"Vroom! Vroom, vroom vroom vroom, vroom," 3 year Gil said, pushing his toy truck along. "Beep, beep!"

It was raining outside that day, so Gil was playing with his trucks inside while his father was busy watering watering the houseplants. The blue-haired toddler was having fun until...

CRASH! BOOM!

...he heard some thunder coming from outside and there was also lightning. Frightened, Gil dropped his truck and ran upstairs.

Gil's father, noticing Gil fright, decided to see if he can calm him down. He went upstairs to his son's room and checked his usual hiding spaces. He wasn't in any of them. So the blue-haired father went to look in his and his wife's room. There he saw a little green tail fin from under the bed.

He lifted the covers and sure enough, Gil was there, whimpering in fear while cuddling his stuffed puppy.

"Hey, Gil," the father said calmly. "You okay, buddy?'

Gil shook his head "no". "Storms are scary!" he exclaimed.

"It's okay, son," his dad said. "There's nothing to be afraid of."

Feeling convinced with his father's words, Gil started to crawl out from under the bed when another clap thunder was heard. The frightened Guppy quickly scooted back under the bed.

Then, an idea came inside Mr. Swimmer's head.

"You know, when I was a little boy like you, I was also afraid of thunder and lightning," he told his son.

"You were," Gil asked curiously.

"Oh, I was. But then, my dad taught me a counting game that would help me not to be scared. And I can teach you that game, too."

Gil crawled from under the bed and into his father's arms, though he bumped his head on the board on the way out. "Oof!" he said.

"Are you okay?" his dad asked in a concern voice.

"I okay," Gil said rubbing his head.

Mr. Swimmer carried the blue-haired Guppy to a nearby window.

"The higher we count, the further away the thunder," he explained to Gil right before some lightning flashed. Mr. Swimmer counted.

"1, 2, 3, 4..."

Thunder was heard when he got to 5. Gil felt a little braver and decided to count along with his father.

"1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11..."

When they got to 12, more thunder was heard. Gil had a lot on fun counting with his dad that he forgot all about being afraid of the storm.

"Thank you, Daddy," Gil hugged his father.

"Any time, kiddo," his father hugged him back.