BACK GLASSES 7' Magic glasses see through the eyes of animals Michaela found a small box containing a pair of sunglasses and a television remote control. She put on the glasses. "That's odd," Michaela said to herself, "I can't even see through the lenses. It's dark." So, she took off the glasses and pushed several buttons on the remote control. Nothing. "Let's try both at once." Michaela said to herself. So, she put the glasses back on, picked up the remote and pushed a button. Immediately a television picture appeared on the lenses. Michaela observed, "It looks like what you'd see when you ride in a helicopter. I'm looking down at a big lake and lots of pine trees. Oh, wow! Now I'm diving down toward the lake.... real fast. Now as I get close to the water I'm skimming along just inches above the water. A pair of bird feet just came up from the bottom of the picture and grabbed a fish from the lake. But these bird feet had a really long sharp claw on the end of each toe. These claws are called talons. (see if you can guess whose eyes Michaela is looking through) Answer: bald eagle. Vision: It's dark. The only light is from a small hole over head. As I get used to the darkness, I see that I'm in a tunnel, with a dirt wall, I see the roots of plants dangling down from above and some of the roots have been bitten off. I see only two teeth marks in the bitten roots. The animal has only two teeth and eats roots. Then I see two furry paws with four long, sharp claws digging the dirt. Answer: gopher. Vision: It's dark. The only light is from a small hole over head. As I get used to the darkness, I see that I'm in a tunnel. It's a dirt wall, but the grains of sand look like the size of watermelons. So, this must be a much smaller animal than last time. I can't see any paws doing the digging. But right under my eyes I can see what look like robot arms, that can lift and carry really big grains of sand. These must be the mouth parts of this animal. Occasionally, I can see what looks like a car radio antenna feeling it's way along the dark tunnel. Answer: ant. Vision: It's dark. The only light is from the walls around me, there's a dim red glow. As I get used to the darkness, I see that I'm in a tunnel. The walls are smooth and light except for what look like huge dark seeds. The animal must be smaller than a seed. The animal's mouth is doing the digging. The tunnel walls are smooth and wet. And the digging doesn't leave any rubble. The animal must be eating what it's digging. But the digging stops when the animal tries to dig a tough red skin. This skin is where the red glow comes from. If it wasn't for this red skin the tunnel would be white. Answer: worm (caterpillar) burrowing through an apple. Vision: It's dark. The only light is from a small hole behind me. As I get used to the darkness, I see that I'm in a tunnel. But the tunnel walls are not made of dirt. They're smooth and light. But the layers on the walls are different colors. Once again, I can't see any paws digging. It looks like this animal is digging with its mouth. But I don't see any mouth parts. The walls of the tunnel are smooth and dry. I think the walls of the tunnel are made of wood. That means the animal is eating wood. Answer: termite. Vision: It's dark. The only light is from the stars. I see the branches of a tree. But soon the animal climbs down the tree like a monkey. The hands have long black fingers, but I don't see a thumb. Ahead is a bush with berries dangling down, the hand picks a few berries, then dips the berries into the water before putting them into the mouth. Then I see a large insect walking nearby. The animal grabs it and eats it too. At the edge of the puddle I see the animal's reflection. The animal looks like a dog wearing a mask. Answer: raccoon. Vision: It's dark. The only light is from the stars. The image is upside down as if the animal is dangling upside down. I see leaves and tree branches all around. So, the animal must be hanging from a branch by its tail. The animal is now climbing down the tree. At the edge of the puddle I see the animal's reflection in the water. It looks like a very big rat. Answer: opossum. Vision: It's dark. The only light is from a hole far away. Again, the image is upside-down. There are rocks all around. So, the animal must be hanging upside down in a cave. After a while the light outside of the cave dims, and the animal flies out of the cave into the starry sky. There's no moon. But the animal must be able to somehow see in the dark because it seems to be avoiding trees and rocks while flying in all directions at high speed. Suddenly, the animal flies right into the path of an insect. It appears to catch and chew on this insect. Answer: bat. Vision: The sun is very bright. All I can see around me is sand and clear blue sky. I seem to be gliding just a few inches above the sand as if I'm floating smoothly. Suddenly, I notice what the animal is moving toward. It's a rat. But instead of going directly after it, the animal circles around behind it. And when I look back at the tracks in the sand, I don't see any paw tracks. Instead I see a row of long diagonal strips. As the animal bites and holds the rat, the tail wraps around the rat. The end of the tail looks like a lot of small bones that have been glued together. Answer: rattle snake. Vision: The sun is not very bright. All I can see around me is sand and clear green sky. The sun hits the sand in swirls. I seem to be gliding just a few inches over the sand as if I'm flying, but I'm gliding slowly and smoothly. But why is the sky green instead of blue? Where am I? Suddenly, I notice what I am moving toward. It's a crab. I must be... underwater. When the animal sneaks up on the crab, it grabs it with a long, black, pointed thing with suction cups and pulls the crab to the mouth down below. Answer: octopus. Vision: It's dark. As my eyes get used to the darkness, suddenly the leaves and branches around me light up. Just as suddenly it's dark again. Then, it happens again, and again. I notice that the leaves and twigs nearest to me are the brightest when the light goes on. That means the light is coming from the animal himself. His belly seems to light up. Answer: firefly. Vision: I'm flying over the sand at high speed. But the sand is green. The animal must be under water. Suddenly, the animal flies out of the water and glides over the waves for several feet before it dives back into the water. Suddenly, the animal stops and appears to be standing on it's tail two or three feet out of the water and turn in all directions before it swims off toward a sea gull at high speed. But the animal is not after the sea gull. It swims after a school of fish that the sea gull is feeding on. Answer: dolphin. ©2007 Bob Snook. Conditions for use: This story is free. Pay no fees or royalties. Do not sell this story or rewrite it. You may reproduce and distribute this story freely, but all copies must contain this copyright statement. http://www.fea.net/bobsnook/kid email: bobsnook@fea.net BACK |