Flexonauts: Animals with a Mission, Chapter 1: Orky and Keiko – The Beginning of the Flexonauts
It was an ordinary morning in the Great Ocean. Orky, the curious orca, was swimming together with her little sister Keiko among the waves. They were playing their favorite game: bubble race! Whoever could blow a bubble to the surface the fastest got to choose what they would do that day. Keiko was working on a super big bubble when she suddenly got startled. “Look, Orky!” she squeaked, as she drifted towards a shiny object. “A jellyfish!” Orky looked closely. But instead of a jellyfish, she saw something else: a transparent, wobbly bag.
Before Orky could warn her, Keiko bit into the ‘jellyfish’. She immediately started coughing and thrashing. Orky rushed to her, gently pushed on Keiko’s belly, and luckily the plastic bag floated back out. Keiko was shocked, but fortunately unharmed. Orky sighed deeply. This was already the third time this month. “Why is there so much trash in our sea?” Keiko asked sadly. Orky had no answer. But in her mind, a little plan started to grow.
That afternoon, Orky swam past her favorite spots. She visited the colorful coral garden, where Clowny the clownfish greeted her with a joke (“Why can’t fish play basketball? They’re afraid of the net!”). She dove past Snapy the crab, who was busy sorting shells and trash. Everywhere Orky went, she saw traces of humans: plastic cups, straws, bottle caps, even an old flip-flop. She decided to ask advice from the oldest resident of the ocean: Splash the seal. Splash was lying on a rock in the sun and yawned. “Back when I was a young seal, the sea was much cleaner,” he said. “But now… now we have to do something together.” Orky felt her heart beat faster. Together. That was the word she was looking for.
That evening, as the sun sank into the sea like an orange ball, Orky was tossing and turning in her bed of seaweed. She thought of Keiko, of Splash, of all her friends. “I can’t solve everything alone,” she whispered. “But what if… what if we make a team? A team of animals, each with their own strength and idea. Together we could protect the sea, the land, and the sky!” She jumped up with excitement. “I’m going to start a club! Not just any club, but a real team of heroes. And I’ll call them... the Flexonauts!”
The next morning Orky swam to Keiko. “Are you feeling better?” she asked with concern. Keiko nodded. “Thank you for saving me, big sis.” Orky smiled. “You know what? I have an idea. We’re going to form a team to clean up the sea. But not just the sea – also the land and the sky!” Keiko’s eyes grew wide. “Can I help too?” “Of course! You’ll be my first Flexonaut.”
Together they made a list of everyone they wanted to invite. Bibi the bee, Panpan the panda, Giki the gecko, and maybe even someone from the fire… But first they had to find Bibi – because without bees, no flowers! Orky and Keiko made posters out of seaweed and shells, which they hung up all over the ocean. “Become a Flexonaut too!” it said, with a cheerful drawing of Orky and Keiko cleaning up trash.
Soon the first animals came to take a look. Clowny the clownfish was eager to join (“If I clean up trash, I’ll have even more time for jokes!”), and Chef Pinch the crab enthusiastically offered to organize a big clean-up party, complete with healthy seaweed snacks for everyone. But Orky knew: if they really wanted to make a difference, they had to work together with animals from the land and the sky. “On to Bibi!” she called. And so their next adventure began…
