The Princess and the Pirate

Once upon a time, there lived a princess named Coral in a beautiful castle right by the sparkling blue sea. Every morning, Princess Coral would look out at the ocean and say, "Good morning, sea!" "Splash, splash, splash!" the waves would answer back. "Caw, caw, caw!" the seagulls would call. Princess Coral loved her ocean home very much. But one stormy day, dark clouds covered the sky. "Rumble, rumble, BOOM!" went the thunder. "Whoosh, whoosh, WHOOSH!" went the wind. Princess Coral watched the big waves from her window. Suddenly, she saw something scary! A pirate ship was stuck on the rocks! "Oh no!" gasped Princess Coral. Through the storm, she heard someone calling: "Help me! Help me, please!" Princess Coral looked closer. On the ship was a boy with a red bandana and an eye patch. "A pirate!" whispered Princess Coral, feeling very scared. "Pirates are mean and scary!" But the voice called again: "Please help! My friend is sick! Very, very sick!" Princess Coral's heart went "thump, thump, thump!" She was afraid, but someone needed help. "I have to be brave," she said. "Even when I'm scared!" Princess Coral ran to get her longest rope and hurried down to the beach. "Help is coming!" she called. "Hold on!" "Whoosh!" went the rope through the air. The pirate boy caught it! "Thank you! Thank you!" he called. "Hold tight to the rope!" Princess Coral shouted. "And hold your parrot close!" The pirate boy tucked his sick parrot safely in his arms and grabbed the rope. "Splash, splash, splash!" Sam pulled himself through the water, holding Polly carefully. "Pull, pull, pull!" Princess Coral helped by tugging the rope. "You can do it, Sam!" she called. "Keep going!" Finally... "Hooray!" Sam made it safely to the beach with Polly in his arms! The pirate boy jumped down, and Princess Coral could see him up close. In his arms was a beautiful green parrot, but the poor bird looked very sick. "Squawk... squawk..." said the parrot weakly. "Oh!" said Princess Coral with surprise. "Your parrot!" The pirate boy had kind, worried eyes. "I'm Sam," he said gently. "This is Polly, my best friend. She's been sick for three whole days." "Squawk... squawk..." Poor Polly could barely make a sound. "I was trying to find medicine for her," said Sam sadly, stroking Polly's feathers so gently. Princess Coral watched how carefully Sam held his sick friend. This wasn't a mean pirate at all! He was kind and caring! "I'm Princess Coral," she said with a big smile. "And I think I can help Polly!" "Really? Really?" asked Sam hopefully. "Let's go ask our castle cook!" said Princess Coral excitedly. "She knows how to help sick animals!" Sam's face lit up like sunshine. "That would be wonderful!" "Come on, Polly," said Princess Coral gently. "Let's make you better!" "Squawk... squawk..." said Polly, but her eyes looked a tiny bit brighter. Up, up, up the castle steps they went together. The cook took one look at poor Polly. "This little one just needs special seeds and warm soup!" she said kindly. "That's all?" asked Sam. "Sometimes simple care is the best medicine," smiled the cook. They gave Polly the special seeds. "Munch, munch, munch!" went Polly. They gave her warm soup. "Slurp, slurp, slurp!" went Polly. Soon, something amazing happened! "SQUAWK! SQUAWK!" said Polly, flapping her wings. "Much better! Much better!" "Polly!" cheered Sam. "You're well again!" "SQUAWK! Thank you, Princess! SQUAWK!" said Polly happily. Sam gave Princess Coral the biggest hug ever. "You saved my best friend! Thank you, thank you!" Princess Coral hugged him back. "I'm sorry I was scared of you, Sam. I thought pirates were mean." Sam grinned. "My eye patch does look scary! But I only wear it because the sun hurts my eyes on the water." "And I thought princesses were just fancy," said Sam. "But you're brave and kind!" Princess Coral giggled. "We both learned something new!" "SQUAWK! Best friends! All of us! SQUAWK!" said Polly, making them laugh. After Polly was all better, Princess Coral helped Sam fix his little ship where the storm had damaged it. "Tap, tap, tap!" went their hammers as they fixed the broken wood. "Splash, splash!" went the paint as they made it look like new. "There!" said Princess Coral proudly. "Your ship is ready to sail again!" "Thank you for everything, Princess Coral," said Sam with a big smile. "You saved Polly and helped me too!" "SQUAWK! Thank you, Princess! SQUAWK!" said Polly, flapping her healthy wings. Princess Coral felt so happy. "I'm glad I was brave enough to help, even when I was scared!" "And I'm glad I met the kindest princess in the whole world!" said Sam. Sam climbed onto his ship with Polly on his shoulder. "Ahoy there, Princess!" Sam called as he sailed away. "Maybe we'll meet again someday!" "Ahoy there, Pirate Sam!" Princess Coral called back, waving from the beach. "Safe travels!" "SQUAWK! Goodbye! SQUAWK!" called Polly as they sailed into the sunset. Princess Coral watched until their little ship disappeared over the horizon. She had learned that you can't tell if someone is kind just by looking at them, and that being brave can lead to wonderful friendships. And whenever she saw ships on the sea, Princess Coral would wave and remember her friend Sam and the day she helped a pirate and his parrot. The End