WHO’S AFRAID OF GIRLS?
Another Seahorse Story
Sandy was the most fearless seahorse in the old pirate ship. Of all his brothers, sisters and cousins, no one was more courageous.
Everyone looked up to him, but there was one thing, one secret thing that scared him.
GIRLS!
He just didn’t know how to talk to them. All his brothers had found girlfriends. They danced - every night and every morning.
While Sandy sat on the sidelines, watching, he wished he had the courage to ask a girl to do that with him.
None of the girls had the courage to ask him either. Sandy, the powerful, Sandy, the fearless, Sandy, the hero. They squirmed and looked down at their fins whenever he came around.
Sandy’s brothers asked if he was scared.
“Who’s afraid of girls? Not me!” Sandy said.
“Then why don’t you find a nice girl and ask her to dance?” They said.
But Sandy just brushed them off. “Ugh, girls! Who needs them? He couldn’t let anyone know how he really felt inside.
Pretty soon, everyone had found a partner and there were no girls left in the pirate ship. Sandy’s heart ached while he watched the dancing ritual every night, every morning.
“What am I going to do?” he asked his old friend Sam the Sword. Where Sandy couldn’t tell his secret to his family, he could always talk to Sam. Sam understood. He was a good friend.
Sam had an idea. “Come with me” he said.
Sandy rode on Sam’s back. “Where are we going?” asked Sandy.
“You’ll see” was all Sam said.
Sam the Sword sped through the water, past coral reefs and rocky coves, past colorful landscapes, further than Sandy had ever been before.
And just beyond the volcanic crest, Sandy spotted the Seahorse Village.
When they arrived, the dance was already underway. Everyone was paired up though. He looked at Sam. “I don’t get it” he said.
And then he saw her, leaning against a rock, all on her own… one pretty girl.
“She’s just like you” Sam said, “different from the others. She’s fearless and the boys are afraid to ask her.”
“And just like me, she’s only scared of one thing.” Sandy said.
His heart thudded in his chest as he approached her. “I can do this. I can do this…” he repeated to himself. He looked up and gave her a shy smile.
She smiled back at him. He gulped. “Would you like to dance?”
He offered her his tail. She wrapped hers around his. Sam breathed a sigh of relief as the couple went for their first dance.
