In the bright blue waters of Coral Cove, where sunshine and sea life danced together, there lived a rather strange but lovable creature named Oscar the Octopus. His bright orange skin sparkled with curiosity, and his eight long, graceful arms were always ready to explore the wonders of the ocean floor and make a new friend or two. While Oscar was well-known for his friendly demeanor, he also had a knack for inventing quirky contraptions from the broken bits and pieces that drifted carelessly to the ocean bottom.
One sunny day as he roamed about a little deeper than normal, Oscar found a few things—an old snorkel, a shattered shell, and an old half-pair of glasses that had a nasty crack through them. And that’s when he had his idea: his next invention! Two days later, the news spread that Oscar was about to have a party to celebrate his latest creation. Excitement bubbled in Coral Cove as colorful fish of all shapes and sizes gathered.
While Oscar prepared, fish stood anxiously waiting for the festivities to begin. Suddenly, with a loud PLOP, Oscar fell into his little underwater field of seaweed. To his astonishment, the seaweed tickled his stomach. In between giggles, he reached over and touched the shattered shell—the first part of his invention! “AH-CHOO!” went Oscar’s voice, and out in the water shot hundreds of blushing water bubbles, which sparkled with rainbow-colored colors. Each bubble burst with a sound. Some sounded a bit like whale music, while others were bright and jolly like a cheerful finch. And there were so many that soon they all got mixed up together and sounded like the one big laugh-a-minute that everyone was hoping for.
Oscar sat up and smiled in merriment, for this was exactly the noise he was hoping to hear: he had invented a brand new sound machine! The fish, now just finished looking at one another in dismay, dashed over to Oscar, somehow feeling that these gleeful bubbles were meant for them. Oh, what a sight it was! The older fish stared in horror; some of them even swam away in disgust. But except for the little fish nipping playfully at their surroundings and the tiny fish with their small, quick mouths trying to burst the bubbles, there wasn’t a fish that wasn’t dancing a little jig.
“Dear me, that isn’t music,” croaked out the old turtle trying to look wise. “Why, why, that sounds like laughter! You must stop this noise at once, Oscar, or surely I shan’t be able to finish my afternoon nap.” So Oscar turned the machine off and stopped laughing himself. But that kind of look on the faces of the fish around him reminded him so much of the big cathedral organ on dry land that he decided to play just one more tune with his sound machine.
“Oscar, Oscar!” shouted out a dozen voices all at once. “You really mustn’t do that, you really mustn’t! It’s far too lively!” But the machine was then making a pleased little purring sound itself, and on it went. The fussy little fish gave a jump of horror and darted over to a large old goggle-eyed fish who was swaying from side to side, trying to look dignified. “For shame, for shame, standing there quaking with fear like that!” came a shrill sound from behind a dark-looking fish. “Wouldn’t you get up and dance a step with me?” And after that, no fish was too big or too serious-looking to be caught by the funny old tune.
Laughter rang through the coral trees, and the rough old solid-looking stones of days gone by seemed to join in the fun, while the buried wreck of some old lost ship at the bottom of the clean blue water beamed for very joy. So great was the fantastic rejoicings that not even poor Oscar soon missed his sound machine; and he could hardly be sure of it in the midst of such joyous shouts of glee.
Perhaps by now the old turtle was fast asleep; anyhow, for quite a little time nothing was heard but the unceasing tinkle-tinkle of laughter floating through the clean blue water. But after a time, the creatures seemed to remember themselves, and the old crab promised to dance once more “if Oscar would play them just one gentle little tune.”
Well, the wise turtle pricked up his long neck and enjoyed quite a long nap before anyone noticed. But when he opened his eyelids, right wide open he did stare; for while he was away, ten little fish in a row, wiggled and giggled right past his nose, tickling it most unmercifully! And that remark alone and the laughter that went with it made the old turtle peep back into his narrow shell, where he tried hard to keep very still, although he felt just a little tickled inside himself.
So that was Oscar’s party! And what with the tickling fish and the merry bubbles all around them, no shore party or picnic ever enjoyed itself better than did all the fish in Coral Cove.
The sound machine was forgotten; no one asked afterward how Oscar had managed to make such senseless sounds, or get up that strange party-feeling sound from the depths of the sea. But the day was filled with jolly laughter and cheerful sights never to be repeated, but everyone lovingly remembered.