Cappy's Corner

There was a very small island close to the Bahamas, and there was a magical world. Near this small island was a Mermaid named Shelah who had magical powers. Shelah was a beautiful mermaid with many sea creature friends. Her very best friend was a crab called "Cappy", they had a lot of fun and adventures together.

Shelah and Cappy loved to tease the fishermen that came to their island to fish. Sometimes, they would tug on the fishing line and swim away quickly. They did it over and over again, until the fishermen went away. Shelah worried that the fishermen would catch one of their friends, so she had to protect them and have fun at the same time.

One day Shelah was turning starfish into seahorses and didn't notice a fishing boat had arrived. She swam over quickly, but it was too late, they had caught Jeffrey the grouper. Jeffrey was being pulled up by the fisherman, oh no! Shelah was too far away to help, what was she going to do? Shelah closed her eyes tight and wished that Jeffrey was bigger and stronger. When Shelah opened her eyes Jeffrey had changed into a giant shark with sharp teeth, he wiggled and the fishing line broke. Jeffrey swam to Shelah with a very big smile and said, "Thank you Shelah, can I be a shark for awhile?", she said, "Yes, but you must promise not to eat any of our friends", Jeffrey agreed and swam away to show the others.

Cappy was watching the whole thing and told Shelah, "You have amazing powers, wouldn't you like to use them in a special way?". "What do you mean Cappy?", Shelah answered with a puzzled look on her face. "We must do something to let the humans know how wonderful it is in the sea so that they don't continue to destroy it", Cappy exclaimed. Shelah said, "How are we going to do that Cappy?" and Cappy's answer was "One human at a time.

Cappy's plan was to use Shelah's magical powers to show the humans how important and beautiful the sea is. But first Shelah had to find a way to get the humans in the water, because her magical powers only worked inside the water. Shelah thought and thought, and she knew that all humans like dolphins, so she called her dolphin friends, Austin, Kaley and Rainy. Shelah told the dolphins her plan and they were happy to help.

Austin, Kaley and Rainy swam right up to the next boat that arrived near the island, the people were so pleased to see the dolphins that they jumped in the water to swim with them. Cappy yelled to Shelah, "They are in the water, put your magic to work". Shelah closed her eyes tight and wished that the people would turn into mermaids like her". When Shelah opened her eyes the family was now just like her, she swam over to greet them. Shelah told them to come with her and meet some new friends. The family was very surprised when they found their legs had now become tails, at the same time they were full of joy that they could swim under the sea.

Shelah introduced the family to Cappy the crab, Jesse the jellyfish, Monica the moray eel, Jason the sea turtle and of course they already met the dolphins, Austin, Kaley and Rainy. Shelah and the family swam for hours and met all the sea creatures around the island. Shelah explained to the family how important it is that people protect the creatures and the ocean. The family agreed to tell their friends and they will never forget their day in the sea. Shelah said, "Please tell your friends about our magical island and I will let them swim in the sea with me and my friends".

Shelah swam the family back to their boat and to the surface, closed her eyes and turned them back into humans. "We will be back to visit you and the magical world underwater", the family told Shelah. They waved goodbye to each other, the dolphins swam with the family for awhile and they disappeared into the distance.

From time to time other families would come to the island and Shelah would turn them into mermaids and mermen. Each time Shelah and Cappy knew that there would be more and more people to help them protect the ocean and all the sea creatures in it.

THE END