the wrong gift
"wow flounder , everyone's here" cried Ariel.
Mermaids and mermen had come from all over the ocean to wish Ariel's sister Aquata a happy birthday.
Unfortunately, Ariel still need to pick up a gift for her sister. So , Ariel and flounder left the party and went to her secret cave.
together they looked over ariel's vast collection of bells, clocks, jewelry and other human kinickknacks she'd scavenged from shipwrecks.
"how about this?" asked flounder swimming around a ship's wheel.
"too big" said Ariel.
"or this" suggested flounder, nudging a single gold earring.
"too small" said ariel.
suddenly, ariel noticed amusic box "this is it" she cried "the perfect gift ! "i have listened to this one again & again , and it plays a really beautiful song".
Ariel swam back to the celebration . beside king triton , aquata sat on a clamshell, and, one by one, the presented her with their birthday gifts.
while ariel waited her turn in line, sebastian the crab swam by "hello ariel" he said "what gift do you have for aquata?"
when ariel proudly told sebastian, his jaw nearly drobbed to the ocean floor. "are you out of your mind" he cried.
ariel's eyes widened. sebastian was right! king triton hated humans. and ariel was not supposed to have anything from their world, that's exactly why she'd kept her cave a secret!
Just then, king triton's deep voice bellowed "ariel you're next"
ariel hid the present behind her back, "what gift do you have for your eldest sister?" asked triton.
"Uh . . . um . . ." ariel stammered. . . . ."A SONG !" sebastian announced.
ariel racked her brain for a snong to sing, and then she hit on it! she opened her mouth, and sang the melody from the music box.
when she finished, flounder swan behind her, replacing the gift in her hand with a beautiful starfish for aquata's hair.
"It's so beautiful" said aquata "And so was the song!"
king triton smiled approvingly, and ariel sighed with relief. how she wished her father would change his mind about humans.
"I'd give almost anything to see the human world is like," she told flounder. "Do you think my father will ever understand?".
"Maybe when he finally sees what it means to you," said flounder, "Someday he will"