1 Meet Aqua

  Creatures swam by Aqua Wave’s house every day. Once she saw a nurse shark. Another time she saw a giant octopus!

  But today she saw her most favorite creature of all: a dolphin. Aqua loved dolphins. She knew a lot about them. But most of all, she really wanted to ride one. Aqua moved slowly. She didn’t want to scare the dolphin away.

  She swam closer and asked, “Can I ride…?”

  Wham! A big sunfish swam into her. Aqua fell back into a group of sea mice.

  She popped away from the mice. She liked their glowing hairs, but not their sharp points. They hurt. “Ouch.”

  The sunfish glared at Aqua and swam away. The sea mice frowned and moved off too.

  “Oh no,” Aqua cried. Now the dolphin was gone. The sunfish had ruined everything. Aqua had missed her chance to ride a dolphin. She closed her eyes and used her imagination.

She was soaring. She leaped out of the water on the back of a dolphin. Wheeeeeeeee… Her heart pounded in excitement. Could such a dream come true?

  Dolphins can swim really fast. Not as fast as a black marlin, but faster than most sharks. Aqua was quick for a young mermaid, but not as speedy as those sea creatures. What would it be like to go so fast?

  “What are you doing?” Her older sister, Shira, swam into their backyard.

  “I’m thinking about riding a dolphin,” Aqua said.

  “No wavy way,” Shira told her. “You might get hurt.”

  “Dolphins are gentle,” Aqua said. She didn’t like it when Shira told her not to do something. It made her want to do it more.

  Shira shook her head. “They are wild. I don’t want you anywhere near one.”

  Aqua had heard lots of stories of mermaids riding dolphins. They were safe. In fact, the next day lots of merkids would be riding on dolphins in their city’s Dolphin Dash. How fun would that be?

  “But you know how much I love them,” she told her sister. It was true. Aqua’s bedroom was filled with dolphin pictures and posters. She even had a full-sized stuffed dolphin she had made from kelp.

  “No buts,” Shira said. “I’m supposed to take you to MerPark.”

  Aqua clapped her hands. Her merfriends would be at the park. Maybe they would also want to ride a dolphin. They could have dolphin races just like in the Dolphin Dash. That would be super amazing.

  “Don’t you have school?” Aqua asked. Shira went to Trident Academy, but Aqua had one more year before she could start there. Now she went to Mini Mermaids and Merboys. It was a school just for seven-year-olds, and Aqua went three days a week. She had made many merfriends and they all had fun together. She’d even learned more dolphin facts. Her teacher said dolphins have two stomachs!

  “Not today,” Shira said. “Maybe some of my merfriends will be at the park.”

  Aqua grinned. If she was lucky enough to see another dolphin, Shira would be too busy to keep an eye on her.

  “Let’s go!” Aqua raced toward the park.