Twas the night before tourney
And behind a large door
A robot sat quietly
Like 12 months before

Tucked under a sheet
Was its square little frame
Protection from dust
Renovations to blame

The kids had lights out
And the coach she did too
But sleep was evasive
Would they get through?

Then from over the mountains
They heard a great roar
And into the garage
The Pacific did pour

Coach threw on her flippers
Tossed the coders a mask
Hardware put on some SCUBA
They were up to the task.

They swam down the stairs
And over the table
The robot saluted
Ready, willing and able.

Then what to their wondering eyes
Should appear
But a school of fish
Quaking with fear

Faster than tuna
The team did regroup
They shouted out orders
In that cold, salty soup

“Drive straight now! Don’t veer right!
And do what your’re told!
Turn left, OTHER LEFT!
This is getting real old!”

They tinkered, they rebuilt
In that ocean so dark
Then the software team hollered,
“Look out for that shark”.

They saved the poor dolphin
Then mended the line
Some things went awry
But that was just fine

They scooped up reef
Gave the shark a sharp poke
They fixed up the ‘bot
Whenever it broke

They teetered up the ship
And speared the wee sub
They dropped it in deep
And then ate some grub.

The tanks were getting low
The pump got a cover
And over the wreck
With their fins they did hover

With time running short
And the scuba gear low
They waved off the treasure
“Next time down we’ll go”

They knocked down a flag
And then made a dash
To drag in the container
Was it full of cash?

They hooked up a chain
With a pull and a tug
They got that box moving
And slipped on a sea slug

Back on the shore
They opened the crates
They laughed and they shouted
And high-fived their mates

“They’re plastic, they’re bags”
They remarked with glee
“No fake jellyfish
Will float in our sea”

Then they tidied the lego
Put it up on the shelves
Each child thinking quietly
“We did it ourselves!”

Written by Second Year FLL Coach, Tracey Ananmalay
With deference and thanks once again to Clement Clarke Moore

received via Maggie Best 12/3/2005 – Ocean Odyssey