Tube World
Words by David Swanson
Illustrations by Shane Burke
For: Wesley, Hallie, and Travis
Charlottesville, VA
First edition—2012
Also by David Swanson
When the World Outlawed War (2011)
War Is A Lie (2010)
Daybreak: Undoing the Imperial Presidency
and Forming a More Perfect Union (2009)
The 35 Articles of Impeachment (Introduction, 2008)
Edited by David Swanson
The Military Industrial Complex at 50 (2012)
* * * * *
©2012 David Swanson
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, including mechanical, electric, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher.
Swanson, David, 1969 Dec. 1-
Tube World
Book design by David Swanson
Cover Image by Shane Burke
All illustrations by Shane Burke
First Edition / September 2012
Published in eBook format by eBookIt.com
ISBN-13: 978-1-4566-1052-4
AGES 6-10
Parents: Have your kids been tired in the morning? Have you found wet bathing suits in their beds? Do they know things about far-away places that you didn’t teach them and they didn’t learn in school? Do children visiting your town from halfway around the world always seem to be friends with your kids, and to only be around during certain hours of the day? You won’t believe the explanation, but your kids might grin and wink at each other if you read it to them.
Kids: Did you know the center of the Earth was hollow? Do you know the words that can take you there, if you’re under the covers in your swimming suit and prepared for the trip? Can you imagine traveling anywhere in the world where there’s a swimming pool — and being home again in time for breakfast? If you haven’t been to Tube World yet, this book will tell you the secrets you need to know. And it will tell you about some children who discovered Tube World and used it to make the whole world a better place.
Advance Praise for Tube World:
“This book will make you laugh till water comes out your ears!”--Wesley
“This story is super flibba garibbidy schmibbadie libbidie awesome, mostly!”--Travis
“The best part is we saved 2,000 islands and pretty much the whole world in our swimming suits!”--Hallie
PART I: SINKING ISLANDS
1. Talking in the Waves
One summer, Wesley’s family spent a week at the beach in Delaware. His cousins Hallie and Travis, and their parents, came too. The three children had endless fun riding bicycles, zipping down waterslides, riding on amusement park rides, and — above all — playing on the beach, digging holes in the sand, constructing sand castles, and jumping into the water to ride the waves on boogie boards. When dolphins swam by, Wesley would swim underwater to listen to the squeaky noises they made to talk to each other.
Hallie and Travis were Wesley’s only cousins and his favorite people to play with in the whole world. They were also the ones who had introduced him to Tube World. Hallie was the oldest, then Travis, with Wesley the youngest of the three. When Hallie said she had something important to tell her brother and her little cousin, right away Wesley would stop acting silly and listen carefully. Travis, who might have heard it already, or who just didn’t feel like listening to his sister, was a little harder to focus.
“This is important,” Hallie said. “Travis, are you listening?” Travis was filling a cup with wet sand and trying to turn it upside down on the top of his head to create a sand castle hat.
“Travis!” his big sister said. “This is very important.”
“So is this,” said Travis. “I’m going to create the world’s first biodegradable hats that crabs can live in.”
Wesley began laughing at Travis, and Hallie saw that she was about to lose her cousin’s attention too.
“Wesley and Travis,” she said quietly. “I have to talk to you about . . . ” and she whispered: “Tube World.”
The two boys immediately paid complete attention. The three kids walked out, knee-deep into the ocean. Nobody else was close enough to hear them over the roar of the waves if they spoke softly.
“Do you see this ocean?” said Hallie, enjoying the fact that the boys were finally listening to her.
“Yes.” “Yes.”
“It’s higher than it used to be. It’s only a few inches higher, but it’s going to get higher and higher and higher. It’s going to rise more and more quickly than it’s been rising. By the time people can see the difference, it will be about to rise very high. By the time the beach is in danger of disappearing, the boardwalk and the street will be in danger of disappearing too. Do you understand?”
“Because of melting icebergs,” said Travis.
“If they all melt it’ll be safe for the Titanic to sail,” said Wesley, who had recently learned about the famous ship that had struck an iceberg and sunk to the bottom of the ocean. Wesley wanted to build a new Titanic.
“No,” said Hallie. “It won’t be safe for anything. We’re turning the whole world into the Titanic. I want to show you, and we have to use Tube World to see it. When is your next Tube World trip, Wes?”
Wesley said it was next Tuesday, after he got back home to Virginia from Delaware.
Wesley’s mom was calling to the three children from the beach. She was saying something about soft ice cream. It would look suspicious for them to ignore soft ice cream, and they didn’t want to ignore it.
“O.K.,” said Hallie to her little cousin, speaking very quickly. “When you are passing through the center of the Earth on the way back to bed on Tuesday, schedule your next trip for one week later, the next Tuesday, at 1:36 a.m. Eastern Time Wednesday morning. You’ll go to Maldives tube 3047. Got it?”
Wesley whispered it to himself three times. “Got it,” he said. Tube trips didn’t have to be scheduled ahead of time, but it guaranteed no waiting — always helpful if trying to travel as a group.
“We’re coming!” Hallie shouted.
2. Can an Island Sink?
That next Tuesday night, Wesley set his silent vibrating alarm watch for 1:35 a.m. in the middle of the night. When the watch woke him up, Wesley did exactly what Travis had taught him to do. When Wesley had turned six years old, Travis had told him the secret of Tube World.
Wesley changed into his swimming suit and nothing else. He hid his pajamas. He left a note for his parents, just in case. He crawled under