Toro Of The Ecuador

Once upon a time, on the waters of the Ecuador, lived a fast swimmer named Toro. With a round belly, smooth and slimy skin and 2 limbs on either side, it was a treat to watch him as his eyes sparkled when he swam. The fishes poked him, the octopus would hug him tight; Toro was the apple of the eye of the Ecuador water kingdom.

But Toro was unhappy. He didn't like his appearance at all! He was not colorful as the fishes, nor did he have a snout like the squid. Neither could he hiss like the snake nor did he have sharp teeth like the shark. He was nothing but dull and gray and that worried him no end.

So, he decided to work on his appearance. He started with the pearls first as he wanted to shine all over, but alas, they slid out of his body. But not to be dejected too soon, he then chose the corals.But they too refused to stick to him. He then tried the plankton, the algae and several plants he could lay his hands on. he went to the extent of going to the cactus but ouch! it pricked!

Dejected that nothing suits his body, Toro lazily swam across the Ecuador waters. Suddenly, he stopped and gazed ahead. What was that structure with its mouth wide open? Where does it shine so much? Where does that light come from? Is it a creature? Is that a pearl? Why, he has never seen something like this before!

Now he got scared. What should he do? Should he go back or swim ahead? What if this hurts me?

But curiosity was biting him. He has to know what it is. Come on Toro, march ahead! Be brave! His heart started racing. Finally, mustering all his courage, Toro swam speedily towards it and the mouth got

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shut!

Help! Help! Somebody please open this! I am stuck! Toro was screaming his lungs out! But no one could hear his screams. He was gasping for breath. Was he going to die?! O course, he didn't wish to die. What should he do? What should he do?

Suddenly, he saw a small hole. Yes! that's the one! He could put his head out of that hole. Haa, he could breathe now. He could see the waters. But what about his limbs?! Shucks! they are stuck inside the shell. How is he supposed to swim now? All of a sudden, from nowhere, a torrent pulled Toro along with it and the lower part of the shell struck a huge rock. Thousands of shell pieces swarmed the waters. What a sight it was! Toro gazed at them with surprise and excitement. How he loved it! He realized that his limbs were now free and he grabbed the shell pieces hungrily and stuck them to his body. Wow! they got fixed so easily! His happiness knew no bounds. Finally he got what he wanted! He wanted to dance with joy. he wanted to swim across the waters and tell the whole water kingdom of his prized possession.

But then, he couldn't move faster anymore. Why was that? the upper shell was too heavy. Nothing on earth can make him remove it. The weightiness slowed him down. He cannot swim faster anymore. His limbs have gone sluggish. He now became conscious that no fishes would poke him nor the octopus could hug him tight. He was all alone. The exterior didn't matter to him anymore. All that he wished now was to swim like before. But as luck would have it, he cannot repair what has happened. The eyes that sparkled once, now, got buried under his own unhappiness.