Paper 3

Genetic Engineering with Dorais and Friends

Ever since Jotham and Thayer were born they have been best friends. They were born on the same day, and they live across the street from each other in the city of Livingston. The town of Livingston is a small town where everybody knows everybody, so when Jotham and Thayer would walk home from school they would wave and say hello to the all of the firemen who worked at the fire station. A few of their favorite activities are to play soccer and to throw rocks off of the bridge.

One day in the middle of May, Jotham and Thayer were walking home from a long day of school. They were both looking forward to throwing rocks off the bridge, because they had two tests in school that day. To do something special to celebrate the fact that they were finished with the tests, they both decided to search for the biggest rock they could. They were looking for rocks all the way to the bridge, picking up rocks which they thought were big. They had not found a rock which was very big compared to the other rocks, until they reached the bridge. There on the side of the road was a huge rock which would make a large splash. Thayer tried to pick up the rock by himself, but he couldn’t. Jotham thought that he could pick up the rock, but after he tried, he found out that he could not lift the rock either.

Jotham then had a great idea. He said, “Why don’t we lift the rock together, and then we can throw it off the bridge into the river below together?”

Thayer replied, “That is a great idea! Ok, get into position to lift the rock. On the count of 3, lift the rock. 1…2...3 lift!!”

Together they lifted the rock and carried it over the edge of the bridge. In order to throw the rock off the bridge, they would have to throw it together. They backed up so they could get a running start to the throw the large rock. Jotham and Thayer then started to run with the rock. They were nearing the edge, when Thayer tripped on his untied shoe, and he began to stumble forward. Since they were carrying the rock together, Jotham started to stumble, too, but neither could stop because the rock was too big. The rock fell over the edge of the bridge, and along with the rock, Jotham and Thayer both fell.

For a few seconds, there was no sign of Jotham and Thayer, but then there were bubbles and Thayer’s head appeared above the surface. He gasped for air, and immediately he looked for Jotham. While looking for Jotham, Thayer pulled himself onto a tree which had fallen into the river. Then all of a sudden, Jotham appeared; he had pulled himself onto a tree also. Both of the boys knew how to swim, but the river was flowing too quickly and too violently to swim ashore.

The tree which Thayer was sitting upon was a large tree, but the tree had thorns on it. Luckily, Thayer had avoided them. The tree which Jotham was on was much smaller than Thayer’s, and it was barely staying afloat. It was falling apart in the strong current.

The two boys tried to yell for help, but the sound of the rushing water covered up their voices, so nobody could hear them. Night was quickly approaching, and the boys were starting to get scared that they would not live through the night. They were afraid that Thayer might hurt himself on the thorns and Jotham’s tree might fall apart by morning. By this time, Jotham and Thayer had managed to pull their trees together, so they were floating down the middle of the river together.

The current in the river was beginning to slow down as the river increased in size. Night set in, and the boys did not want to swim ashore in the dark. The area surrounding the river was a deep forest with lots of wild animals in it, so Jotham and Thayer could not decide what to do. At that moment, Jotham sank his face into his hands and began to cry. Thayer attempted to console his best friend, but he missed his family, and he began to cry also. The tear drops rolled down Thayer and Jotham’s checks, and it just so happened that the tears from each of the boys hit the water at the exact same time, but they did not notice this fact.

All of sudden, Jotham saw something in the water swimming next to the trees, and he pointed it out to Thayer. Thayer was startled, but he recognized the animal as a dolphin, but he was still confused. There were no dolphins that lived in the river which ran through Livingston. The dolphin then came up to breathe, and it turned and faced the boys. Jotham thought that he was seeing and hearing things when the dolphin started to talk to the boys.

“Hello, Jotham and Thayer. My name is Dorais. Don’t be afraid of me, I am going to try and help you.”

“How did you know our names, Dorais?” Thayer replied.

Dorais said, “Well, Thayer, I am no ordinary dolphin. I am the protector of this river. It is my job to make sure that all of the animals which live in and around the river live in harmony. Every day I see you and Jotham walking home from school. I know that it is your favorite activity to throw rocks into the river. However, I have to dodge the rocks every day, and the rocks are starting to scare the fish in the river. I am going to offer you a deal, if you stop throwing rocks into the river, I will make sure that both of you are safe for the night. Is it a deal?”

Thayer and Jotham looked at each other, and they knew that it was their only way of surviving. They both nodded yes.

“Ok, now let’s make sure that the tree that you are on can make it through the night. I am going to need some help from my friends to do this job, so let me get them together,” Dorais replied. She then took her flippers and clapped them together. Thayer and Jotham looked around and they saw that a robin had landed on the tree and next to it was a crab. “These are my friends” she pointed to the robin and said, “This is Elizabeth, and the crab is Renya.”

Then Elizabeth and Renya both nodded toward the boys. Dorais then chirped in, “So now, they are going to make you a new raft. Don’t get scared, but Elizabeth is going to fly around the trees to find out where they are going to cut the trees.”

“What? You are going to make both of our rafts smaller? That does not make sense,” Thayer responded.

Dorais said, “Don’t worry, Thayer; Elizabeth is going to find where to cut the trees so that we can take the best parts of each tree, and then we are going to cut those parts out. Then Renya is going to take the good parts of the trees, and she is going to use her claws to make one raft which both you and Jotham can float on safely. Elizabeth’s job is very specific. She must find the exact location where to cut. She must find a place in the wood that has the same shape every time. Then she will very carefully cut the wood. She is very good at her job, and is right almost 100% of the time. She is going to look for and then cut the same shape of wood for both of the trees. This way Renya can use her powerful claws to combine the wood and make a tree which is better that your trees. While they are working you both can ride on my back.”

Both of the boys climbed onto Dorais’ back, and then Elizabeth began to fly around the trees. Then as soon as she found the right shape she began to peck at the wood, and then the wood was then separated from the rest of the tree. She did this for both of the trees, but the shapes of the trees were very special.

Dorais explained, “She must find the right shape because that shape is what tells the rest of the tree to look like. For example, she is looking for the part of the tree which Thayer was on which would make the thorns go away, and the shape which would make the tree not fall apart from Jotham’s tree. But remember, Elizabeth must cut the shapes in the right place to make sure that Renya can join the two pieces together.”

Elizabeth successfully cut the wood in the right place, and then Renya used her powerful claws to join the wood from Thayer’s tree to the wood from Jotham’s tree. The new piece of wood which Renya made was perfect. It had all of the good characteristics from Thayer’s and Jotham’s tree, which meant that there were no thorns, and the wood was not falling apart. The boys then jumped back onto the wood.

“There you go, we are all finished. Now both of you should get some sleep, it is way past your bedtime. I will swim with you all night making sure that nothing happens to you. But remember our deal.” Dorais told the boys.

“Anything. Thank you so much. We could not have lived without you and your friends. We promise never to throw rocks into the river ever again.” Jotham replied.

Soon both of the boys were fast asleep on their new piece of wood. Neither of the boys woke up until they were on the bank of the river. When they woke up, they realized that they were surrounded by people, and then they both found their parents. They hugged their parents and they asked how they found them. Jotham’s parents responded that the firemen who they normally wave to on their walk home became worried when they did not show up, so they began to search for them.

They tried to explain what happened with Dorais, but their parents never believed them, so they just kept it a secret, which they would never tell. However, from that day forward, Jotham and Thayer never threw a rock into the river, just like Dorais had asked.