The Little Shark had lived in the sea for as long as he could remember. The Sea was almost as blue as Shark himself, deep and usually calm. One could find many interesting things at its bottom - an almost new blanket, a round shell with which to play, sunken books... In fact, one could find almost everything - everything except for a friend.
Shark always wanted to have a friend, but it's not so easy to get one in the Sea. Everyone is always in a hurry, either sticking their noses in the mud and digging to the very bottom, or busy trying to float all the way to the top. No one ever says anything, and if one does manage to stop someone to talk, they usually just burble in nothing but empty bubbles.
One day, Shark was caught in a strong current, so strong that it spun him around and turned him belly-up. Then Shark saw that which was usually way over his head, and which most fish had never seen in their lives - the Surface.
Intrigued, he swam towards it. What he was able to see through the waves from below made him very curious. When he finally reached the edge of the water, he hesitated for a long time, but, finally, slightly scared but greatly fascinated, he stuck his nose out and surfaced.
When he glanced around, he opened his mouth in surprise. Everything around was bright and warm. The sun warmed his little fins, the waves stroked his little tail, and, not very far away at all, on the horizon (Shark didn't know what the horizon was back then), there was some kind of an elongated shape. The Shark swam towards it... and that was how he discovered the Island.
The Little Fox lived on the Island. For quite some time, he had been living in his little den, deep within the Forest, but the more time he spent alone among the forest greenery, the more he felt that, while it was quiet and pleasant, there was something missing. He was unsure what it was, but he kept going on longer and longer journeys, going deeper and deeper into the Forest, until one day he reached its edge. The trees were growing sparsely there, and a strange, constant noise was coming from behind them, very different from the usual murmurs and rustles of the forest. Fox ventured out carefully and squinted his little eyes, which had become accustomed to the semi-darkness of the Forest. When he opened them, he saw... the Sea. It was immense, it was endless... and it was amazing.
Fox approached its waves, he wet his little paws in them, and, bewildered and amazed, he went for the very first walk along the Beach in his entire life. He kept walking until sundown approached. Fox raised his eyes and stopped, stunned by what he saw on the horizon. He sat on his tail and for the longest time, he quietly watched the warm gold slowly disappear in the waves of the Sea. For the first time he had seen the sunset on the sea.
And then, suddenly...
In case anyone harbors any doubt: that means that Shark really, really, really loves cakes.
(A scrawl made with Shark's fin: That's true, it's the truest truth!)
During our adventures and journeys, we come across other animals who live on the Island and in the Sea. There's C. Gull, there's Squiller, there's Frogg, there's Albie the Tross, and there's the Sail Snail, and above all, there are the Crabs, who always come up with or into something unusual, complicated or funny (it's usually all three things together.)
Some time ago, the Author showed up on our island. He had written much in his life, he had even taught others how to write, so that was something that he sort-of-knew how to do. What he could not do at all was to draw. Obviously, he began doing the latter.
Even though he could not draw at all, he did draw us, and then he kept drawing and drawing... and he is still doing that (and he still can't draw). The effects of his efforts are obvious, as you can see, but we got used to them.
We're hoping that perhaps you, too, will get used to it, and will keep visiting us.
Perhaps you'll even smile along with us?
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