Cancer the Crab

by Lisa

Once there was a faithful, loyal crab named Cancer who spent his days crawling around the beach. No one would ever call him “crabby” because he was happy, cheerful, and always willing to help others. When any of the creatures who lived by the ocean lost something important, they would go to Cancer and ask for his help. Because he lived so low to the ground, he was very good at finding things in the sand. Sometimes it took him a long time because he could not move very fast, but he was always successful.

One day Cancer was taking a nap in the shade of a black locust tree when he heard a group of sea turtles chattering excitedly. It seemed that the Celeus, king of the sky, was riding on the back of a royal tern when he accidentally dropped his mother’s golden ring that he wore on his little finger. He was devastated to lose the ring and put out the word that whoever found the ring would receive 100 gold coins as a reward.

“How sad,” thought Cancer. He also kept a small memento of his dear, departed mother, a small square of tin foil that she had kept in her burrow. “Well, the one thing I am good at is finding things,” he said to himself and set out on the task. He searched for days and days until he saw something sparkling gold in the sand. Sure enough, it was the ring.

Cancer sent out the word that he had found the ring. Soon a royal tern swooped down with Celeus on his back. “Thank you so much for finding the ring,” he said joyfully and handed him a heavy velvet bag. “Here are your coins.”

“Oh no, I couldn’t take anything for finding the ring. It was just the right thing to do, and I am happy I could help you.”

“You are a good creature,” said the king. “There must be something you want in this world.”

“No, I am very happy with my state in life,” the crab answered. “The only thing I’ve ever wanted to see was the world outside this beach. I live very low to the ground and though the beach is beautiful, I’m sure there are other places just as beautiful in this world.”

“Ah,” said the king. “I know what I can give you.”

Then Celeus flung Cancer, the crab, into the sky where he could see farther than any other creature on earth. And he is still there to this day.