The Octopus's Hat and the Slowest Race in the Sea

Rue paddles out to a sunny kelp cove where an octopus with a favourite hat challenges a turtle to a race — and everything, absolutely everything, keeps going gloriously wrong with the hat. A gentle, giggly seaside story for reading aloud at bedtime.

The Cove with the Striped Hat in It

Rue waded into the cove. The water was warm and green, like bathwater that had been outside all day. It came up to her tummy. It came up to her elbows when she leaned forward. "Hello," said Rue. Something orange popped up from behind a smooth round rock. It was an octopus. On his head was a little hat — blue and white stripes, floppy brim, exactly the right size for an octopus. "I am going to win the race," said the octopus. "This hat is my racing hat. It makes me fast." He wiggled all eight arms. "Oh," said Rue. Down the sand came a green sea turtle. One flipper. Then another flipper. Then the first flipper again. Very slow. Very cheerful. He plodded up to the start line and stopped. "Ready," said the turtle, "whenever."

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The Race That Keeps Stopping

The turtle said, "Ready, set, go." Then he thought about it. "Go," he said again, and put one flipper forward. The octopus zoomed. His eight arms swirled like spaghetti in a pot. But whoosh — a puff of water lifted his hat right off his head. It sailed up, up, and landed on the turtle's shell with a soft plop. The turtle kept plodding. He did not mind one bit. "My hat!" said the octopus, and stopped to fetch it. Rue waded over and helped him put it back on. "Now I will win," he said. Whoosh. Off it went again. It tumbled past a kelp stalk and landed smack on a passing crab, who wore it like a little striped roof and kept right on walking sideways. "My hat!" said the octopus. The turtle plodded. One flipper. Then another flipper. Very slow. Very cheerful. Rue smiled and waded after the hat.

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One Flipper at a Time

Whoosh went the water. Up went the hat. It spun over the kelp and landed on a seagull who was fast asleep on a rock, and the seagull did not wake up. The hat sat on his head like a little striped blanket. "My hat!" said the octopus. Rue waded over and lifted it off, gentle as a shell. The seagull slept on. Whoosh. The hat landed on a smooth round rock. Rue fetched it. Whoosh. It landed upside down on the octopus's own head, over both his eyes. He bumped into the turtle. "Oh," he said. "It's dark." Rue set it right. The turtle plodded. One flipper. Then another flipper. The octopus zoomed and stopped, zoomed and stopped. Rue helped every time. Then they were both at the big rock. At the very same time. Nobody won. Nobody lost. The octopus took off his hat and set it on the rock, high up, where the wind could not reach it. "There," he said. "Now it stays."

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Shhh, Shhh, Shhh

The turtle yawned a big turtle yawn. Then he pulled his head in, slow as a cloud, and tucked his flippers in after it, and his shell sat on the sand like a smooth green stone. The octopus curled his eight arms into a soft heap, round and round, and put his nose on his hat. His eyes went sleepy-slow. One arm patted the hat. Pat, pat. Rue turned over and floated on her back. The water held her up like a big warm hand. Above her the light went from gold to honey to blue. The tide rocked her — in, out, in, out. The sea breathed shhh, shhh, shhh. The kelp waved goodnight. The rocks went soft and dim. Rue yawned. Her eyes felt heavy as pebbles. Shhh, said the sea. Shhh, shhh, shhh.

The end.