Noah and the Star Whale

Noah wanted to see the whale sing to the stars, and he wanted to be the first one on the beach.

Every night, when the sky turned dark blue, the big grey whale came up near the rocks. Everybody in the village knew that. Noah had never stayed up late enough to see it.

Tonight he carried his blanket down to the sand. But the whale was not there. The water was flat and black, and the stars sat above it, very still.

"Whale?" Noah called. "Where are you?"

Nothing answered. Noah tried again, louder. "WHALE!"

Something went plip in the water. It was only a little crab, walking home. "I live here," said the crab. "I am not a whale. Excuse me." And off it clicked.

Noah sat down. Maybe the whale could not hear him. He tried humming, but his hum was small, and the waves ate it up.

Then he looked at the water again. Stars floated in it, too. One of them was wobbling. Then another one wobbled. Then a whole line of stars began to shake, one after the other, all the way across the sea.

Something big was moving under them.

Noah did not call this time. He picked up two shells and tapped them together. Tock, tock, tock.

The water rose. A great round back came up, shining like a wet stone, and the stars slid off it in tiny silver drips. Then the whale blew out a breath. WHOOOOSH! It was so loud that Noah's blanket flew off his shoulders and landed on his head.

Noah laughed so hard he fell over in the sand.

The whale did not mind. It had only been waiting for the moon to climb higher, because it sang best when the moon was up.

"Hello, whale," Noah whispered, from under the blanket.

The whale sang one long low note. Noah felt it hum in the sand, and in his toes, and in his chest, until the stars on the water shivered softly all the way to the shore.