It was a beautiful morning on the beach. Carly loved the sand and the soft sounds of the waves. The only thing missing was a friend. Carly hoped that someone would come along to keep her company. 

As she admired the beautiful scenery, she noticed a little crab. She decided to name the crab Hermie. Carly watched as Hermie skittered across the sand, observing how cute and small he was. “Hermie, you are so cute!” She spoke.  

She hoped Hermie would stay for a while, but he soon disappeared down the beach. 

Carly was alone again! Until she saw something out in the waves…It was a dolphin. She watched as the dolphin swam and jumped above the waves. She thought the dolphin was so cool, so she decided to walk down the beach to see if there were any more cool animals. 

She walked for a long time without seeing anything. Carly was worried that she wouldn’t find anyone else to keep her company. She decided to keep walking, thinking, “Surely there will be a friend somewhere along the beach!”

Carly finally found some seashells in the sand. She loves to look at the different kinds of shells. She counted 5 of them! Do you see all 5 of the shells?

She decided to keep walking because she had heard a story of a mermaid coming close to the beach in this area. Carly has always dreamed of befriending a mermaid. She made it her goal to not stop until she found her. 

“I hope I find the mermaid today!” Carly thought. 

Carly kept walking even farther down the beach. 

She thought, “If I were a mermaid, I would live here!”

So she decided to wait and see if the mermaid would come out. 

She waited for a while, until she saw a dog! She thought the dog was cute but decided to leave it alone. After all, she was looking for a mermaid, not a dog! 

After the dog had finally left, Carly started to hear something that sounded like humming. 

“They say humming is a sign the mermaid is near!” she cried.

She was so excited to see the mermaid. 

Carly looked far out over the ocean, and there she was! She finally spotted the mermaid! She had beautiful hair and the coolest pink tail! 

“Mermaid, please come say hello!” yelled Carly. 

“I am coming!” cried the mermaid. 

Carly watched as the mermaid slowly swam closer to shore. She was so excited to meet her so that they could become best friends!

When the mermaid was close enough, she used her mermaid powers to make a rock appear in the sand! 

“I needed a place to sit! Hello, my name is Merlina! What is your name?” said Merlina.