Extended Sleep Story For Kids: The Friendly Shark

Find yourself somewhere comfortable to sit,

Or maybe lay down on your bed or the sofa.

Now tense up all of your muscles and hold it for just a few seconds and then let go,

Allowing your arms and legs to go nice and limp.

Now breathe in deeply,

Really filling your lungs with air,

And now breathe out slowly and gently,

Releasing all that air from your lungs.

Relax.

Breathe in again,

Slowly and deeply,

And hold your breath just a moment.

And breathe out.

One more time.

Deep breath in.

And every time you breathe in,

You become more and more relaxed.

Feel your body becoming very loose and very soft as you just breathe in and breathe out.

Breathe in and breathe out.

Now imagine that you are standing on a beautiful golden sandy beach and you can hear the wonderful sound of the waves as they come up onto the sand.

You can even smell the ocean spray,

That lovely smell you can only find at the beach.

So you take off your shoes and your socks and you walk on the warm golden sand towards the water and you can feel that sand beneath your feet and it feels lovely,

It's warm.

Now push your toes deep into the sand,

Feel it between your toes.

Does it feel soft and warm or does it feel a bit rough?

You look around and you realise that the beach is wide and long and it stretches for miles ahead and it's so sunny and warm here.

It's so sunny and warm that it makes you feel so special,

So safe,

So calm and so peaceful.

You walk over to the water's edge and put your feet in the water and it feels so nice,

So cool and refreshing.

It just splashes over your ankles just a little bit and suddenly you hear something behind you so you turn around to see what it is.

It's a boy about your age,

A little blonde boy with big blue eyes and he has the biggest grin on his face too.

He shouts hello to you and comes over and he tells you his name is Archie and he has come to play football on the beach with his friend.

He asks you if you'd like to play too.

Well of course,

You say yes,

You love football.

You look around you but you don't see anyone else on the beach.

Archie gives a little laugh and he tells you that the friend he is waiting for is a shark,

A shark called Harry.

Archie tells you that his friend Harry lives in the sea but he's not just any old shark,

He's a magic shark.

Archie reaches under his top and pulls out a whistle.

It's a magic whistle that he uses to call Harry the friendly shark.

You see Harry has very good hearing and he can hear this whistle from miles away.

Archie puts the whistle to his mouth and gives a big blow and then says Harry will be here soon.

You are very perplexed because you didn't hear a thing.

You think it must be a whistle only sharks can hear,

Kind of like a dog's whistle.

Suddenly you see a fin poking up above the waves,

It's a big fin too.

Next you see Harry's head pop up and it looks really big out there in the waves.

You hope that Harry isn't feeling hungry right now because he don't want it to eat you.

You wonder how on earth you are going to play football with Harry and Archie because sharks don't have any feet.

As you look at Harry in the water,

Sparkling lights and magical gold dust sprinkle all over him.

It's amazing really because you can't see where it's coming from,

It's just there.

Then the most astonishing thing happens.

Harry walks out of the water on two legs and two feet.

Well,

Your mouth just drops wide open.

Here is a shark on the beach walking out of the water with two legs and two feet.

Not only that,

He's wearing bright orange football boots.

Yes,

Bright orange football boots.

Archie tells you that Harry only grows legs when he comes onto the land,

Particularly to play football.

But once he goes back into the sea again,

He turns back into a normal beautiful shark.

You're still wondering if Harry may eat you,

But it's okay because Harry tells you he's just had his dinner.

He has had ham sandwiches with cucumber and he tells you that they are his very,

Very,

Very favourite food.

He says he really loves cucumber.

And besides,

He says he doesn't eat people,

They don't taste very nice.

Harry puts on a pair of goggles and says,

Right then,

Let's play football.

Harry says you can be the striker.

Archie can be in defence because he's good at that.

And Harry will be the goalkeeper.

So for a few moments,

Play football with Harry and Archie.

And have fun on this golden sandy beach.

And see if you can score a couple of goals.

Well,

That was fun.

Did you score a goal?

Did Harry save any?

Harry asks you if you'd like to meet his brother,

Barry.

Well,

Of course you would.

Harry tells you you can ride on his back in the sea and hold onto his fin underwater.

He says he has spare goggles for you to put on.

He then sprinkles you with golden magic dust.

He says this is how you can breathe under the water.

And you are amazed at this.

Then Harry swims far out to sea and dives down deep into the water.

You can see fish swimming past you.

One of them even takes off his little cap and says,

Then swims off.

You see other creatures in the sea,

All floating by or just swimming by.

All busy about their business.

What else can you see?

What you do see below you and under the water is a house.

It's Harry's house.

This is where he lives.

And waiting at the doorway is his brother,

Barry.

Barry gives a great big grin and says hello to you.

He asks you if you'd like to come in for a banana milkshake.

So you go into Harry and Barry's house.

And you say hello to the mum and dad.

They tell you their names are Henry and Lenny.

And you think that's an odd name for a lady shark.

But Lenny tells you that her real name is Leticia.

But everyone just calls her Lenny.

She likes that best.

You finish your milkshake.

And Barry suggests that they show you around where they live.

And maybe some of their friends will be out playing too.

As you all swim around,

You meet a crab.

And she's called Dorothy.

She's very friendly.

And she's sitting on a rock,

Knitting with bright yellow wool.

She has glasses perched on the end of her nose.

She tells you she's making herself a brand new scarf to go with her brand new hat which has a bobble on it.

Harry tells you that Dorothy is his best friend.

And they go everywhere together.

She's even teaching Harry to knit too.

So,

For just a little while,

Go and explore more with Harry,

Barry and Dorothy.

Oh,

And don't forget Archie because he came too.

Maybe you can see great big games rooms.

More than one,

Lots of them in fact.

Maybe you can play volleyball because Dorothy loves that.

Or maybe you can just swim around to your heart's content.

Whatever you want to do,

You can do in this magical place with Harry,

The friendly shark.

Now that you have seen where Harry,

Barry and Dorothy live,

Harry asks you if you would like to stay at his house tonight.

In fact,

He says everyone can.

How wonderful.

You get to have a sleepover with a very friendly shark and all his mates and his brother too.

So you go back to Harry's house and you all go into his bedroom.

And astonishingly,

There is a bed for everyone.

Dorothy finds herself the softest bed and climbs on it.

Harry says don't get close to her.

She's a bit pinchy sometimes in her sleep.

She can't help it,

What with those big claws she has.

So you all climb into your beds and settle down.

And you do feel rather sleepy though.

Well you have had a pretty amazing day playing football with a shark.

A shark that grew two legs and two feet and had bright orange football boots on.

Your eyes begin to feel very heavy and sleepy now.

And your eyelids are beginning to droop.

Your body feels so peaceful,

So relaxed,

So calm.

So very,

Very heavy now,

But ever so happy.

So you close your eyes and just listen to the sounds of the ocean.

And you feel your breathing as it begins to slow down.

And your chest is just gently rising and falling.

You take a deep breath in.

Gently and slowly breathe out.

Listen to the gentle sounds of Harry snoring.

And even that begins to lull you into a beautiful,

Restful sleep.

And you do go deeper and deeper into sleep.

And when you wake up in the morning,

You will be back in your very own bed.