The Sea Pixie

Perhaps you've never heard of the sea pixies? They don't often show themselves to humans. Their small wiry bodies hide among the waving fronds of seaweed when the splashing feet of children run by. There are hundreds of tiny pixies living in little caves deep under the sea. They have underwater gardens of sea-lilies and coral. They ride on sea horses and rainbow fish. And sea pixies also love to play on the shore although they cannot survive for long without a dip in the cool salty water.

Sea Pixies are mischievous creatures. Remember the last time you were relaxing on the beach with your eyes closed, simply enjoying the sunshine and the crash of the surf? Suddenly you felt a sharp prick on your leg which made you sit up and shake out your towel? Chances are you were pinched by a sea pixie! Pixies simply love to play tricks. They hide the mermaids' hairbrushes, they tie the fishers' nets together and they put grains of sand into the oysters' shells. Other sea creatures get quite annoyed with the pixies but no matter how hard they scold, the pixies just laugh and wink.

However, there is one sea pixie who no longer plays jokes on humans. This pixie's name is Dulse and he owes his life to a pair of human boys. Listen carefully and I will tell you how it happened.....

Dulse was once the worst mischief-maker in the whole ocean. A pack of adoring pixie pals followed his every move, eager to share his rowdy reputation. Dulse was a sandcastle-stomping, tentacle-tweaking trickster! Every morning he would think of an assortment of new pranks to play and every evening he would giggle himself to sleep thinking of the surprised expressions on his victims' faces.

One of Dulse's favourite games was tricking hermit crabs into new homes. Hermit crabs live in rock pools close to the shore. They live in the abandoned shells of snails and periwinkles. They carry the shells round with them and retreat into them when danger appears. If a hermit crab outgrows its shell it simply finds a larger one to wear.

About once a month Dulse and his friends would comb the beach for amusing containers to replace the hermit crabs' shells. They collected bottle caps, orange peels and fishing lures. Next, they would find a rock pool where some hermit crabs were living and dump their junk into it. Then they would tickle the hermit crabs until they left their shells. They would throw the shells out of the pool and leave the naked crabs to find shelter in the strange containers that remained. How Dulse would laugh to see a film canister or a foil pie plate scuttling around the rock pool on little crab legs. When the fun was over, Dulse and his pals would return the shells to the pool and leave the confused crabs to sort out which home belonged to whom.

One hot summer morning Dulse and his pixie pals were preparing to play this favourite game. The tide had just turned and was on its way out. The gang was splashing about on the boulders near the shore, waiting for the first rock pools to appear as the sea retreated. Dulse had collected some really interesting containers for the crabs, including the head of a little doll which he couldn't wait to see in action.

Dulse stood on a loose slab of rock at the edge of the water and rocked it back and forth with his feet. He hummed a little song under his breath. Suddenly, the stone beneath his feet began to slide. Before Dulse could blink, he fell over backwards with the rock right behind him. Bump, bash, smash, the boulder landed squarely on top of his leg. He was trapped!

Dulse's friends jumped into the water and tugged desperately at the slab of granite. Unfortunately it was twice as big as any of them and they couldn't budge it. They pulled and pushed for several minutes, while the waves crashed over them. The tide was receding and the morning sun was beating down steadily. The pixies began to panic.

"It's no use, gang," gasped Dulse. "You'd better leave me here. By the time you get back with help I'll be as dry as driftwood. I'll be as stiff as a salt-fish. Don't stay and watch it happen."

At first the gang didn't want to abandon their leader. They took turns splashing Dulse's face and body with sea water. But as the tide ebbed over the rocks, the water could not longer reach his boulder. Silently and sadly the pixies swam away from shore leaving Dulse to dry up.

Dulse felt the sun beat down on his face and chest. The boulder on his leg was heavy, although he was in no pain. Salt water had started to dry on his body and his skin was beginning to feel uncomfortably warm. How he longed for the refreshing splash of the sea.

Dulse didn't know it, but help was on the way. Two young boys had just tumbled out of their parent's car as it pulled up by the dunes. Max and Cameron were about to explore the beach......

The boys stood at the edge of the shore and looked round. The dunes were warm and gritty under their bare toes. A rolling sandy beach stretched before them, meeting an ocean which was a dozen shades of blue. Little whitecaps could be seen dancing far out from shore. The crash of the surf and the screams of the gulls filled their ears. To their left, a rocky cliff tumbled down into the sea. Old fishing buoys, seaweed, rope and driftwood littered the rocks and mysterious pools of water could be seen glinting in the sunshine.

"Let's swim," said Cameron. He loved to swim.

"Wait," said Max. "Let's get really hot before we jump in the water. I'll bet there's crabs in those rock pools."

Leaving their parents to sort out the towels, picnic baskets and folding chairs, the boys took a small plastic pail and a net and wandered over to the rocks at the foot of the cliff. They leapt from stone to stone, carefully avoiding the slimy seaweed in some spots. Cameron collected some rope and an old bottle worn smooth by the waves which he stored in their pail. Max poked driftwood sticks into the rock pools, stirring up the silt and pebbles on the bottom.

Then, Cameron saw something pink lying close to the cliff. He hopped over the rocks to get a closer look. "It's just an old Barbie doll head." he called out to Max. And then he jumped backwards. "Ewwww..... Max! Come over here!"

Max scrambled across the stones toward his brother. Cameron was standing as if petrified, staring over at something on the rocks. Max reached his side and gaped. His legs started to shake.

Lying on the rocks was a naked little person about the size of a softball. The creature was the same brownish-green colour as the seaweed which lay on the beach. It was very thin and its joints looked knobby and lumpy. A slab of rock lay over one of its feet and its eyes were closed. But Max knew it was alive. He could see the creature's ribs rise and fall as it breathed.

"Is it an alien?" whispered Cameron.

"I don't know," said Max. "But it's creepy enough to be one."

They watched the creature for another long minute. Max noticed that it's skin was crusted with salt and seemed to be stretched tight and dry across its bones.

"I think it's trapped," he said in a relieved tone. "It can't get at us because it's foot is under that rock. Come on, let's go."

The two boys bounded over the rocks in their haste to get away from the strange creature. They stopped at the edge of the water to take stock of the situation.

"It might be something from underwater," said Cameron. "It looked all salty."

Max scanned the waves. "Maybe there's more of them out there," he muttered nervously.

They sat on the sand a few feet back from the water. Neither of them spoke for a few minutes. What they had seen was so bizarre. Yet they felt strangely compelled to go and look again.

Cameron dumped the rope out of the bucket and filled it with sea water. "I'm going back," he announced. "Maybe it's drying out." He looked at Max hopefully. Max rose to his feet and turned toward the cliff. They walked cautiously up the rocks until they were a few feet away from the creature. Then Cameron bravely scuttled forward and threw the bucket of water over its body. Cameron was so nervous that half of the water landed on the rocks. As soon as the last drop left the bucket Cameron flung it away from him and dashed back to stand behind Max.

"It looked at me!" he said in a trembling voice.

Max stared at the creature. The dousing of sea water must have revived it a little. "Go fill the bucket again," he told Cameron. "I'll watch."

Cameron returned with a full bucket and handed it back to Max who took a deep breath and walked over to the creature. He stood a few inches away and slowly poured the salty liquid over the little body. The creature's eyes flickered open and it watched the water pour from the bucket with what seemed to be a hopeful expression. It's skin looked smoother. Max retreated to where Cameron was standing.

"Maybe we should help it?" he said to his brother.

"I'm not gonna touch it!" exclaimed Cameron.

"Me neither," said Max impatiently, "But I think we could lift that rock off his leg."

"What if it grabs me?" wailed Cameron. "Gross, gross."

"Come on. We can stand on both sides of the rock. He won't reach you."

The two boys walked timidly back toward the creature. It had its eyes closed again and after a quick glance, they avoided looking at it too closely. They stood on opposite sides of the slab and heaved it up and flung it to one side. Then they sprinted a few feet away and waited to see what the creature would do.

It didn't move.

The boys waited for what seemed like several minutes. The creature did not stir. "Get more water," said Cameron. Max went to refill the bucket. Cameron poured the water over the motionless little body. This time he waited beside the creature to see if it looked any better. Max wandered over as well. They nudged the creature very gently with a stick. "Nothing," said Cameron. "He's really sick."

"We have to get him back underwater," said Max in a decided voice. "We'll put him in the bucket and leave him in that rock pool near the shore to recover."

Cameron filled the bucket again and carried it back to where Max stood. "How should I pick him up?" Max was wondering.

"Let's get him onto this shell," said Cameron. "Quick, before I get too scared."

They eased a large scallop shell under the limp body. Then Max gently lowered it into the bucket where it sank below the water. Cameron picked up the handle and cautiously lifted the bucket. "Let's go," he said.

He carried the bucket to a deep pool close to the edge of the water. The pool was filled with bright green seaweed so they knew that it wouldn't evaporate before the tide returned. Cameron sank the bucket into the water and tipped it over on its side.

"Leave it," said Max. "We'll check back tomorrow and see how he's doing."

Scrambling back over the rocks to the sandy beach, the brothers felt a strange sense of relief to see their parents setting out the picnic lunch. Normal things were still happening, despite their strange adventure.

They spent the afternoon digging pits, swimming (though not too far from shore) and playing ball on the beach. By unspoken agreement they didn't mention the creature to their parents and they didn't even discuss it with one another. It felt as if talking about it would jinx the outcome.......

In the depths of the rock pool Dulse opened his eyes. He could feel his strength returning as the wonderful salty water healed his parched body. He ran his hands over the smooth orange sides of the plastic bucket.

"Those boys saved me," he thought. "Those human boys. Even though they were afraid of me." ......

The next morning the boys returned to the beach. They immediately hurried over to the rocks to see what had happened. They could see an orange object in the rock pool as they drew near. Good, the bucket was still there tipped over on its side. Max cautiously reached into the pool and pulled the bucket upright. How amazing! It was filled with sea shells.

Behind the next rock Dulse the sea pixie watched the boys inspect their bucket. He and his friends had worked all night to fill it with beautiful things. Human beings had saved his life and Dulse knew he had been mean to play tricks on them.

The boys carefully lifted the bucket from the water and examined its contents with growing excitement. One by one they studied the iridescent, flawless shells of blue, pink, orange and cream. They also found perfect sand dollars and polished sea glass of every hue.

Max and Cameron laughed with delight. The creature was alive and he was saying thank you. They had done a marvellous thing!