Oki the Little Octopus Turns Pink Whenever She Feels Shy

Down, down, down, under the bright blue sea, there was a coral reef full of color. There were orange fish and purple fans and yellow sponges. There were crabs that clicked and shrimp that tickled. And in a cozy cave between two round rocks, there lived a little octopus named Oki.

Oki had eight curly arms, two big golden eyes, and skin that could change color. When she was calm, she was a soft sandy brown. When she was sleepy, she turned a gentle grey. And when she felt shy, which was very often, she turned bright pink.

Not just a little pink. Pink from the top of her head to the tips of all eight arms. Pink like a strawberry. Pink like a sunset.

Oki did not like being pink.

"Everybody can see me," she said to her mother. "When I am pink, the whole reef knows I feel shy."

Her mother stroked her with one long, gentle arm. "Your colors are a part of you," she said. "One day you may be glad of them."

Oki did not believe her.

Every morning, the young sea creatures gathered at the Big Brain Coral to play. The parrotfish played chase. The little crabs played hide-and-seek. The seahorses held tails and spun in circles.

Oki wanted to play too. She would swim to the edge of the coral, very slowly. But then a parrotfish would look at her and say, "Hello, Oki! Do you want to play?" And whoosh, she would turn pink all over. Then she would feel even shyer, and she would swim back to her cave and hide behind the rocks.

One afternoon, Oki was sitting alone at the door of her cave, watching the others play. The sun was shining down through the water in long wavy beams. Everything shimmered.

Then she heard a small sound. It was a tiny, wobbly voice.

"Mama? Mama, where are you?"

Oki peeked out. Floating in front of her cave was the smallest seahorse she had ever seen. He was pale yellow, no bigger than one of her suckers, and his little curly tail was holding tight to a strand of seaweed.

"Are you lost?" asked Oki.

The little seahorse jumped. Then he nodded. "I was following a pretty bubble," he said. "And it floated away. And now I can't find my mama. She lives in the tall green seagrass."

Oki knew where the tall green seagrass was. It was on the far side of the reef, past the Big Brain Coral, past the sleepy old turtle, past the place where the sand dipped down.

"I can take you there," she said.

"Really?" The little seahorse's eyes grew wide. "My name is Pim. What is yours?"

"Oki," she said. And she felt a little pink coming into her cheeks. But she took a deep breath, and she held out one curly arm. Pim wrapped his tiny tail around it.

Together, they set off across the reef.

They swam past the purple sea fans, which waved gently in the current. They swam past a family of clownfish peeking out of their wavy anemone. They swam past the Big Brain Coral, where all the young creatures were playing. Oki felt her skin begin to tingle. But she kept her eyes on the path and kept going.

They swam past the sleepy old turtle, who opened one eye and gave them a slow, kind wink.

Then they reached the place where the sand dipped down. And there, things went wrong.

A cloud of sand had been stirred up by a big flat ray, gliding along the bottom. The water was suddenly murky and grey. Oki could not see the seagrass. She could not see anything at all, except swirling sand.

Pim held tighter to her arm. "I can't see," he whispered. "How will my mama find me?"

Oki thought hard. The water was cloudy. Everything around them was dull and grey. Even she was grey and brown, the same as the sand. Nobody would ever see them here.

Unless...

Oki remembered what her mother had said. One day you may be glad of them.

She closed her eyes. She thought about the parrotfish saying hello. She thought about everyone at the Big Brain Coral looking right at her. And whoosh, her whole body turned the brightest, most dazzling pink it had ever been.

Pink from the top of her head to the tips of all eight arms. Pink like a strawberry. Pink like a sunset. In the murky grey water, she glowed like a little lantern.

"Oh!" said Pim. "You're beautiful!"

Then, from far away, through the swirling sand, came a voice. "Pim? Pim! Is that you, by the pink light?"

"Mama!" squeaked Pim. "Over here! By the pink octopus!"

Out of the cloudy water swam a tall yellow seahorse with a long curly tail. She wrapped herself around Pim and held him close. "Oh, my little one," she said. "I was looking everywhere. And then I saw something pink glowing in the sand, and I followed it."

She turned to Oki and bowed her small head. "Thank you," she said. "Your colors brought my baby home."

Oki did not know what to say. She felt shy again. And this time, when she turned pink, she did not mind at all.

When the sand settled, Oki swam back across the reef. As she passed the Big Brain Coral, a young parrotfish swam up to her.

"Oki! Was that you glowing pink by the seagrass? We could see it from here! It was the brightest thing in the whole reef!"

"It was me," said Oki. And her skin went pink from top to bottom.

"That is the best color I've ever seen," said the parrotfish. "Do you want to play hide-and-seek? Only, you'll have to be the seeker, because everyone will find you!"

The young creatures all laughed, and Oki laughed too. Then she counted to ten while everyone hid.

From that day on, Oki played at the Big Brain Coral every morning. Sometimes she was brown, and sometimes she was grey. And sometimes, when somebody said something kind to her, she still turned pink, from the top of her head to the tips of all eight arms.

But now, whenever that happened, her friends would cheer. "Look! Oki is glowing!"

And Oki would wave all eight arms at once.