Camille’s Mermaid Tale

Tales and Tails

A few days later, Camille comes into the garden, and she’s very surprised. Sitting inside one of her wellington boots is a bottle with a note rolled up in it. It says “Come to the old shed.” What a mysterious note! Camille runs to the garden shed.

“Surprise!” shouts all of the WellieWishers. Camille looks around. There’s sand on the floor, the bin filled with bubbly water, and hanging decorations shaped like fish, an octopus, and sea stars. The walls are painted to look like waves and sea kelp, dancing in the currents.

“This is beautiful,” breathes Camille. Kendall explains it’s an underwater sea garden, inspired from the story Camille told them last week. Willa elaborates that they loved her story so much, they had to make it come true for her.

Camille kneels on the sand and dips her hand in the tub. Hot sand, and cold water, just like the real beach. She holds a shell up to her ear, and smiles when she hears the sound of the waves inside of it. The girls hand over some other items they collected, such as a seahorse stuffed animal, sunglasses, an hourglass, and a treasure chest.

Camille realizes that this is the secret the girls have been hiding this whole time. They’ve been putting this all together. She’s very grateful. Then, Camille opens the treasure chest.

Inside, she finds a brown package. Emerson is bursting with excitement, and urges Camille to open it. When she does, she pulls out a brand new mermaid tail and a crown. The girls help Camille put it on, and she twirls around in a few circles. It’s a perfect fit.

Kendall pulls out a note from the package. It reads:

In that moment, Camille can’t say anything. She’s overwhelmed with gratitude and joy. She’s thankful and so very happy that her description of the ocean is what made all of this happen. Then she has an idea.

Camille pulls out her mermaid stories. She explains how she wrote down some of her mermaid tales. “While Granny was making a mermaid tail, I was making mermaid tales.” The girls open the book up, and crowd close together to see all the drawings and read the book. “The mermaid and the dolphins swam at night.” “The mermaid and the seahorses had a seaweed picnic.” “The mermaid swam next to a boat. The boat had rainbows, polka dots, and doodles on it.” “Splish, splash in the sea. Hello friendly whale! Come along and swim with me in my mermaid’s tale.”

The other girls adore the book. Camille hugs her grandmother’s note to her chest, and then feels so happy and peaceful again, as if her grandmother and her friends are all together beside the beautiful sea.