Sparky Finds His Own Wave

Sparky Finds His Own Wave

It was dark. Really dark. It was like the deepest, darkest depths of a giant black hole in outer space. Sparky tried looking around, but he couldn't see anything. All of sudden, there was a flash of light, brighter than the sun and all of the stars in the sky, and he heard the soft words "Goodbye Sparky, we'll see you again someday, when you find out what you're supposed to do and who you are. You're going to be a great shark. A great white shark." Two big shadows drifted away, and by the time Sparky, as he now believed his name was, could see clearly through the salty seawater, they were gone, and he was all alone in the deep blue ocean. What he didn't know, however, is that he would be just fine, as this is how all sharks are raised.

Sparky began swimming around. He was as clumsy as a giraffe on rollerskates at first, but after only a short while, he was slicing through the water like a sword through warm butter. After an hour or two, Sparky grew bored and began wondering what he was supposed to do and who he was. He had been swimming for quite some time in the bay and thought it might be good to go out and search for his purpose. He was looking around and saw some fish-like creatures jumping in the distance. He was fascinated by the unfamiliar animals and wanted to get a closer look.

He approached the creatures and said to one of them, "Hi, my name's Sparky, and I'm a shark, a great white shark. What are you?"
"Why I'm a dolphin!" the cheery creature replied.
"What are you doing?" questioned Sparky.
"Just doing some flips of course, like all dolphins do!" the dolphin eeked back.
"Can I do it with you?" begged Sparky.
"Well I suppose so!" exclaimed Sparky's new dolphin companion.
They swam through a school of fish, jumped out of the water, through the air, and then plunged back into the water like Olympians performing their best dives. While all of the dolphins were laughing and playing, Sparky quickly grew bored and couldn't help but feel like this wasn't what he was supposed to do. He began wondering what else there was to do and what other creatures lived around the sea.
Sparky decided to leave the dolphins and continue his search for his purpose. As he was swimming away from his dainty dolphin friends, he spotted a couple of huge fish off in the distance. He was quite curious, and speedily took off in their direction.

Sparky swam up to the leader of the pod and said, "Hi, my name is Sparky, and I'm a shark, a great white shark. What are you?"
"I'm a humpback whale, an old humpback whale. Can I help you with something?" said the whale.
"I hope so," replied Sparky, "I don't really know what I'm supposed to do. I swam by myself for a while, and then I tried hanging out with some dolphins, but I don't think I'm supposed to be like the dolphins nor just play around by myself all day."
"Well, my young friend," said the huge humpback, "Why don't you come along with us and see if you like the whale lifestyle?"
"That would be wonderful!" exclaimed Sparky.

They slowly swam off, smoothly surfacing every few minutes for air. Being the curious fellow that he was, Sparky had to ask, "Why do all of you surface to breathe?"
"Well now, what a great question. We surface to breathe because we are mammals and we don't have gills."
Mammals? How unique and interesting, thought Sparky. Eventually, he figured out that he did not need to surface for air since he was a shark and had gills. The whales were all very content with their slow, majestic pace, but Sparky found himself bored and not really enjoying himself.
"I don't think this is for me," said Sparky.
"Are you sure?" replied the giant humpback whale.
"Yes," said Sparky, "I'm going to continue my search."
And Sparky was off in search of his true identity, to find what he was meant to do. As he was swimming, he spotted a sandbar and decided he should look there.

When he got to the sandbar, he noticed a fish that was camouflaged in the sand and said, "Hi, my name is Sparky, and I'm a shark, a great white shark. What are you?"
"I'm a stingray," responded the flat fish. "What brings you here Sparky?"
"Well Mr. Stingray," said Sparky, "I've been trying to figure out what I'm supposed to do, but nothing I've tried has worked. I tried swimming around by myself, jumping like a dolphin, and swimming and surfacing like a whale, but none of these routines seem to be what I'm supposed to do."
"I think I see your problem!" said the enthusiastic stingray. "You haven't tried doing nothing yet! That's what I do most of the time, and it's really great."
"Okay, let's try it!" exclaimed Sparky ecstatically.
After less than a minute, Sparky found out that sharks need to keep swimming or they can't breathe because their gills don't work unless they are swimming forward.
"Sorry Sparky," said the disappointed stingray. "I really thought we had the answer."
"That's okay, I did too." replied Sparky, "Don't worry though, I'll keep looking."
Sparky then swam off into the deep blue ocean, once more looking for what he is supposed to do. He spotted a current and some strange fish with odd things on their backs off in the distance.  He figured that talking to them wouldn't hurt, so he swam off towards them.

He approached the green, shelled fish and said, "Hi, my name is Sparky, and I'm a shark, a great white shark. What are all of you?"
         "We are sea turtles!" a few of them explained.
         "Do you think any of you could help me?" questioned Sparky.
They all looked at one of the older turtles, and he calmly swam forward.
"What is it that you need help with my dear boy?" questioned the wise old turtle.
"Well sir," said Sparky slowly, "I've been trying to figure out what I'm supposed to do, but nothing I've tried has worked. I tried swimming around by myself, jumping like a dolphin, swimming and surfacing like a whale, and sitting still like a stingray, but none of them are right for me. I just want to know what I'm supposed to do."
"It seems to me," said the turtle, "That you haven't tried doing what Sparky does, what sharks do yet."
"What do you mean?" questioned Sparky.
"You tried being a dolphin, and a whale, and a stingray, but you are none of those things.  You are you, and you shouldn't try to be anyone but yourself," remarked the turtle. "Perhaps doing what you want and what you like, rather than copying others, will get you the results you desire."
         "Oh, alright, thank you!" said Sparky happily, eager to try this new idea.
         "Of course dear boy," said the turtle.

Sparky swam off and thought carefully about the things the turtle said, and the things he liked.  He enjoyed jumping like the dolphins, but only once in a while, not all the time. He also liked swimming slowly like the humpback whales, but not all the time, and not so close to the surface.  He liked what the stingray said about doing nothing, but he would have to swim slowly instead of sitting still so he could breathe. He also realized that he really enjoyed meeting new people and learning new things. Sparky started to just do whatever he pleased. He swam fast and deep in the ocean and then came up quickly and jumped into the sky. He swam to an island, went in a bay, and came out and swam back into the open water. He was happy and free, just doing what he was supposed to do; being himself, Sparky the shark, the great white shark.

Sparky went on, doing the things he enjoys and finding new things he finds interesting and fun as well. He is happy and visits his friends that he met on his journey often. He now knows that the best thing to do is to just be yourself, and do what makes you happy. Sparky also hopes to one day find other sharks, just like him.