The morning at Singing Seashell Beach had begun with a sky so blue and clean it looked freshly washed. Dash, Lily, Ziggy, and Skye had built a sandcastle with three crooked towers and a bridge that fell down every two minutes. And every time it fell down, Dash laughed so hard that he tumbled over backwards with his legs up in the air.

"No more castles!" said Dash, jumping to his feet and brushing the sand off his knees. "Let's have a BOAT RACE!"

"A what?" asked Skye, who was the quietest and spoke very softly.

"A boat race!" answered Dash, his eyes shining. "It's a race with little boats on the water! Whoever gets their boat to the other side first wins!"

Right at that moment, tiny drops began to fall from the sky. It wasn't a scary storm, no: it was the rain that sings. Each drop made a different little tune as it fell. Tink on the seashells, pling in the puddles, plop on the soft sand. And the seashells on the beach, with the wind blowing over them, whistled softly, like a band of shy little flutes.

"How lovely!" whispered Skye, with her nose turned up to the sky.

That was when they heard a sound they knew. CHUFF CHUFF!

From behind the dunes came Toby the Magic Train, with puffs of smoke doing funny twirls in the air. He stopped in front of the children and said:

"CHUFF CHUFF, hello my little crew, come climb aboard with me,
today we're off to beaches and adventures by the sea!
Where the water makes its music and the seashells softly sing,
a funny brand-new friend awaits... and such surprises we will bring!"

The four friends climbed aboard, laughing. The little train raced over waves of sand and clouds of cotton candy, until it set them down on a golden, sparkling beach, with seashells as big as hats.

"Perfect!" shouted Dash. "Let's build the boats for the race! We'll use whatever we find here!"

And so the hunt for materials began. Ziggy, who was a little inventor, gathered wide leaves to make the sails. Lily, careful and determined, tied the little sticks together with strands of seaweed. Skye chose light seashells to make her boat float. And Dash? Dash built the biggest and most colorful boat of all, with three sails and a little flag.

"Mine is the fastest in the whole world!" he cried, thumping his chest. Then he tripped over a bucket and landed bottom-first in a puddle. SPLASH!

Everyone burst out laughing, and Dash laughed at himself too, with his bottom all wet.

Meanwhile Lily was testing her boat with a serious look. "Mine is strong and it doesn't sink," she said, giving it a proud little tap. But the boat went glug-glug and flipped right over, showing its belly like an upside-down turtle. "It almost doesn't sink," Lily corrected, while Ziggy set her sail straight again, giggling. Skye, oh so patient, fixed every seashell with two fingers, and her little boat looked like a tiny jewel.

At last the four little boats were ready. The children set them in the water, by the shore.

"On your marks!" said Dash. "Ready? Go!"

But... nothing happened.

The little boats just stayed there, still. They turned in slow circles, lazy, as if they were dancing a very slow waltz. Dash's boat spun around three times and then stopped altogether.

"What's going on?" asked Lily, with her hands on her hips.

Dash looked at the sea and understood. The waves had become teeny-tiny! The sea was as flat as a pancake, without even a single ripple. And with no waves, the little boats couldn't go anywhere.

"Oh no," said Dash, giving his forehead a pat. "No waves, no push! The race can't start!"

He tried to blow on his sail. He blew and blew and blew, until his face turned as red as a tomato, but the little boat only made a watery burp and another spin. The children laughed again, but this time they were also a little bit worried.

That was the moment when, out of a pool near the rocks, something jumped out.

ZIG! ZAG! BAM!

A tiny silver little fish shot up into the air, bumped against a seashell, bounced off a bit of seaweed, and landed upside-down inside Dash's bucket.

"A JUMPING FISH!" shouted Ziggy.

The little fish poked his head out of the bucket, looked around with two big wide eyes, and said:

"H-hello. I am Gaspare. I am an under... under... underwater explorer!"

"A fish that TALKS?!" shrieked the children, taking three steps back all together.

Gaspare jumped backwards too, frightened, and bumped into the rock again. BOING! He was ever so shy, and he trembled all over. When he got excited, lots of little bubbles came out of his mouth, as if he'd been drinking fizzy soda. And he smelled a bit strange: a little like seaweed, a little like salty candy.

"What is an underwater explorer?" asked Skye, softly, curious.

Gaspare, hiding behind a seashell, answered in a tiny little voice: "It's someone who explores... that means goes to discover new places... underwater. I would love so much to find out what's beyond the reef. But I'm too clumsy. I bump into everything."

To prove it, he tried to make a polite little bow and tangled his tail into a knot of seaweed. He sneezed in surprise and let out a little cloud of bubbles. ACHOO-BLBLBL!

Skye, who had a big heart, came closer, slowly, slowly. "Don't be afraid, Gaspare. We are kind."

Dash scratched his head. "Listen, little fish... you live in the water, so do you know why the waves have gone away? Our boat race won't start!"

Gaspare's little eyes lit up. "Oh! I know, I know! The big waves have gone to rest today. But beyond the reef there's a happy current! A current is like a river inside the sea, that pushes and pushes always forward. If you put your boats there, they'll fly away fast!"

"Hooray!" Dash jumped. "Then let's go beyond the reef!"

But then all four of them stopped. They looked at the reef, way down there, dark and mysterious. Beyond those rocks was the place that nobody had ever seen. And it was just a little bit scary.

"What if... what if there's something nasty on the other side?" asked Lily, who was usually the bravest.

Gaspare lowered his fins. "I'm scared too. I've never managed to get there all by myself."

There was a quiet moment. Only the seashells whistled, and the rain sang.

Then Dash took a big deep breath. "You know what? On our own, we're scared. But together, with Gaspare, we can do it! But first we have to stop my boat from spinning in circles!"

Ziggy, the inventor, had an idea. "Aha! Your boat spins because all its sails are on one side! If we move one to the other side, it'll go straight!"

They moved the sail. And all together, pushing the little boats along the shore with little sticks, they began the great journey toward the reef. Gaspare led the way, swimming in zigzags in front of them, bumping into a rock now and then. BONK! "All good!" he said, with a little bubble. BONK! "All good now too!"

Lily, with her tongue poking out from concentrating, pushed her little boat like a small, brave captain. Skye held the lightest seashells and passed them to everyone, sweet as always. "Watch out for the rocky step!" said Skye in her little voice. But Dash didn't hear her in time.

Dash slipped on a slimy bit of seaweed and went sliding a very long way on his tummy all the way to the rock. WHOOSH! "I came first!" he said, with his face covered in seaweed like a green wig. And everyone burst out laughing, even Gaspare, who laughed so hard that he filled the air with bubbles.

Climbing over the low rocks, helping one another, the four friends and the little fish finally made it past the reef.

And on the other side... how wonderful!

There was a pool of blue, sparkling water, full of creatures they'd never seen before: a starfish doing somersaults, a little crab banging two seashells together like cymbals, and three colorful little fish blowing bubbles in time to the music. They weren't scary at all. They were ever so friendly!

"Gaspare! You came back! And you brought some friends!" shouted the colorful little fish.

Gaspare was so happy that he sneezed a whole fountain of bubbles. ACHOO-BLBLBLBL!

And there the happy current flowed, just as Gaspare had said. The children set their boats in the water, and ZOOM!, off they all raced, gliding over the water like arrows.

"WHAT A RACE!" shouted Dash, jumping for joy. "The winner is... the winner is..."

But then he looked at his friends. He looked at Gaspare. He looked at the new creatures flapping their fins to cheer them on.

"You know what?" said Dash, smiling. "Today nobody wins on their own. Today we all win together!"

And they all made one big team journey together, laughing, splashing water in each other's faces, and singing with the seashells. Gaspare, the clumsiest little fish in the sea, didn't feel alone anymore. He had found so many dear friends.

When the sun began to warm their cheeks like a cozy hug, they heard it again: CHUFF CHUFF!

Toby the Magic Train had come back to get them. Before they left, he watched the children and the little fish say goodbye with one big soggy hug, and said:

"CHUFF CHUFF, we're going home, and here is what we've learned:
a brand-new friend is worth more gold than any king has earned!
When you open up your heart to one who makes you scared,
the greatest of adventures is a friendship to be shared!"

The children waved goodbye to Gaspare with their little hands, while the train carried them back home through the clouds. And they knew that, the next time they came back to the beach, a clumsy friend would be waiting for them with a smile and lots and lots of bubbles.

Because meeting someone new can feel a little scary at first. But if you open your heart and try to come closer, you just might discover the very best friend of all.