Hana-Hana the Finless Whale, Episode 5: Taking It Slow Is Nice

A clear blue morning in the sea.

Gentle light shone deep into the ocean, and the fish were swimming and sparkling.

Hana-Hana was, as always,

"Lulu-lu~♪ Lulu-lu~♪"

humming a happy tune as she swam slowly, ever so slowly, through the sea.

Just then, some energetic dolphins approached her.

"Good morning, Hana-Hana!"

"Let's have a race with us!"

The dolphins swam through the sea as if they were dashing, whoosh!

"Wow, that's amazing."

Hana-Hana's eyes went wide.

"I want to be able to swim fast, too!"

"Ready, set, go!"

The dolphins swam far away in the blink of an eye.

Hana-Hana also moved her tail fin with all her might.

Splash!

Splash!

"Heave-ho... heave-ho..."

But Hana-Hana, the right whale, had a very large body.

No matter how hard she tried, she could not swim like the dolphins.

By the time he finally caught up,

“Phew... phew... I’m tired.”

Hana-Hana took a deep breath.

The dolphins said with a smile,

“We really are fast, aren’t we!”

Hana-Hana felt a little sad.

“I can only swim slowly...”

But after looking up at the sky for a while, his heart began to calm down.

“It’s okay for me to go at my own speed.”

Hana-Hana smiled, and while humming a song again, he began to swim slowly, ever so slowly.

“Lulu-lu~♪ Lulu-lu~♪”

Then, it happened.

From somewhere, a small, sad sound could be heard.

“Sniff... pururu...”

Hana-Hana stopped singing and listened carefully.

A small jellyfish that had been drifting along was caught on a thin rope and couldn't move.

The jellyfish was shaking its body slightly with a face that looked like it was about to cry.

Right nearby, some small fish children were in trouble.

“What should we do?”

“Help us.”

Hana-Hana approached immediately.

Because he was swimming slowly, he was able to notice the small voice.

"Are you okay?"

Hana-Hana gently brought his large body closer and pushed the rope to move it.

The jellyfish floated away.

The fish swam away smoothly, too.

"Thank you!"

"You saved us!"

Everyone smiled.

A little later, the dolphins returned as well.

"Wow! Hana-Hana, you were helping them!"

"We were so focused on swimming fast that we didn't notice."

Hana-Hana smiled.

"I used to wish I could swim fast, too."

"But I guess there are things you can only find when you go slowly."

The dolphins nodded.

"Yeah. Speed is good, but looking around is even more important."

The setting sun began to dye the sea orange.

Hana-Hana swims slowly, slowly again today.

At that gentle pace, watching over his small friends in the sea.

🌸 From today's story

Sometimes, having a heart that cares for others is more important than moving fast.

There are things you can see and notice precisely because you are taking it slow. 🌊💙