Once upon a time there was a whale named Melody. She was a big, kind whale who had five kids.

    One day, all of her kids went over the wave and went far away- and the got lost. Melody tried to find them, but they were deep into the sea.

    On her way trying to find them, Melody saw a big ship ahead of her. She usually tried to steer clear of ships because most can be very dangerous. But she was intrigued because she saw a lot of men standing around at the deck, and to her surprise, threw one of them overboard!

    ''Swallow him,'' a voice commanded. Melody knew it was the voice of God.

    ''Excuse me? Um, ahem, why do you want me to, ahem, digest him?''

    ''His name is Jonah. I told him to tell the people of Nineveh about me but he didn't. He didn't obey me; he ran away. I need you to swallow him.''

    God was the boss. Melody did as he said.

    Gulp!

    Eww! Melody had no idea people tasted so bad!

    The first day with Jonah in her tummy, she heard him say, ''The people of Nineveh are my enemies! Why should I help them?''

     Then he murmured to himself, ''Because God told me to.''

    Melody's stomach began to ache. ''How long does he need to stay, God?'' she asked.

    ''Not much longer.''

The second day, Jonah asked himself if what he did was wrong. He told himself, ''Of course! I disobeyed God's directions!''

    He prayed to God if He would forgive him.

   ''How much longer, God?'' Melody almost moaned.

    ''Not much longer.''