Benjamin the Whale Who Hums

Benjamin was a small blue whale, and he was the only whale in the whole sea who hummed instead of singing. Everyone else sang big, booming songs. Benjamin went hmmm, hmmm, hmmm, soft as a bee in a jar.

Every night, the whales gathered at the top of the sea to sing to the stars. And every night, Benjamin wanted the same thing. He wanted the stars to hear him.

"They can't hear a hum," said his cousin, and swam off.

Benjamin looked up. The stars were so far away. They twinkled, but they did not twinkle at him.

So he tried singing loud. He took a huge breath and sang, "WOOOOO!" It came out as a squeak. A little fish jumped right out of the water. "Sorry!" said Benjamin.

Then he tried blowing a big spout of water at the sky. Whoosh! It went up, up, up, and came right back down on his own head. Plip, plop, plip.

Benjamin floated still, wet and a little sad. Then he noticed something. The water around him was shining. Where his tail had swished, tiny lights glittered, like a spilled jar of sparkles.

"Oh," said Benjamin.

He hummed again. Hmmm, hmmm, hmmm. The little lights wobbled. They shivered. They lifted off the water, one by one, and floated up like soap bubbles.

Benjamin hummed a little more. More lights rose. Hmmm, hmmm, hmmm. A path of glitter climbed all the way to the sky.

The big whales stopped singing. "Look at that," whispered his cousin.

Up above, the stars seemed to wink back, again and again, as if they were humming too.

Benjamin smiled and kept going. Hmmm, hmmm, hmmm. The water was warm and the night was quiet, and the last little light drifted up and settled among the stars.