Deep under the sea, near a vibrant coral reef, there lived a happy little turtle named Toby. Out of all the animals in the ocean, he was the cutest by far. One thing about Toby was certain—he loved to collect things. Each time he would wander about, he would look high and low for anything unusual or pretty he could find.
Toby had many beautiful things, but more than anything else, he loved to collect shells. They were the prettiest things he could ever find. Some were large and some were small. Some were plain and some were fancy. What was more, some were all of one color and others were of many colors.
One fine day, Toby discovered the most beautiful shell he had ever seen. It was very large and quite new, for it had just been washed ashore. It was pink and purple and green and all colors of the rainbow. He was sure it was the prettiest thing ever seen by turtle’s eyes.
But the other turtles, who were Toby’s friends, came swimming along. Toby did not want to share his treasure, and he sank down to the bottom of the sea and hid it there among the stones till the other turtles should go by.
As Toby lay there looking at his beautiful shell, he suddenly saw a large fish coming toward him. “Oh, dear! Oh, dear!” he cried. And he tried to swim away, but it was too late. With one snap of its jaws, the fish swallowed Toby’s shell and swam away. “Well,” thought Toby, “it serves me right for not sharing my treasure.”
Toby swam up to where his friends, the other turtles, were still playing about. “What has happened to you, Toby?” they cried. “You look so sad.” “Oh, nothing,” he said. “Only I had a fine shell, but a big fish has swallowed it.”
The other turtles looked at each other, and one of them said, “Never mind, Toby. You can have one of mine.” Then another turtle said, “No, you can have one of mine.” And the others said the same. Then Toby felt so happy that he almost danced up and down with joy.
And that evening, when the sun was sinking in the sea, it shone down upon all of the happy little turtles sitting around Toby and showing him their beautiful shells. It made the whole sea look bright and beautiful.
But very soon, all the turtles began to cry out together: “Oh, look! Oh, look!” And they pointed down into the sand. There came a large fish sniffing about. And what do you think had happened? All the shells that Toby had shared with his friends had fallen down into the sand and were sticking up in the water like a big court of shells.
“It is for these pretty prinkey things that the fish has come,” said Toby. “Now I am glad that I shared them. But oh! will do good and share what I have with you. Now all of us will be the better.”
So Toby learned that a joy when shared by others will itself grow larger and happier till by sharing it will be turned to joy.
Sharing makes a happy world.