Dab, the beloved seahorse

12 years old Grade VI, Medellin National Science and Technology School

Once upon a time, in a far away land, a girl named Claire lived in a beautiful big house with her rich family. She was the only daughter of her well-known marine biologist mother. One day, she and her mother went to the beach to see the sea animals and other living things at the sea.

Clare went swimming and saw a seahorse. “Mother, look a seahorse!” she shouted with joy. But her mother did not hear her. So Claire picked up the seahorse.

As they went home later, Clare brought with her the seahorse that she caught. Her mother was surprised to see it. “Claire why did you bring a seahorse in here?” her mother asked.

“I found it at sea. I enjoyed looking at it, so I picked it up and brought it here,” replied Clare.

“No!” her mother insisted. “You should not have brought it here. The house is not its proper home.” The mother checked the seahorse that Claire had placed in a glass of water. “Oh, this one is a male seahorse. You know, the male seahorse is the one who gets pregnant. Just imagine how many more seahorses this one can produce. We must return it to the sea!”

Claire grabbed the glass with the seahorse. “No, mother, I like to keep it here,” she insisted. “I’ll take good care of it!”

“Claire, I know what’s good for this poor little thing. It belongs to the sea. I am a marine biologist, remember?” the mother asserted. Claire ran up to her room, shut the door and cried. Her mother followed her. “Clare, I was just explaining to you the right thing to do,” the mother said as she knocked on Claire’s door.  “The seahorse will find it hard to survive here, it will just die.” Noticing that the door was not locked, she came in and sat on the bed beside the crying Claire. “Claire,” she began to comb the girl’s hair with her hand, “what will happen to the sea when all the seahorses are gone because little children like you have taken them home?”

“But mom, I like to keep the seahorse,” Clare sobbed.

“No, dear, that’s a cruel thing to do!”

Claire would not listen. And so the seahorse remained in glass at home. The next day she brought the seahorse in the glass to her room.  “From now on you are my pet and I name you Dab,” she whispered. Claire felt good having Dab inside her room; at least she had good company.

But as three days passed by, Clare noticed that the seahorse’s tummy grew bigger. She got worried and told her mother about it.

“I told you to return it to the sea. Now you see, this seahorse is pregnant. All her babies will just die in this glass,” the mother pointed out.

Claire figured out what her mother had said. “I’m sorry Dab, I didn’t understand how difficult this had been for you.” Then Claire turned to her mother with tears welling up in her eyes, “I’m sorry, mother. I should have listened to you.”

Claire and her mother quickly prepared to take the seahorse back to the sea. Upon reaching the beach, Claire whispered to Dab, “Goodbye, my friend. This is the right place for you, so I have to let you go. Take good care of your babies.” Then she released Dab to the sea.

After a few weeks, Clare and her mother returned to the same spot of the beach for a swim. As they were enjoying the water, Claire noticed a group of seahorses nearby.  She got so excited that she couldn’t help but approach it. “Dab, it that you? Are these all your children?” the girl grew teary eyed again.

Claire thought of the many, many seahorses that would have been lost if she insisted to keep Dab at home. She would have even lost Dab himself. From that time on, Claire no longer picked a single seahorse from the sea. It was enough for her to enjoy the sight of seahorses and other marine creatures playing in their natural environment – the sea.