Thumbelina and the Seahorse Song

Once upon a time, in a little garden beside the sea, a kind gardener planted a magic seed. The seed grew into a pink flower that opened with a soft ping. Inside sat a tiny girl, no bigger than a thumb. The gardener named her Thumbelina. Thumbelina had a bed made from a walnut shell, a blanket of rose petals, and a tiny comb cut from a seashell. Every morning she ran to the garden gate to listen to the ocean. 'Hello, sea,' she called. 'Hello, little one,' the waves seemed to reply.

Thumbelina loved the ocean more than anything. She knew where the tide left small pools called tide pools, and she knew how the water moved in gentle currents, which are slow rivers inside the sea. She could tell when the breeze was about to turn. 'The wind smells like salt and adventure,' she told her friend, a patient snail named Pip. Pip nodded slowly. 'Adventure is fine,' he said, 'as long as you are home for tea.' Thumbelina laughed and promised she would be.