Captain Tater Tot and the Treasure of Taking Turns
- LettersLetter
- May 4
- 5 min read
Captain Tater Tot stood at the front of his ship, the Crispy Cruiser. His tiny boots were planted wide. His big pirate hat slipped down over one eye.
He lifted it back up and shouted, “Crew! Today we find TREASURE!”
“Treasure!” squawked Drumstick, the chicken leg parrot, flapping wildly.
“My turn to find it!” said Pickle Pip, pointing at the sea.
“No, my turn!” said Crunch.
“OUR turn!” shouted Crumble.
Nacho slowly slid across the deck, holding a wrinkly map. “I think… the treasure is… this way.”
Captain Tater Tot puffed up. “Excellent! I will lead the way. Because it is the captain’s turn. And the captain’s turn is the best turn.”
“My turn! My turn!” yelled Drumstick again.
Everyone started talking at once.
“My turn to steer!”
“My turn to read the map!”
“My turn to dig!”
“No, my turn!”
Captain Tater Tot stomped his foot. “Enough! I will steer!”
He grabbed the wheel.
Crunch grabbed it too. “No, I steer!”
Crumble jumped in. “WE steer!”
Pickle Pip climbed up. “I saw something! I steer!”
Nacho leaned over them all. “I can help steer…”
The wheel spun.
And spun.
And spun.
The Crispy Cruiser turned in a big, wobbly circle.
“Why are we going in circles?” asked Pickle Pip.
“Because someone is steering wrong!” said Crunch.
“You are steering wrong!” said Crumble.
“I am not!” said Crunch.
Captain Tater Tot tried to shout over them. “Stop! STOP! It is MY—”
The ship spun again.
Drumstick flapped. “MY TURN! MY TURN! MY TURN!”
Finally, the ship bumped gently into a sandy shore.
Bump.
Everyone fell into a pile.
Captain Tater Tot crawled out, his hat crooked. “We have arrived! Just as I planned.”
Nacho blinked. “We were… spinning.”
“Exactly,” said Captain Tater Tot quickly. “A spinning plan.”
Pickle Pip pointed. “TREASURE!”
Everyone gasped.
It was just a rock.
“Oh,” said Pickle Pip.
Crunch and Crumble grabbed their shovels. “We dig now!”
“My turn!” said Crunch.
“No, my turn!” said Crumble.
They both started digging the same spot at the same time.
Thunk!
Their shovels hit each other.
“Hey!”
“That was my dig!”
“No, mine!”
They dug again.
Thunk!
“Stop hitting my shovel!”
“You stop hitting MY shovel!”
They dug faster.
Sand flew everywhere.
It covered Nacho.
It covered Pickle Pip.
It covered Captain Tater Tot.
Drumstick squawked, “DIG! DIG! MY TURN TO DIG!”
Captain Tater Tot spit out sand. “Stop! Stop digging!”
They stopped.
There was a hole.
A very small hole.
Next to it were ten other tiny holes.
Nacho looked at the map, which now had sand stuck all over it. “I… can’t see the X anymore.”
Pickle Pip pointed again. “TREASURE!”
It was a shell.
“Oh,” said Pickle Pip again.
Captain Tater Tot grabbed the map. “Give that to me! It is my turn to read it!”
Nacho held on. “But I was reading it…”
“My turn!” said Captain Tater Tot.
“My turn!” said Nacho.
They both pulled.
The map stretched.
And stretched.
And stretched.
Riiip.
They froze.
The map had torn in half.
“Oh,” said Nacho softly.
Captain Tater Tot stared at the pieces. “Well… that is not good.”
Drumstick flapped. “NOT GOOD! NOT GOOD!”
The crew stood very still.
No one spoke.
The wind blew gently.
The ocean made soft shhhhhh sounds.
Captain Tater Tot looked around. “We are close. I know it. We just need to find the treasure spot.”
Pickle Pip squinted. “Wait… what’s that?”
On the sand, there was a wooden sign. It had a big wobbly “X” painted on it.
Below the X were words.
Nacho leaned in. “It says… The treasure appears when turns are shared.”
Crunch blinked. “What does that mean?”
Crumble scratched his head. “Shared turns?”
Pickle Pip tilted sideways. “Like… taking turns?”
Drumstick squawked, “TAKING TURNS! TAKING TURNS!”
Captain Tater Tot crossed his arms. “Hmm.”
No one moved.
The hole sat there.
The broken map flapped in the breeze.
Captain Tater Tot looked at the crew.
The crew looked at Captain Tater Tot.
Nacho spoke slowly. “Maybe… we try taking turns.”
Crunch looked at Crumble. “You go first.”
Crumble blinked. “Really?”
Crunch shrugged. “Just this once.”
Crumble smiled. “Okay. My turn.”
He dug one careful scoop.
Then he stepped back.
Crunch stepped forward. “Now my turn.”
He dug one scoop.
Then stepped back.
Pickle Pip bounced. “My turn to look!”
He leaned into the hole. “I see… dirt.”
“Good job,” said Nacho.
Nacho picked up the map pieces. “My turn to hold this.”
He gently placed them together.
Captain Tater Tot watched.
No one grabbed.
No one shouted.
No one said “MY TURN!” in a loud voice.
Drumstick opened his beak.
“MY—”
He paused.
“…turn?” he said quietly.
Everyone looked at him.
Captain Tater Tot nodded. “Yes. Your turn.”
Drumstick flapped gently. “My turn to… watch.”
“Good watching,” said Pickle Pip.
They kept going.
One dig.
Then another.
One look.
Then another.
Slow.
Steady.
The hole got bigger.
Deeper.
Crunch wiped his brow. “This is… working.”
Crumble nodded. “Yeah. It is.”
Captain Tater Tot stepped forward. “Now… it is my turn.”
He held the shovel.
He looked at the crew.
Then he dug one scoop.
He stepped back.
“Your turn,” he said.
Nacho smiled.
They all smiled.
Suddenly—
CLUNK.
The shovel hit something hard.
Everyone froze.
Pickle Pip whispered, “Treasure?”
“Treasure,” whispered Crunch.
“Treasure!” whispered Crumble.
They carefully cleared the dirt.
A wooden chest appeared.
It was old.
It was dusty.
It was perfect.
Drumstick flapped quietly. “Treasure… treasure…”
Captain Tater Tot took a step forward.
Then he stopped.
He looked at the crew.
He took a breath.
“Who would like to open it… first?”
The crew blinked.
Crunch looked at Crumble. “You go.”
Crumble shook his head. “No, you.”
Nacho smiled. “We can all take turns.”
Captain Tater Tot nodded. “Yes. We will open it together. One at a time.”
Pickle Pip bounced. “Okay! Okay!”
They gathered around the chest.
Crunch lifted the latch.
Then stepped back.
“Your turn.”
Crumble opened the lid a tiny bit.
Then stepped back.
“Your turn.”
Nacho pushed it a little more.
Then stepped back.
“Your turn.”
Pickle Pip peeked inside.
His eyes went wide.
“It’s… it’s… snacks!”
Golden, crunchy snacks filled the chest.
They sparkled.
They crunched just by looking at them.
Drumstick flapped wildly. “SNACKS! SNACKS! MY TURN FOR SNACKS!”
Captain Tater Tot laughed. “Yes, Drumstick. Your turn will come.”
They sat in a circle.
One by one, they took turns.
Crunch took one snack.
Crumble took one snack.
Nacho took one snack.
Pickle Pip took one snack.
Drumstick took one snack.
Then—
Captain Tater Tot picked one up.
He looked at it.
Then he looked at his crew.
“My turn,” he said softly.
He took a bite.
Crunch.
It was the best snack he had ever tasted.
He smiled.
Not a big, loud captain smile.
A small, happy one.
“Your turn,” he said.
The sun began to set.
The sky turned soft and orange.
The ocean whispered.
Shhhhhh.
The crew sat together, sharing the treasure.
No grabbing.
No shouting.
Just turns.
Drumstick leaned against the chest. “Our turn,” he said.
Captain Tater Tot adjusted his hat.
It slipped down again.
He didn’t fix it right away.
He just sat there.
Listening to the crunch of snacks.
Watching his crew.
Taking turns.
The best kind of turn.
The LettersLetter "Free Bedtime Stories Club" Team
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