Elyanna was a little ballerina. She danced on the warm beach every morning.
Tip, tap. Tip, tap.
Her pink shoes made tiny marks in the sand. Her blue skirt went swish, swish. Elyanna was gentle and brave. She loved to help.
Near a tall red umbrella sat Musician, a cheerful crab with a tiny yellow hat. Musician had a small drum.
Boom-boom. Tap-tap.
“Good morning, Elyanna!” said Musician.
“Good morning!” said Elyanna. “Let’s make a beach dance.”
Elyanna twirled. Musician drummed. The waves went whoosh. The gulls went ee-ee. Even a sleepy turtle lifted one eye.
Then Musician stopped.
“Oh!” he said.
“What is it?” asked Elyanna.
“My shiny shell is gone.”
Musician’s shell was not his home shell. It was his special music shell. When he held it to his drum, it made a lovely sound.
Ting-a-ling!
It was blue, round, and sparkly.
“I had it right here,” said Musician. His crab claws pointed to a little blanket. “Now it is gone.”
Musician looked sad. His hat slipped over one eye.
Elyanna gave him a kind smile. “We can look together.”
“Yes!” said Musician. “A shell-search dance!”
They looked by the red umbrella.
Tip, tap. Boom-boom.
“No shell,” said Elyanna.
They looked beside a sand castle with three bumpy towers.
Tip, tap. Boom-boom.
“No shell,” said Musician.
A little sandpiper ran past them very fast.
“Peep-peep! I saw something blue!” said the bird.
“Where?” asked Elyanna.
The sandpiper pointed with one small wing. “By the seaweed rocks!”
“Thank you!” said Elyanna and Musician.
They went to the seaweed rocks. Green seaweed wiggled in the water.
Wiggle, wiggle.
Elyanna did not step on the slippery rocks. She held Musician’s claw.
“Slow feet,” she said.
“Slow claws,” said Musician.
Behind one rock they found a blue bottle cap.
“It is blue,” said Musician. “But it is not my shell.”
Elyanna nodded. “We keep looking.”
A big wave came.
Whoooosh!
It took the bottle cap away. Musician laughed. “The wave wanted its hat!”
Then they heard a tiny cry.
“Help! Help!”
Under a curl of seaweed was a baby octopus. One soft arm was wrapped around something blue.
Elyanna bent down. “Hello, little one.”
The baby octopus sniffled. “I found a pretty shell. But I cannot get free.”
Musician looked closely. The blue, sparkly shell was his.
“My music shell!” he said.
But Elyanna whispered, “First, we help the baby.”
Musician nodded. He was cheerful, but he was kind too.
“Boom-boom, brave arms,” he said softly.
Elyanna made a careful dance. She reached left. She reached right. She lifted the seaweed very gently.
Tip. Tap. Lift.
The baby octopus wiggled.
Wiggle, wiggle, wiggle!
Free!
“Thank you!” said the baby octopus. He gave Musician the shell. “You may have it. I only wanted to hear it sing.”
Musician held the shell by his drum.
Ting-a-ling! Ting-a-ling!
The shell sang even brighter than before.
“Would you like to hear a song?” asked Musician.
“Yes, please!” said the baby octopus.
So Musician played his drum. Elyanna danced on the smooth, wet sand. The baby octopus clapped all eight arms.
Clap-clap-clap-clap!
The turtle came closer. The sandpiper came back. Little fish popped from the water.
Elyanna danced high. Elyanna danced low. She made a circle with her arms.
“Everybody can dance,” she said.
The turtle wiggled. The bird hopped. The fish made bubbles. Even the waves danced.
Whoosh, swish, whoosh!
When the sun began to go down, the baby octopus brought Elyanna a gift. It was a small treasure box made from a pink clam shell.
Inside were three smooth pearls: one white, one peach, and one bright blue.
“For the kind ballerina,” said the baby octopus.
Elyanna smiled. “Thank you.”
Musician gave Elyanna another gift. It was a tiny bell for her pink shoe.
“Now your dancing can make music too,” he said.
Elyanna put the bell on her shoe.
Tip, tap, ting!
She laughed. Musician laughed. The beach friends laughed.
Elyanna had found more than a lost shell. She had found a new dance sound, three lovely pearls, and a little octopus friend.
Tip, tap. Boom-boom. Ting-a-ling.
On the warm beach, the happy dance went on.