Good Friends, Part II

“Scrillow! Scrillow! Wake up,” shouted Casey as he swan frantically in circles. Scrillow did not move, even when Freddie the Fish tugged on his upside down letter L antennae.

“Oh, Freddie,” sobbed Casey. “What can we do to help him? He’s my good friend.”

“I’m not sure, Casey. Never been in this kind of situation before. But keep an eye out for any big fish. We don’t want any of us ending up as somebody’s lunch. I’ll be watching, too… all this glitter! Where’s all this gold glitter coming from? I can hardly see in front of my eyeballs!”

The gold glitter suddenly parted down the middle and a beautiful seahorse was slowly bobbing up and down in the water. Her pink skin sparkled with tiny red stripes all around her head and torso, and her tail formed a pink curlicue. Casey and Freddie stared, their eyes wide open.

“Who are you?” asked Casey.

“I’m Fippa the Fairy Seahorse. I live in this lagoon, too.”

“Seahorses can be fairies? I never heard about fairy seahorses in the English Channel,” said Freddie. “My name is Freddie and this is Casey the Crab.”

“Oh, Fippa,” cried Casey. “Maybe you can help us with our friend, Scrillow. He won’t wake up. He really took a hard tumble through the water.”

Fippa slowly swam backwards, up and down, to get a good look at Scrillow lying in the sand. Closer and closer she moved towards Scrillow, until her pink curlicue tail made contact with his upside down letter L antennae. Scrillow’s antennae quivered ever so gently. Fippa continued to swim, making a circle around Scrillow. Her tiny red stripes on her body began to glow, and blue and green glitter floated all around, covering Scrillow from the top of his head and antennae to his protective shell connected to his lower body. Fippa stopped above Scrillow’s body, and raising her head high she softly sang,

“Scrillow the Snail, I command the dark shadows within you,

to leave your body and go back to the ocean deep.

For the Powers that flow from me to you,

are filled with Life that you must keep.”

Scrillow slowly raised his head, then gathered the muscles of his body and sat up, shell intact and still connected.

“Oh, Scrillow!” shouted Casey. “You’re alive! I thought maybe you were gone, you know, never going to wake up again. I’m so happy you woke up.”

“Yeah, me too,” said Freddie. “Glad to see you moving about, old boy.”

“Let’s get Scrillow to a place safe and quiet. You two help me gather some seaweed and I will pull him behind me. I know just the place to go to.” And Fippa continued to give instructions until they had made a nice bed of seaweed for Scrillow to lie in, and then tied the seaweed to her upper body. Off they went, Fippa pulling the green, grassy chariot made for Scrillow, and Casey and Freddie following behind. After a short time Fippa lead them to a rock wall with small caves.

“We can all rest in here,” Fippa said. “And there is plenty of plant life for all of us to eat.”

“Fippa,” said Casey. “Thank you so much for helping us.”

Scrillow bobbed his head up and down, his upside down letter L antennae waving in the water. “Thank you,” he whispered.

While they were eating Casey explained to Fippa why he was traveling, that he was hoping to teach others a new way of counting. Fippa was very excited for him.

“Casey,” Fippa said. “Tomorrow is our celebration of National Day of Open Your Mind to New Ideas! We have a parade in the morning. How would you feel about giving a presentation to everyone on the topic of your new counting method? You would have a whole school of fish available to listen to you after the parade.”

“I can do it, Fippa! Boy, this is wonderful! Did you hear that Scrillow?”

“I did Young Casey. I will sit up front next to you so I can be sure and hear you. But now I think we should all get some sleep. It’s been a challenging day.”

All four agreed and told each other good night. Soon the cave was very quiet except for the soft snoring coming from Scrillow.

Casey was up early and peeked out the door of the cave. He couldn’t believe it! The parade had already started!

“Wake up everyone! Come and see! It’s the most beautiful parade I’ve ever seen!”

And sure enough the parade had begun. The foursome looked out the cave door and began to smile and wave. It seemed everyone who lived in the lagoon was participating. Groups of fish all sorts of sizes and colors swam by. Blue fish, green fish, yellow fish, white fish, red fish, striped fish and polka dotted fish were swimming, and some were carrying festive flags and signs. “Try a New Swim Stroke Everyday! It will Change Your Life!” one sign read. Another posted the words, “Float a New Idea in Your MInd Every Few Hours”. Casey laughed at the sign that said, “Make Someone Think You are Up to Something Fishy, Do Something You’ve Never Done Before!” And another that read, “Squeeze a Little Fish OIl on Those Brain Cells, Helps to Open the Mind”.

Flags of all colors and shapes waved through the water as the parade procession passed by the cave door. Fippa blew kisses to a large group of other Fairy Seahorses that passed by, glitter following them like a moving rainbow of colors. Crabs gathered in their own groups too, waving their flags in circles, passing them from one leg to another. What a celebration it was!

Then they were all turning around, headed back to the cave where Scrillow, Casey, Freddie, and Fippa were all waiting.

“Looks like they’re all coming your way, Casey,” said Freddie. “Break one of those legs! Good Luck!”

Scrillow looked at Casey and smiled, his upside down letter L antennae tipping side to side, “You know what you’re doing. You know what to say, and we’ll all be listening.”

Casey looked at Scrillow. He swallowed hard and then whispered, “I’m scared, Scrillow. I don’t know what to say.”

TO BE CONTINUED!

c   Love, Joan