The Whale Who Kept the Songs of the Sea

When the sun sank into the sea and the water turned deep blue, all the reef fish swam toward the same big rock.

There lived Grandma Whale, the oldest and wisest in all the ocean. Every night she sang a song so the fish could fall asleep.

—Tonight —said Grandmother Whale— I will sing you the song of the gentle waves. And her voice sounded like the sea when it rests.

The fish closed their little eyes, one by one, rocked by the song, until they fell asleep among the seaweed.

But that night there was a new little fish. His name was Coral and he had just arrived at the reef. He didn't know anyone, and he wasn't sleepy.

"Why can't you fall asleep?" Grandma Whale asked him, very softly. "Because everyone has their song," said Coral. "And I don't have one."

Grandmother Whale smiled gently. "Every fish in the reef has their own song. It's just that you haven't heard yours yet."

—Close your eyes," she said. "Listen to the sea: the whisper of the sand, the slow dance of the seaweed, your own breathing.

Coral closed his eyes. And little by little, in the rocking of the water, he began to hear something gentle, that was singing just for him.

It was his heart, beating softly, like a lullaby he'd always had—he just hadn't noticed it before.

"That is your song, Coral," Grandma Whale whispered. "Carry it with you every night, and you will never be without it."

And so, Coral fell asleep for the first time in the reef, lulled by his own song, while Grandmother Whale watched over the calm sea until dawn.