Mini, Moni and the whistling sea-horse

One night Mini and Moni were swimming around in search of food. They had had their fill of their usual games and adventures during the day. The sun had set now and it was dark everywhere. Mini and Moni were all set to settle down for a restful sleep after catching a quick dinner. Now, you might know, the sea is a luscious bed of exotic plants, corals, rocks and small caves rarely seen on land.

They were just swimming over a rocky bed when they heard a soft whistling sound coming from one of the caves. 

“What is that sound? It seems to be coming from the cave”. Said Moni to Mini.

“I don’t know but it is so good to listen” said Mini closing her eyes and gently swaying to the music.  

“Let’s go inside the cave and find out” said Moni.

“How will we go inside the cave in this darkness?” said Mini

“Yes, that’s true” said Moni “What shall we do?”

They swam around thinking of a way to see their way into the cave. 

As all things have a way of resolving themselves after some time, so did their problem. After a while whom did they see swimming towards them but none other than Jared the jelly fish. Believe it or not, he is one of the many marine animals that can emit light and hence can see around them in the night. Jared was very proud of this and did not hesitate to show this off to anyone who cared enough to talk to him. Mini and Moni avoided talking to him because they were too tired listening to him boast about his “special power”. But today he was precisely who they needed.

Mini and Moni swam up to him and said “Hello there!!”

Jared was surprised. “Oh! Hello!! What holds you two here”? He asked.

“We wanted to go inside this cave and want to ask you if you can come with us so that we can see our way” said Mini.

“Why do you want to go inside the cave now” asked Jared.

“Can’t you hear the wonderful music coming from inside the cave?” asked Moni. “We want to go in and see who is playing it”.

Mini and Moni were afraid Jared would say no. But he was in a good mood that day and said “Ok, I will go with you. But in return for my help, you must promise to help me whenever I ask for your help”.

“Oh! Sure, Jared. We will definitely come whenever you need our help” promised Mini and Moni.

So they set about finding their way inside the cave. The cave was very much like a maze. Mini, Moni and Jared could not make out where the music was coming from as the whole cave seemed to echo with the sound. They would turn this way and that and often ended up bumping against each other. They were almost about to give up when they reached what seemed like a long passage and at the end of the passage was a sea horse whistling to himself. 

When he saw Mini, Moni and Jared, he stopped whistling and asked in a tremulous voice “Wh-h-o are you?” 

Mini introduced herself saying “I am Mini, this is my friend Moni and this is Jared. We don’t mean any harm. Please don’t be scared of us”.

“Yes” said Moni. “We want to be your friends and want to know more about you. What is your name?” she asked.

The sea horse was reassured by their kind words. She said “I am Simy. I often come here at night to practice my whistling”.

“You whistle very well. It is very enchanting” said Moni.

Simy was very pleased to hear this. She said “Thank you. You are very kind. I feel shy to whistle in front of others. I am afraid they might not like it and might make fun of me. So, I come here at night to practice on my own”.

“Oh rubbish. You don’t know how good you are” said Mini. “You should feel proud that you are so talented”.

“Yes” agreed Moni. “You should whistle your wonderful tunes in front of others so that they will also enjoy the music”.

“I have an idea” said Mini “Let’s formally invite all the sea folks to come and listen to Simy”.

“That’s a great idea, Mini” said Moni.

“Oh no, I can’t perform in front of a crowd” said Simy almost fainting at the suggestion.

“Yes, of course you can. Just plan ahead what you are going to play and practice it well” said Moni.

“What a stupid idea” said Jared who had been quite all this time. “As if people would want to sit and listen to someone whistling one tune after another”.

“That is actually correct” said Mini realizing that Jared had made a good point. “It would be absolutely smashing if we have someone to sing along with Simy. Who can we bring”?

“I know someone who can sing to my tune” said Simy suddenly excited, now that she knew that she would not have to perform alone.

“Who”?? asked Mini and Moni.

“Sally the seal. She sometimes sings outside the cave when I sit inside and whistle” said Simy.

“Ok, then lets all meet outside this cave tomorrow morning and plan the event” said Mini.

Mini and Moni then wished good night to Simy and Jared and left to catch their dinner and sleep. As they left, Jared called out “Don’t forget you both owe me a help and I shall ask for it anytime”.

“Sure Jared” said Mini and Moni and disappeared into the water.

Mini and Moni could hardly sleep that night as their little heads were full of ideas on how to hold the event.

Next morning they rushed to meet Simy who had brought Sally along with her. The four of them sat discussing where to hold the event, who all to invite, what songs to play and such things. After everything was planned, Simy and Sally went inside the cave to practice while Mini and Moni set about making all the arrangements.

First they invited all the sea folks they knew and asked them to bring all the sea folks they knew who could in turn bring all the sea folks they knew. This would bring in a big crowd, Mini and Moni felt sure.

The day and hour of the event finally arrived. One by one, the sea folks started arriving at the venue. All who came were surprised at the perfect arrangements that Mini and Moni had made. Facing them straight ahead was the stage which was actually a big rock. They knew it was the stage because it was beautifully decorated with colorful flowers and plants.    

Ten jelly fishes all of whom could emit light like Jared were called in to provide the lighting. Their lights blinked on and off creating quite a wonderful effect. On both sides of this big rock were several small rocks with the choicest varieties of planktons, sea weeds and worms.  

The audience eagerly helped themselves to the delicacies.

There was a thunderous applause when Mini and Moni came on stage. They thanked everyone for attending the event and then introduced the stars of the show, Simy the whistling sea horse and Sally the singing seal.

Simy and Sally came on stage and played one song after the other. They were so good that all the sea folks started dancing to the songs. Sally sang one song after the other and Simy whistled to the tune and the sea folks danced and danced until they were too tired to dance anymore.  

All in all, it was such a terrific night that everybody agreed they had never enjoyed themselves so much.

The next day Mini and Moni woke up feeling sad that the event was over. They resolved to hold such events regularly. Simy and Sally became very famous among the sea folks and often got requests to perform at birthday parties and other gatherings. Simy no longer felt shy of performing in front of others. Both Simy and Sally were thankful to Mini and Moni for helping them to bring out their talents. 

They resolved to practice regularly and become the best artistes the ocean had ever known.


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Mini and Moni ride BIG

One afternoon, Mini and Moni were resting on a rock
after having a lunch of some very tasty worms. This was the best part of the day for Mini and Moni.

Moni called this time her ‘thinking time’ when she liked to think about events or conversations that had captured her interest and which she thought were worthy of thinking over and discussing with Mini. She called them ‘Events or Conversations of Prominence’. 


And what did Mini do during this time? Well she liked to keep this time simple by not doing anything other than finding a comfortable spot and let the warm afternoon water lull her to sleep. 

One day Mini was just drowsing off to sleep when Moni asked her “Mini, do you know what the BIG is?”

“No” replied Mini.

“It’s a big fish” said Moni.

“Oh!” said Mini and added sleepily “Why am I not surprised” since there was nothing surprising about a big fish in the big ocean.

“It’s not what you think it is” said Moni getting irritated at Mini for not being interested in what she had to say.

“Then why don’t you tell me what it is” said Mini hoping to go back to sleep once Moni was done talking about the big fish.

“Well, I don’t know exactly what it is but I did hear a conversation among some of the other fishes that BIG had swallowed a whole spool of goldfishes.

This caught the interest of Mini since she was golden in color and even though she wasn’t a gold fish, she did not want to be mistaken for one if the BIG happened to see her.

Mini said “I have never heard of BIG. Let’s ask Dhrona”.

“Dhrona the octopus??” asked Moni. “Will he know about BIG??”.

“I think so” replied Mini. “He is always reading books. He is sure to have read about BIG somewhere”.

So Moni and Mini set out in search of Dhrona.

Now Dhrona was a very learned octopus. He had a big head to store all that he read so that never forgot anything he read. He had eight long arms called tentacles two of which he used to hold his book and the other six to catch his food and eat.

After searching all around, Mini and Moni were quite about to give up when they saw Dhrona resting against a coral and reading as always. 

Mini and Moni quickly swam up to him and waited for a while but Dhrona was busy reading his book.

“Ahem” Moni cleared her throat hoping that Dhrona would look up.

“Ahem Ahem” Mini cleared her throat hoping that Dhrona would look up.

They cleared their throats a couple of times until Moni worried that they might get a sore throat. So she decided she had to do something else to catch Dhrona’s attention. So, what did she do?
She swam right over the back of the octopus and down his face so that she was right in front of the book. Dhrona was surprised to see her. 

“What do you want?” he asked.

“Sir” said Moni respectfully “we have a question and we were hoping you might be able to answer it”.

“What is it” asked Dhrona.

“Well, we were wondering if you have heard about a fish called BIG and can tell us something about him”.

“Yes, I have. It’s not a fish though it does look very much like a fish” said Dhrona.

“If it’s not a fish then what is it” asked Mini.  
        

“It’s a whale and it’s bigger than anything I have seen in my life” said Dhrona.
         

“Oh, how big is it??” asked Mini and Moni awestruck.

“You have to see it to believe it” said Dhrona and went back to reading his book.

Mini and Moni set out to see BIG.
They asked the fishes they saw on their way if anyone had seen BIG. Most swam away thinking they were crazy but some stopped to tell them where they might find BIG and some even narrated how and when they saw BIG.

Thanking each fish that helped them, Mini and Moni swam deeper and deeper into the ocean stopping only to eat or for a quick nap. They swam for one whole week before they met a tortoise swimming away in a hurry.

“Why are you swimming in such a hurry” asked Moni.

“BIG is here. You know how he has a habit of jumping high in the air and diving back into the water. Since he is so huge, he creates such a disturbance in the water, I get quite nauseous” complained the tortoise.

“BIG is here???” asked Mini and Moni.
They could scarcely believe their ears.

“Yes, he is. You would swim away too if you know what’s good for you” said the tortoise and swam away.

Mini and Moni swam ahead excited. Then they finally saw BIG. He was black in color. And so very long!!! Mini and Moni had no doubt in their minds that this was BIG for they had never seen anything like him ever before.

 Like the tortoise warned, he would suddenly jump up high in the air and then dive down creating long and deep ripples in the water.

“We have to ride him” said Moni.

“W..h..a..t”? Gasped Mini.

“I said we have to ride him” replied Moni without taking her eyes off from BIG.

“Are you crazy? How can we do that” asked Mini.

“We will creep slowly over his back and sit down. He is so big and we are so small, he will not notice us” said Moni.

“No way” said Mini “I am not coming”.

“Scaredy waredy” teased Moni.

“Remember the last time you said this, we both almost lost our lives” warned Mini.[Click to read the story]

“I know. I am sorry. But this time, I am sure we will be safe. Please let’s do this.

Please….Please” begged Moni until Mini could no longer say no.

They both swam towards BIG, Moni leading the way and Mini following close behind. When they reached BIG’s tail, they slowly crept up and settled down over his back. As Moni had predicted, BIG was so big that he hardly felt anything moving over him. Mini and Moni waited with bated breath for him to leap into the air. And in a short while, he did. 

Up in the air he jumped Mini and Moni clinging on to him. They had never been so high in the air and they had never seen the sea from above like this. It looked so beautiful. And so did the sky and the birds and the clouds. 




And then BIG dived down straight into the water. Mini and Moni were thrown far away as he landed with a really big splash. They fell into the water spluttering and laughing in excitement.

After all the excitement had died down, they made their way back to their home in the ocean bed. They narrated their experience to all who cared to listen. Of those who listened, some believed them and were amazed. Others refused to believe them and thought they had cooked up a story.

Mini and Moni did not mind at all for they could scarcely believe themselves that they had done what no other fish in the world had done. They had a ride on the BIG.


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Curiosity almost kills Moni

 One day Mini and Moni were playing hide and seek among the tall grasses on the ocean bed. Suddenly they felt the water rise up and down all around them. They saw spools of fishes of all shapes, sizes and colors swim past them. Even the turtles and tortoises beat their flippers and swam as fast as they could.

“What are all of them swimming away from” Mini asked Moni

“Let’s find out” replied Moni

“What if it is something dangerous? Shouldn’t we join the rest of the sea folks and escape while there is still time?” said Mini.

“Don’t tell me you are scared!!” exclaimed Moni

“A little bit” confessed Mini. “Aren’t you”?

“No, I am not” said Moni pulling up her chin proudly. “We don’t even know what it is. Let us first find out what it is and then decide if it is something we need to be scared of”.

“Ummm. I don’t know if we should. The other folks seemed pretty scared” said Mini

“Scaredy Waredy Mini” teased Moni. “I am going to find out what it is” she said as she swam up swiftly.

Mini waited a second not knowing what to do and then shouted ‘Wait. I’ll come with you’. 

She swam behind Moni as fast as she could. “Oh, my small fins!!! How will I ever catch up with her” she thought to herself. 
Indeed, Moni was swimming very fast in her eagerness to find out what was it that caused all the sea folks to run away in such fear.

Mini soon lost sight of Moni.

As Moni reached the top, she found out what was causing the disturbance in the water. A big trawler was chugging its way through the water. 

“Oh no”!! “Fishermen”!  She said to herself. 

She had heard terrible stories of fishes getting caught in a net the fishermen threw in the waters. Nobody had ever returned alive from the net.

Before she could swim back, she realized to her horror that she along with hundreds of other fishes, crabs, tortoises, turtles and various other sea folks was trapped in the net.

“What shall I do? How will I ever get out of this alive?” thought Moni in despair.

Meanwhile Mini finally reached the top. She gasped in surprise as she saw a huge net with lot of sea folks trapped inside. 

“Oh Dear” She cried “I don’t see Moni anywhere. Is she trapped inside the net?”

Mini swam round and round the net and called out to Moni.

“Moni…Moni. Are you trapped inside”?

She didn’t hear any response but she could see a bright yellow fish suddenly appearing and then disappearing among the bigger fishes. She knew for sure that was her friend and that she somehow had to rescue her.

Mini swam round and round the net thinking of a way to save Moni. 

Suddenly she saw a tiny tear in the net through some of the very small fishes were escaping. Mini went near the tear in the net and called out to Moni who was overjoyed to see her friend. Mini asked Moni to come close to the tear. Then with her brave heart thumping inside her, she pushed her plump body little by little into the tear to make it big enough for Moni to escape.                       


Slowly the net gave way and the tear was big enough for Moni to slip out.      

“Hurray” cried Moni as she hugged Mini. 

“Hurray” cried the other sea-folks as they too found their way out of the net.

Mini and Moni swam back quickly into the safety of the ocean bed. 

Moni did not hesitate to accept her mistake and apologize for it.

She said to Mini “I am sorry, Mini. My curiosity today could have cost us our lives. I promise to be very careful henceforth”.

Mini was just glad she had got back her friend alive. She put her fin around Mini and said “It’s all right. All’s well that ends well. I too learnt a good lesson today.”

Moni knew she had learnt a good lesson that she should not be so curious that she puts her life in danger. But what was the lesson that Mini had learnt??

Well, the lesson that Mini had learnt was being plump and having small fins is not a very bad thing. For, if she hadn’t been plump and if she didn’t have small fins, she wouldn’t have been able to push her way into the tear without hurting herself and make it big enough for Moni to escape. 

From that day on, Moni tried to keep her curiosity in check and Mini stopped envying Moni for her slender body and large fins.

Did Moni ever stop envying Mini her golden color?? Well, that’s another story to be told another day.


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