Big Boat tried to wiggle again, but she didn’t move at all. She began to cry.
“What am I good for?” Big Boat asked the tiny tug boats who came to try and pull her away from the wall.
“You are so kind,” they told her. But they could not get her unstuck.
“I am terrible!” Big Boat told the teeny yellow construction trucks that tried to dig her tummy out.
“No, you are nice!” they told her.
“I am the Biggest Worst Boat that ever lived,” she told the canal workers who came to try and push on her side and move her.
“We like you, Big Boat,” they said. But Big Boat couldn’t hear them.
All night, Big Boat couldn’t sleep. She woke up the next morning even more tired than before.
“I am so sorry,” Big Boat told the canal worker who came to check on her. “I am still stuck.”
“Big Boat, don’t worry,” he said. He smiled. “Everyone loves that you are stuck.”
“What?” asked Big Boat. “I thought everyone was mad at me for being so big.”
“No,” said the canal worker. “Only the big companies are mad. Everyone else loves you. Look.”
He showed Big Boat the newspaper articles, and the videos online. He read her jokes. “I feel like the Big Boat,” someone said. “Same,” said another.
“Listen,” he said, and Big Boat heard the other boats yelling, “Toot toot!” to her.
Big Boat smiled.
She was an icon. She was beloved.
“You are perfect, Big Boat,” the worker told her.
But she was still stuck.
Featuring illustrations by Chris Thompson
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