Once upon a time, in the deep blue ocean, there lived three little sharks named Sammy, Sally, and Sid. The three of them were brother and sisters, adventurous and endlessly curious, forever exploring the wide underwater world. One day they decided it was time to build homes of their own, where each of them could live safely and happily.
Sammy, the youngest, was playful and in a great hurry to finish. He found a thick bed of seaweed swaying in the current and decided that would do nicely. “This will be cosy, and it will be fun,” he thought, weaving the long green ribbons into a little hut.
Sally, the middle shark, was rather more careful. She found a heap of old seashells and broken coral and built her house out of those. “These are stronger than seaweed,” she reasoned. “This will keep me safe.”
Sid, the eldest and the wisest, took his time over it. He found a sturdy cave in the rock and spent days making it stronger still, wedging stones and coral into every gap. “This will be a fortress,” he said to himself, and he did not stop until every corner was solid and secure.
The days passed, and the three little sharks were very pleased with their new homes.
But then, one grey morning, a big bad orca named Oscar came swimming into their part of the ocean. Oscar was known everywhere for his strength and his cunning, and for the trouble he caused wherever he went, taking whatever he wanted from the smaller creatures of the sea.
The first house Oscar came upon was Sammy’s, built of seaweed. He circled it once and called out in a great booming voice.
“Little shark, little shark, let me come in!”
Sammy peeked out through his seaweed door, trembling from snout to tail. “Not by the fins on my finny-fin-fin!”
“Then I’ll CRASH, and I’ll SMASH, and I’ll BASH your house in!” roared Oscar.
One powerful sweep of his tail was all it took. The seaweed hut came apart and drifted away in ragged green strands, and Sammy swam off as fast as his fins could carry him, straight to Sally’s house of shell and coral.
Oscar was not the least bit discouraged. He followed.
“Little sharks, little sharks, let me come in!”
Sally and Sammy huddled together in the dark. “Not by the fins on our finny-fin-fins!”
“Then I’ll CRASH, and I’ll SMASH, and I’ll BASH your house in!” bellowed Oscar.
He threw the whole weight of his body against the walls. CRUNCH! The shells scattered. The coral tumbled away into the sand. Sally and Sammy fled together, swimming for Sid’s fortress of stone.
Oscar came after them, angrier now, and more determined than ever.
“Little sharks, little sharks, let me come in!”
Sid, Sally, and Sammy stood shoulder to shoulder inside. “Not by the fins on our finny-fin-fins!”
“Then I’ll CRASH, and I’ll SMASH, and I’ll BASH your house in!” shouted Oscar.
He rammed the cave with all his might. THUD! The stone did not move. He backed away and charged again. THUD! Not a pebble shifted. Again and again he threw himself at Sid’s walls, until his head ached and his sides heaved — and still the fortress held.
Furious, Oscar tried a different plan. He began to dig beneath the walls, scooping and scraping at the seabed. But the floor of the cave was solid rock, and all his scraping earned him was a snout full of grit.
At last, worn out and thoroughly beaten, Oscar gave up and swam away into the deep, grumbling to himself the whole way.
Inside, the three little sharks cheered until the water shook.
“We learned something important today,” Sid said to his brother and sister, once the cheering had died down. “Together, we are strong. And if we build wisely, we can stand up to anything.”
From that day on, Sammy, Sally, and Sid lived happily together in the sturdy stone house. They went on exploring the ocean, helping their friends, and keeping watch over their own corner of the sea. Their courage and good sense became famous among the fishes, and the tale of the three little sharks and the big bad orca was told from reef to reef, reminding everyone who heard it of the power of sticking together and thinking ahead.
And so the three little sharks lived happily ever after, their bond stronger than it had ever been, and their home a byword throughout the deep blue sea for strength that lasts.