look at this-- Heirloom tomato seeds.

- Do you remember those freckled ones we were reading about? - Check it out!

The new Alex Rover! My Arabian Adventure.

What do you think happens in Arabia?

Wait until after dinner, Nim.

No, I'm just gonna start it.

"It's been my curse my entire life.

"I do not go looking for trouble, but somehow it finds me.

The question wasn't, am I going to die?

The question was, how am I going to die?

Will it be by my captors' guns, or will it be death by thirst?

Must be the hero of my own life story.

Must be the hero of my own life story.

Must be the hero of my own life story.

- Where are you taking me? -

A special hole, just for you, Alex Rover.

Ever heard of the Pit of Spiders ?

"Pit of Spiders," huh?

Well, I guess that answers the "how will I die" question.

- -

- -

Aah!

- - No, no, no, no! Wait, wait, wait, stop!

- Where're you going? -

Oh, death by thirst makes a late comeback.

How did Alex Rover get to be Alex Rover?

- Well, let's see. - Was he born with all that courage?

"Was he born with all that courage?"

Hmm.

The thing about courage is...

it's somethin' that we have to learn and relearn our whole lives.

You know, it's not just in you.

It's in every choice we make, each and every day.

- Where do you think Alex Rover is at this very minute? - Oh, well, I don't know.

Maybe he's chained up in a sarcophagus 20,000 fathoms under the sea.

Or in some pit of spiders...

trapped without the antidote for their poison.

Yeah, pit of spiders. I like that.

Okay. Time to get some rest.

Sleep tight, now, okay?

And no dreaming about spiders.

Spider! Spider!

Get away from me.

All right. These all go back here.

Straight. Right angles.

Is-Is this the, uh, Telegraph Hill Pharmacy?

Yes, I need a delivery, please.

Uh, Purell.

- Well, h-how many bottles do you have? -

Oh. Uh, very good. All of them.

Yeah. Send 'em all.

- - Uh, who is it?

- Telegraph Hill Pharmacy. - Uh, just leave it there, please.

Just leave it here? In the rain?

Yeah, go ahead. I-I put it on my MasterCard. I left you a very nice tip.

- Uh, make sure you get it. - Okay.

- - Alexandra, it's Buffy, your favorite editor.

I know you're there, and I know you're not going to pick up.

I just worry about you, darling...

sitting at your computer, living on a diet of only Progresso soup.

- How can you eat that every day? - Buffy.

So, how is the new Alex Rover coming?

Wasn't I supposed to read something two weeks ago?

No pressure, no pressure, no pressure.

See, what you don't know about me is that where there's an Alex Rover--

there's a way!

I have a certain knack for getting out of predicaments far worse than this one, you know.

Eh. Excuse me?

No, hold on. No. I'm supposed to get outta this, you know.

Alexandra!

Why can't I get this?

No pressure, no pressure, no pressure.

Volcanic sacrifice. What was I thinking?

Volcano, volcano.

"Living in the Shadow of a Volcano. "Hmm.

Well, that's just crazy. I mean, why would anyone do that?

Oh, wow.

Perfect.

- What you doin"Jack? - Ah, there you are!

Current's shifted, Nim. Zander's Atoll is gonna be just five feet underwater.

Zander's Atoll? But it's almost dinner!

Hey, we might not see algae growth like this for years.

More plankton?

This is the trip we find Protozoa Nim.

I swear it. I can feel it in my bones.

But Chicca's eggs are about to hatch. I need to be here.

No negotiating. I mean, this is a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

- Come on! - Yeah, you said that last week about the southern borealis.

- Two nights, Nim. - No! Chicca only saved one last year, Jack.

One little turtle. I want to stay.

We can talk on the satellite phone.

Nim, please.

I'm not a little girl anymore.

You got so much of your mom in you, you know that?

- That's a good thing, right? - Yeah, good.

Sure.

Unfortunately, I could never win a fight with her either.

Okay, it's only four hours till low tide.

Oh! Hey, could you grab my collection jars and my wet suit?

I already packed them for you!

Any e-mails show up, tell 'em I'm on expedition. I'll get to their questions on Thursday.

Hey, Lizard, get off of that.

He's not "Lizard. " His name is Fred.

Unless it's, like, a ridiculously obvious e-mail.

- Then I can help 'em, right? - I'd rather you just said Thursday.

Nim, are you sure you're okay with this?

Come on. You've left me alone before.

Well, yeah. One night. But never for two.

Well, look, I've got Selkie and Fred and Galileo and the new Alex Rover book.

- I'll be excellent. - All right, all right.

- You just come back with Protozoa Nim! - I will!

I'll see ya Thursday! Love you!

Love you too!

I'll radio you tonight!

No parties while I'm gone!