Ionuț is a little boy who loves little fish. Whenever he goes to the market with his mother, he stops for a few minutes at the shop on the corner of the market where aquarium fish are sold. The gentleman there already knows him and shows him the new arrivals every time, lets him feed the little creatures and sometimes, when his parents allow it, they let him help the shopkeeper even with changing the water in the fishes' little house.
He is always happy to catch sight of these friends and would love to be able one day to swim alongside them, there where their true home is. He would like to dive down and be able to visit the depths of the ocean.
One night, while he was in his little bed, a terrible storm broke out outside. The wind began to blow hard, beating against the windows of the room... The lightning made its presence felt too, sending its messengers of light onto the walls, and the thunder made his little heart beat faster and faster...
Drops of rain could be heard breaking on the window sill.
Ionuț was frightened. He wanted to sleep, to dream of something nice and for the time to pass as quickly as possible. That did not happen. He lay huddled, with his head pressed against the pillow, watching the shining spears that told him terrifying tales.
Suddenly, in the darkness of the night, a bright light made its presence felt. Before his eyes, a little fairy appeared. She was exceptionally beautiful, but very tiny. Her fair hair, her sea-coloured dress, her magic wand and the little stars caught in her hair made her special.
Hello, Ionuț! said the fairy. Don't be afraid of me. I am the fairy of the seas and I want to help you. I have heard that you have a dream, and I can make it come true.
But how can you make it come true? asked the boy, wide-eyed.
Well, it is within my powers. You just have to trust me and everything will come true. Do you want me to help you?
Yes, of course, that is all I have wanted for a long time.
The fairy then touched Ionuț with her magic wand and turned him into a tiny little fellow, as small as a finger.
It seemed that he found himself in an ocean, where he lived in a giant seashell. He even had a helper. A strange creature... He did not know what to call it... It looked like a little horse... And yet it was not a little horse. The creature had a small head with an elongated face, its body was shaped like the letter S, it had no scales, and its tail, curled inwards, caught your eye. The little fins on its back seemed to help it swim.
Who are you? Ionuț shyly dared to ask it.
I am your friend, I am a seahorse. I have been sent by my mistress to take you around the ocean. Are you ready for the great adventure?
Yes, I am ready. Only I am scared. How are you going to carry me?
Very simply: you hold on to me and that's it... we can set off.
All right, then let's get going.
And so, among the seaweed on the bottom, around the corals, a tiny fellow clinging to a seahorse could be glimpsed. The seahorse was constantly on the alert. It had to steer clear of predators. For the ocean was immense, enemies were everywhere, and they were just little mites of some 20 cm. They "ran" through the water wherever there were sea grasses to hide in.
Ionuț was fascinated by what he saw. Around him swam all sorts of fish, of all colours and sizes. Forests of seaweed offered hiding places for the creatures lacking any form of defence; immense shells, firmly fixed in the ground and moving at a barely perceptible speed, made from mother-of-pearl the precious tears of the deep; a graceful swimmer, a rather clumsy one to be fair, with its front limbs transformed into long flippers and its body covered with a shell, appeared from behind the mountain of corals; another shell, but this time with some big claws, sprayed them with a black, ink-like substance. This dazed them a little. Everything went dark around them. They could no longer see anything. Ionuț became scared. He did not know what would happen next.
The seahorse reassured him, however. It was just a poor crab that had thought the two of them might attack it.
But when the ink cleared, the two adventurers' hearts froze. In front of them was the most feared enemy of all. It was an immense fish, with big teeth, and on the sides of its head it had several slits. It was him... the great shark...
The seahorse took off at full speed through the seaweed around them. The chances of survival were slim, but the skill and experience of the little friend could be of help. He had escaped the shark's teeth once before.
While they lay hidden, keeping out of the enemy's very sharp sight, something happened that caught their attention. The fairy of the seas had appeared beside them and led the shark far away from the two little fellows.
They could now breathe a sigh of relief. They had escaped this time too.
After they had thanked the fairy, Ionuț asked her to turn him back into a little boy. She told him that he only had to open his eyes and he would wake up in his room. It had all happened only in a dream. It had been just his imagination.
Ionuț woke up upset. So he had only been dreaming... none of it was real! All the same, he promised himself that when he grew up and became big and strong enough, he would dive into the depths of the ocean to see with his own eyes the wonders that the immense expanse of water concealed.
