“Sam!” “Are you sleeping?” “No, I was just snoozing”, Sam replied. “Can you tell us another story?” “Hmm alright, what about the two fish who wanted to steal the treasure form Tony the crab?” Sam asked. “No, not again about fish! Don’t you have another one? “I could always tell you about that time your aunt Margaret got attacked by jellyfish”, Sam smiled. “Look! Louis is coming this way!” “Well hello! Can I rest here for a while my friends?” Louis asked. “Sure! Sam was just about to tell us a story! “Oh, what story?” Louis asked. “I was going to tell them about Margaret who got attacked by jellyfish, have you heard it?” Sam said. “Oh that one”, Louis grinned, “I think everyone has, it was quite a joke! But it’s not much of a story really. I doubt it was an organized attack, as she tells. More of an accidental rubbing of the kind, haha! Don’t you have a more exiting story Sam?” Louis said. “Ok ok, what about the tale of Stupid Sally?” Sam proposed. “Sounds good!” they all agreed.
“So once upon a time there was a seal named Sally. Sally was very peculiar, always daydreaming, much on her own. One day while she was hunting fish, she got distracted by some floating seaweed. She decided to go dance along with it. Completely submerged in her own world, she did not hear that a fishing boat was coming her way! To her great surprise, she found herself suddenly caught in the nets, together with other unfortunate animals. But Sally was a strong girl, so she fought her way back out. By that time, she found herself further at sea than she had ever been. Because she was a bit disoriented, she found herself in need to ask for directions back home. She though the porpoise nearby would most likely fulfil that need perfectly. The porpoise was very friendly, not only did he direct her back home, he also talked with her about other waters and far adventures. Sally got inspired and decided to travel on instead if returning home. She was especially interested in meeting walruses and seeing sea ice. So she travelled north. After days and days of swimming, she noticed the water temperature got colder. After another 7 days, she finally saw the first floating chunks of sea ice. Excitingly she jumped all around them, up and down and around. But as she was so busy amusing herself, she didn’t see them coming.. They came from behind in a blur from black and teeth. In the end, Sally was devoured by orcas and she never returned home again.”
“Oh my, that’s a sad story!” “Well yes, but it had a lot of wisdom in it.” Sam said. “Yeah like: Stay away from fisher boats. Or: Never wander of to strange waters on your own. And: Never trust a porpoise!” Louis dictated. “And they, can they be trusted?” “Difficult to say, they can be harmless at one point and dangerous the next.” Sam said, while looking at the small boat nearby. “Very unpredictable these humans! Before you know it, there trampling on your sand plate!” Louis shouted. “Why do they keep coming back here though?” “Ooh but your uncle Louis is very famous and very photogenic!” Sam laughed. They all had a very happy afternoon.
The end.
INSPIRATION
When we were at Terschelling, at the Wadden Sea, we went on a boat trip to the many sand banks were seals were resting. The happy interactions between them resembled friends and family coming together and sharing stories.