Luma drifted through the green-blue chamber of Seaglass Coral Cove, where long beams of light lay over the sand like soft ladders. Today the kelp ribbons were tied back in bright loops, because the cove was making a “welcome-swim” for the tiny silver fish that had just moved in. Luma loved welcome-swims. She loved the way new friends looked less nervous when they found a place to belong.
Near a broken pink coral arch, Mira the sea otter was peering into a narrow crack in the rock wall. Her kelp-green scarf waved behind her as she leaned closer and closer. “There’s something humming in here,” she whispered, eyes shining. “And I think it’s making the whole cave answer back.”
Luma looked toward the arch, then toward Tavi, who was tucked beside a wide shell on the sand. The baby hermit crab had not joined the welcome-swim circle. He was making careful little shapes in the sand with one claw, pretending not to watch the others.
Then the current shifted. A pale patch in the far corner of the cove flashed once, like a quiet door opening and closing. The humming under the coral seemed to grow louder, and the silver fish all turned in the same direction.
Luma felt the cove tug in two directions at once: toward the strange humming crack, and toward Tavi, who still had not found his place in the welcome-swim. She could try to calm everyone and keep the party moving, or she could follow the sound, or she could go back to Tavi and ask him what he was really feeling.
What happens next?
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