Treasure Hunter on Cleanup Duty

Every hundred years, a whale carries an island of flowering mangroves across the sea, and this year a turtle guardian, a water-droplet guardian, and a sprout guardian climb aboard to hunt for the legendary Chest of Returning Things. They follow clues carved into fallen seedpods, hoping to recover lost fishing gear from the seabed before its tangled lines catch the whale’s flippers. A coastal salvage captain wants the chest too, but when the guardians open it, they find no gold: it releases every trapped creature and delivers recovered rubbish straight onto its owner’s doorstep. Their voyage ends in a joyful harbour procession, with the captain lending his ship to collect the rubbish, the whale swimming free, and mangrove seedlings planted along the battered shore. Before that welcome can happen, the captain’s iron grappling hook crashes into the island beside the three guardians, dragging a loop of fishing line toward the whale’s flipper.