Sheena's Shadow Old Jack's Boat

Go on, Salty!

# Come with me, we're off to the sea

# To where I used to play

# Looking back when I was a boy and the fun we had each day

# Over the cobbles and through the streets

# Playing in the sun

# Friends to meet with games and treats

# Adventures just begun

# Stories from a magical world Washed in by the sea

# Meet the rockpool creatures there It's amazing what you see

# Looking back when I was a boy

# Shrimps and starfish Crabs and snails

# In twinkly Rockpool Tales

Ha-ha!

# Those lovely Rockpool Tales. #

# Salty... # JACK HUMS

Oh! Oh, hello. Salty and I are just having a bit of a dance.

Here's your treat. Good girl!

She loves to dance, you know, Salty does.

I think it's time for a sit-down now.

Do you know, sometimes it feels like Salty is just my shadow -

whatever I do, she likes to do it too.

When I have a little dance, she wants to join in

and when I sit down and get comfy, she gets comfy too.

SALTY WHINES What?

Oh, you'd like a story now, would you? All right.

Well, Salty, there was a time, quite a long while ago now,

when I danced with my shadow on the beach.

It all happened when I was a boy...

in a twinkly time, long, long ago.

I used to run down to play on the beach as often as I could,

meeting up with my best friend, Little Sailor Sue.

One day, we arrived at the beach later than usual

and the sun was quite low in the sky

and it made our shadows look very long, like the shadows of giants.

When we waved our arms, our giant shadows did too.

And when we held hands, our giant shadows held hands.

We took giant steps with our giant shadows

and it seemed as though they were leading us

along the beach, until we came to the rockpools.

Well, when we reached the rockpools, we were keen to see

what wonderful mysteries they held, so we knelt down

and peered into them.

And as we gazed deep down into the glittery waters...

a magical world appeared before our eyes.

On this particular day in the rockpool,

Sheena the Shrimp was bursting with energy.

"It's a lovely day for dancing," she chortled.

So she bobbed over to her musical rock and pressed its nose.

PARP!

Some very jaunty music came blaring out of the shell speakers

and Sheena started to dance.

Well, when a shrimp dances, it really is a sight to see

because everything wiggles, from its tail to its antenna,

with its legs and its swimmerets in between.

All the other rockpoolers came to watch Sheena dancing

and to listen to the jaunty music.

"Come on, everyone. Don't stand around. Join in," Sheena cried.

When they saw Sheena having so much fun,

the other rockpoolers really wanted to dance too,

but just as they were about to get started, the music stopped.

"Oh, no," said Sheena, disappointed.

"My musical rock must be broken."

SALTY YIPS Yes, I know, Salty,

it was very sad indeed,

but within minutes, the music started again.

"It's working again now," said Sheena, "Let's get dancing."

She'd just started to wiggle her antenna and flick her tail

when the music stopped again.

SALTY WHINES You see, Salty,

musical rocks don't always work the way they are supposed to, do they?

SALTY BARKS No, they don't, no.

"What's wrong with my musical rock?" Sheena wondered.

"I think it wants to play musical statues," said Sally the Starfish.

"How do you play musical statues?" asked Sheena,

her eyes growing large with excitement.

"Well," said Sally, "When the music plays, we all dance,

"then when the music stops, we all have to stay as still as statues."

"And the first one that moves is out," added Buster the Crab.

Sheena the Shrimp loved this idea,

so as soon as the musical rock started playing again,

all the rockpoolers began to dance

and they each danced in a different way.

Sally the Starfish liked to twirly whirl.

She looked like a super swirly firework.

Buster the Crab just stepped from side to side, snapping his claws.

He took his dancing very seriously.

Andrew the Anemone wriggled his tentacles...

..and looked rather like a wild wave,

while Sidney the Snail had a rather nifty way of spinning his shell.

Belinda the Blenny did the shakety shake.

And Bertrum the Butterfish

whizzed about with his hat and his bowtie, spinning.

Suddenly, the music stopped.

"Everybody stand still as statues," cried Sally,

so they did -

all except Andrew, who couldn't stop his tentacles wriggling in time.

"A-ha! I'm out!" he called. "I think I'll have a rest now."

So he disappeared.

The rock blared out music again

and the rest of the rockpoolers burst back into life.

"This is very happy music," chortled Sheena.

"I like your shakety shake, Belinda."

Well, Belinda shakety shook even more.

Just then, the music stopped again.

All the rockpoolers froze -

all except Belinda, who had become a bit carried away.

"Whoops," said Belinda. "I'm out!"

She felt a little sleepy after all that shakety shaking

so she swam off to the seaweed to have a nap.

The music started again

and the rest of the rockpoolers started dancing again.

"When I was a young crab, I used to go to the disco

"every night of the week," called Buster the Crab over the music.

Just then, the music stopped again and there was silence,

but dear old Buster kept sidestepping and claw snapping...

"Oh, snappers! I'm out," he said when he realised the music stopped.

"Oh, well, my claws were getting a bit tired anyway."

So he disappeared off to rest his claws.

One by one, the rockpoolers got caught moving when the music stopped.

Bertrum kept whizzing around,

but he was really rather pleased to sneak off for a rest.

Sidney couldn't stop spinning his shell in time

and, when it eventually stopped,

he disappeared inside it to get his breath back.

Then Sally kept twirly whirling.

And twirly whirling, Salty, is not a thing that statues do, is it?

SALTY BARKS No, it's not.

"That's it," said Sally, "You're the winner, Sheena.

"I need to have a rest now."

And Sally found herself a quiet corner

and wriggled down into the sand.

"I'm the winner," chortled Sheena to herself.

But then she noticed another creature in the rockpool.

It had long antennae, just like Sheena,

a curvy tail, just like Sheena,

lots of legs and swimmerets, just like Sheena.

But it was huge!

"Oh," said Sheena, "Hello."

She waved a leg and the creature waved a leg too.

It was a giant leg.

"I didn't notice you there," Sheena told the creature.

"Those are the longest antennae I have ever seen."

Sheena waved her antennae and the creature waved its antennae too.

Well, just then, the musical rock started playing music again.

"Would you like to play musical statues?"

Sheena shouted above the music.

"It's easy! Just do what I do!"

Sheena started dancing...

..and the giant creature started dancing too.

It was a fabulous dancer, all long limbed and leggy and wriggly jiggly.

"Oh," said Sheena, "You are a great dancer."

They danced and they danced and when the music stopped,

Sheena's new friend stopped moving at exactly the same time as she did.

"You're really good at this," Sheena chortled.

When all the rockpoolers awoke sometime later,

they could still hear the musical rock

and Sheena was still playing musical statues.

"Aren't you tired yet, Sheena?" Belinda asked.

"Well, yes, I am," squeaked Sheena, "But I've made a giant friend

"who is just as good at being a statue as I am."

At that moment, the music stopped and Sheena froze

and her giant friend stopped at exactly the same time.

"See what I mean?" said Sheena.

Buster, he chuckled.

"I know why your new friend

"is as good as you at being a statue, Sheena."

"Why?" asked Sheena.

"Because your new friend is your shadow and everything you do,

"your shadow does too," Buster told her.

"And when the sun comes out, it makes shadows, look."

"We've all got our own shadow," said Andrew.

Sheena looked around and it was true,

all the rockpoolers had shadows.

"Well, why don't we all dance with our shadows?" Sheena giggled

as the music started again.

So, the rockpoolers danced for the rest of the day.

And Sheena was really very tired in the end,

tired but happy.

Dancing always makes you happy, doesn't it, Salty?

SALTY BARKS

Well, when Sue and I saw all those shadows

dancing around in the rockpool, we wanted to dance too.

Sue shakety shook her arms and legs

and I held my arms high and snapped my hands as if they were claws

while leaping from side to side

and then I went into a giddy spin and I fell over. Ha-ha!

Yeah, and then we danced all the way back up the beach.

And guess who followed us? Can you guess?

Yes, our shadows! Then we waved goodbye to the sea and the sand

and our shadows waved too...

..before the tide started to come in and cover over the rockpool

like a great seaweedy blanket.

JACK SINGS

Ha-ha!

So, the next time you're out and about on a sunny day,

just remember to dance with your shadow.

We will, won't we, Salty?

So, why don't you join us for some more Rockpool Tales next time?

Goodbye.

Come on, girl! That's it! Oh, yes! On we go!