Starfish

One day a storm raged on the ocean and washed up onto the beach thousands of starfish. The next morning a man was walking down the beach marveling at all the starfish on the sand. He noticed a figure in the distance bending down, picking something up, and throwing something into the sea. As he got closer he could see that it was a young girl who would bend down, pick up a starfish and fling it into the water. He saw her do this several times by the time he reached her. He watched as she did it again and then said, “surely you don’t think you can save all these starfish before the sun hits the beach and kills them?” The girl looked at the man, bent down, picked up a starfish and flung it into the sea. Then she looked up at the man and said, “Saved that one.”

I've been visiting my son's grade 1/2 class both to tell stories and teach storytelling. And for this i've been telling really, really short stories. It's fascinating to see what stories appeal to them and to particular students. And the reaction to this one surprised me. It was a favourite of the group and it clearly struck home with a few kids. One boy was able to retell the story instantly and he clearly liked it. It was also clear that the kids really appreciated the little girl's response. My daughter was going to the 1,001 Friday Nights of Storytelling this week and asked what story she could tell. I reminded her of the starfish story and told her the version published here. She said that this wasn't the version she remembered and thought the girl's response sassy and possibly inappropriate. Her comment made me realize that i like the sassiness of the response and i think this was what some of the kids in my son's class connected with as well. Of course, there are many ways to tell a story and this is my preferred form of this starfish tale.

photo by Logan Popoff from Unsplash