Princess Sofia was a little mermaid. She lived in a bright blue lake. Her tail was silver. Her crown was made of tiny pink shells. Sofia was kind. Sofia was brave, even when she felt a little small.
Every morning, Sofia waved to the reeds. “Hello, green reeds!”
She waved to the fish. “Hello, little fish!”
She waved to her best friend, Phoenix. Phoenix was a small golden bird with warm, glowing feathers. He liked to fly low over the water. Splash! Splash! Sometimes his toes got wet.
“Good morning, Sofia!” sang Phoenix.
“Good morning!” said Sofia. “Your feathers shine like the sun.”
Phoenix gave a happy flap. “And your tail shines like the moon!”
Then Sofia looked at the bottom of the lake. Oh no.
Her favorite shell was gone.
It was a round shell with a rainbow inside. When Sofia held it to her ear, it said, “Hush, hush, lakey-lake.” Sofia loved that shell very much.
“My rainbow shell is missing,” Sofia said. Her voice was quiet.
Phoenix landed on a lily pad. “Do not worry. We can look together.”
Sofia took a little breath. “Together.”
They looked by the soft sand. No shell.
They looked under the lily pads. No shell.
They looked behind a big, sleepy turtle. No shell.
“Have you seen my rainbow shell?” Sofia asked the turtle.
The turtle blinked slowly. “I saw bubbles go pop, pop, pop. They went to the tall reeds.”
“Thank you,” said Sofia.
Sofia swam to the tall reeds. Phoenix flew above her. The reeds swished. Swish, swish.
But someone was there.
It was Sorceress, who lived in a gray boat on the far side of the lake. She wore a pointy purple hat. Her face looked grumpy. Her boat was full of bottles, spoons, and one very muddy sock.
Sorceress held Sofia’s rainbow shell.
“My shell!” cried Sofia.
Sorceress hugged it close. “It makes a pretty sound,” she said. “My boat is lonely. It is too quiet.”
Sofia wanted to grab the shell. But she saw that Sorceress had tears on her cheeks.
“Are you sad?” Sofia asked.
Sorceress looked away. “Maybe.”
Phoenix perched on Sofia’s crown. “We can make happy sounds without taking Sofia’s shell,” he said gently.
Sorceress sniffed. “How?”
Sofia had an idea. She was little, but her ideas could be big.
“I can sing,” said Sofia. “Phoenix can flap. The reeds can swish. The frogs can croak. We can make lake music.”
Sorceress gave a tiny nod.
Sofia sang, “La-la, blue lake, la-la!”
Phoenix flapped: flap-flap-flap!
The reeds swished: swish-swish!
The frogs sang: croak-croak!
Even the sleepy turtle tapped his feet: tap, tap.
Sorceress smiled. It was a small smile at first. Then it grew bigger.
“That is lovely,” she said.
She gave the rainbow shell back to Sofia. “I am sorry I took it.”
“Thank you for giving it back,” said Sofia. “Next time, you can ask.”
“I will ask,” said Sorceress.
Then Sorceress opened a little green box from her boat. Inside was a treasure. It was a necklace of shiny lake pearls, blue and pink and gold.
“For the brave mermaid who made music with me,” said Sorceress.
Sofia’s eyes grew wide. “For me?”
“For you,” said Sorceress.
Phoenix did a loop in the air. “Hooray for Sofia!”
Sofia wore the pearl necklace. It sparkled beside her silver tail. She held her rainbow shell to her ear.
“Hush, hush, lakey-lake,” it whispered.
Sofia smiled. She had her shell. She had a new treasure. And now, on the far side of the lake, she had a new friend who was learning how to be kind.
The lake glimmered. The frogs croaked. Phoenix flew in little circles.
“Good night, blue lake,” said Princess Sofia.
“Good night,” said everyone.
And the water made one soft sound: splash.