It's Always Been There!

Shark Short #5 - another kids' story.  Enjoy!

It's Always Been There!

I quickly swam up to where the guys were swimming in circles, around some human in his tight black suit.  The man was taking pictures of the guys and feeding them some tuna carcass - you know, the usual.  I waved a fin for Perry to come over just outside the group to where I was.  I was so excited for him to see.

"Do you think she'll notice," I asked as he swam my way. 

"Oh my GOLDFISH!" he screamed.

"What?  Is it that awesome?" I asked.

"It's hideous!  Why would you do that?" he asked in shock.

"What?  It's just a gold tooth.  I got it at the old wreckage by the reef.  One of the eels found it for me, and it fit perfectly over my tooth.  Maybe you didn't see it clearly.  Thsee?"   I opened my mouth and showed him my new gold canine.

He looked confused.  "Who cares about your tooth?  I was talking about the black sea urchin on your head.  What... why?" he said, holding his fins out.

I reached a fin to the top of my head and felt the spiky thing on my head. 

"Oh this?  What are you talking about, it's always been there!"

"No it hasn't, Ronald," he said sternly.

"Sure it has.  Remember at your party two years ago?"

"Ah, I'm thinking no." 

"Well, maybe you just weren't paying attention."

Just then, Todd came swimming my way.  The human was heading back up to the surface, so the fun was over.

"What in the SHELL?"  He screamed before breaking into uncontrollable laughter.

"Do you like my new tooth," I asked, "I got it to impress Lola."

"Forget your tooth, man.  Ronald, why are you wearing that RIDICULOUS thing on your head?"

"Oh, the urchin?  What are you talking about, it's always been there."

"You look like the humans, how they wear those sea urchin-looking things on their heads."

"That's their hair.  And I have always had this.  That's why Lola likes me - because I have hair like a superstar."

"No, man. She'll never talk to you again if you show her that."

Kyle swam toward us  and when he saw me he just fell into hysterics.

"What?  Don't tell me you're laughing at my urchin."

"What were you thinking when you put that thing on top of your head?" asked Kyle.

"Really, Ronald.  Of all your silly ideas, this has to be the worst," added Perry.

"You better go hide, man.  Look, Lola's coming," whispered Todd.

"Oh man, what should I do?" I asked.

"HIDE!" screamed all my friends in unison.

I quickly hid behind a rock and watched as Lola swam toward the guys.  She was so beautiful.  Her dorsal fin was so smooth and pointy.  Her gills opened and closed like a jellyfish swimming.  Her beautiful black eyes were hollow, empty - just the way I like them.  And her teeth - her four rows of teeth were just perfect.  Her teeth went every which way, her gums nice and pink.  She was chewing on a lionfish, one of its flamboyant fins hanging out the side of her mouth.  She was so beautiful.

"Hi Lola," said Kyle.

"You look especially scary today," said Perry.

She looked left to right at the guys and continued swimming toward the reef.  After she'd passed, I came out.  "Oh, man I want to take her out for tuna one of these days," I said.

"Good luck while you're wearing that thing," said Kyle.

Ugh.  The love game was so hard to play.  I swam away from the guys and stayed by the rocks, swimming past all sorts of other marine life.  I reached the wreckage and went into the sunken ship to explore it a bit. 

"Hey handsome," I heard a voice call out from behind me.  I turned around and saw that it was Lola.

"Oh!  Hi... Lola,"  I said, as I tried to cover the urchin with my fins, but they were too short unless I turned my head to the side - but that would just look awkward.  I decided to play it cool and forced a smile.

 "Wow, nice tooth!" she said.

I had forgotten about the gold tooth.  "Oh, this old thing?  An eel gave it to me here at the wreckage," I said.

"I like it!"

"Thanks."

Lola came over to me and looked closer at it.  "Wow, it's really fancy."

"I know.  The minute I saw it I knew I had to have it.  Hey, what are you doing for dinner?"

"I don't know.  I was thinking of hanging out near the reef - some human is bound to come down to feed us."

"Oh!  I was going to do the same thing.  Why don't we go together?" I asked.

"Sure, I'd like that!" she replied.

We spent the day swimming together, scaring sea turtles and exploring the reef.  When dinnertime came along, we almost missed it because we were having so much fun together.  As we swam toward the guys, who were already circling a couple of humans, Kyle turned toward us. 

"Hey guys," he said, "What are you guys up to?"

"We just came to play with the humans and have a nice tuna dinner," I said.

"So... you guys together now?" asked Perry as he came toward us.

"Yep.  See?  Lola is wearing my gold tooth," I said.

"But what about - you know - the thing on his head?" asked Todd as he joined our group.  I could see the humans taking pictures of us in the distance.

"What?  The sea urchin?" asked Lola.  She turned to me and looked at it.  She squinted her eyes.  I gulped hard.  Oh no, I thought, I forgot to take it off!  Now what was I going to do?

"Yeah that hideous black sea urchin," added Perry.  "Do you like it?"

Lola turned her mouth sideways and looked up into her head.  "Hasn't it always been there?"