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Little Nelson, just born, is in his fathers embrace . 

A brand new prodigy in his father's (Maximus) 

eyes. "Oh little son, you'll be great, even greater 

than me one day."   Maximus, a grand seahorse 

racer, one of the best in the Coral Reef, hopes 

that his son will bring glory to his family when he 

races.

Throughout young Nelson’s elementary school 

years, he spent most of his time with his 

father, at the racetrack. He loved the rush 

of joy as Maximus won race after race. One 

of Nelson’s favorite places to go was the 

racetrack where his father raced.

When Nelson became a freshmen in high 

school, the first thing that the little seahorse 

did was try out for the racing team. A beloved 

sport at the Sea Star High School.   So, Nelson 

tried out. The pressure built on Nelson like the 

sun’s heavy rays upon the sea. Heart hammering 

in his small chest, riding to the starting gate, 

feeling the current, warm and swift from the 

sun, urging him forward. The bell rings and the 

racers are on their way. Yet poor little Nelson 

seems to get slower and slower as he swim.

When the race ends, Nelson ends up fourth from 

the last place. Heartbroken, he thinks that he will 

not make the team. The coach, a plucky little Goby 

named Walter Whale, came to tell the sad small 

seahorse that he just managed to make the racing 

team.   “OH BOY! Oh how my father will be so 

proud!” said Nelson

Nelson trained and trained along side his team, working 

harder than the rest of them. And by the time the 

first race came sneaking up on him, Nelson was ready. 

Or so he thought. Icy fear and excitement bubbled 

from his chest. “I know I’m going to win, I just know it.” 

At the starting gate, he felt the first pang of terror 

truly settle inside his stomach. The gun shot off, the 

racers swam, and poor little Nelson froze.   A few 

seconds later, he started swimming but he was far 

behind the other racers.   He ended up coming in last, 

not exactly what he was expecting.

Nelson told his father, “Dad, I don’t want to race 

anymore.” Shocked and worried, Maximus attempted to 

learn the reason why he had the sudden change of 

heart. “I’m horrible! The team can do so much better 

without me!” Nelson sobbed to his father. Maximus 

took his son, telling him that he could not give up just 

because he was not good yet, and that he will just have 

to work harder for the next race. His father told him 

that he could win every race if he set his mind to it and 

that he would help him along the way.

One sunny afternoon, Maximus took Nelson out of the 

Coral Reef, and into a sunny bit of sea. He knew this 

would be the best place for his son to train, the sun 

would give the currents stronger force, making Nelson 

stronger than ever. “Okay son, you have to swim against 

the current if you wish to get stronger.” Nelson didn’t 

particularly like this kind of training, he thought that it 

was too much for his small stature. Maximus, realizing 

this said, “When I was a young boy, about your age. I 

would come to these currents almost everyday to train. 

This is how I became such a good racer.”

Nelson, after giving it much thought, decided that 

his father was right and that he should give it a 

try. At once, strong currents swept Nelson away. 

"DAD!!!!! HELP!!!!!” he screamed. Maximus took off 

like an undersea volcano, shooting forward and 

grabbing his son from the harm of the sea. 

"Boy, was that a close one. Can’t remember having to 

swim that fast in a long time. Good thing you’re safe 

now.” Crying, Nelson told his father that he had truly 

given up on the sport of seahorse racing, and that no 

amount of convincing will make him go back. “But son, 

just one more time? Look if you can’t stay against the 

current for more than five seconds, then you may quit. 

But just one more try. Please?” And so Nelson tried one 

more time, lasting in the current for eight seconds. 

Thrilled, he agreed to stay on the team and not give up 

on racing.

After that day of training with his father, Nelson 

began to be more interested in training and racing. 

Every other day Maximus would take him down to 

the trenches to drag heavy rocks along the gravel 

bottom. Other days they would go back to the 

current, bettering his endurance for the race. 

Little by little, the training did its job, it made him 

stronger. Instead of coming in last place, he was 

getting fifth, and fourth, and third. The not so 

little Nelson was getting better and better at the 

sport he loved the most.

Then Nelson's dad took him to work on his speed 

at the kelp forest. “Ok son, now you are gonna 

practice your quickness and agility that you will use 

toward the end of the race.   Try to weave through 

the kelp as quickly as you can” his dad said.   Nelson 

goes through as quick as he can, and starts to 

make progress throughout the time that he is 

training.

A few days later, Maximus took Nelson back to the 

same spot to train.   "Why is the kelp so tall Dad?"  

said Nelson.   "Kelp grows a few inches each day, 

they can even grow up to over 100 feet tall." 

Maximus said.   "Wow, why do they need to grow so 

big?   Kelp isn't that important to the sea."  

"Actually it is," said Maximus, "the kelp absorbs 

light from the sun and uses photosynthesis to grow 

so that other animals can eat and grow."   "That's 

so cool!" exclaimed Nelson.   "Yea, and kelp helps 

you to train because each day it gets stronger and 

taller, so you will have to work harder to weave 

through it!"

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