Kieran was excited. His mother promised him this morning that he can take his bubble bath before he has to sleep.
He LOVED his bubble bathes. They held his big secret:
The Bubblebath sharks.
Each time he dived into his bath and his mom left the bathroom, because he was a big boy yet and can bath alone, he played happily with his little friends, the Bubblebath sharks. And it ended always being the bathroom looking like a swimming pool.
The little sharks knew so many fun games. "Look for the shark" means: you have to look carefully at all soap bubbles if they hide inside them. And sometimes they even dived to the ground of the tub and hid between the bath thermometer and the sponge and it was so hard to find them.
But they gave it away every time because of their contagious giggles, when Kieran dived in and couldn't find them.
Kieran sat at his stool, gazing longingly to the bathroom while digging in his dinner. His mother looked lovingly to him: Bright blue eyes, dancing with excitement and glowing with happiness, blonde, shaggy hair and chubby cheeks, the last remains of his toddler times. He was an adorable kid, his mother thought and gave him a kiss on the forehead.
Kieran looked up to her and smiled. "Love you too, Mommy" and his gaze went back to the bathroom. He giggled again in expectation.
His mother, knowing that nothing will distract him now, helped him from his chair and he bolted in the direction of the bath. "Mommy, Mommy, come on, faster" he squealed and his mom raced him to the bath.
Finally he sat in it, the bubbles towering over him. His mother gave him a last loving glance and said: "Have fun, but can you at least try and not splotching the water up to the ceiling?" Kieran laughed, his eyes squeezed in delight.
She closed the door and left him with his little friends.
The Bubblebath sharks.
They came out of the foam, one after the other and they smiled up to him with their little bubble teeth. Kieran looked at them expectantly. "What are we playing tonight?" he asks them.
The sharks nudged each other and the smallest one finally toughed up enough and asked shyly "How about "ocean"?". Kieran was beyond ecstatic. This was his favorite game.
"Ocean" means riding on a little raft over the huge waves of the big ocean and the sharks tried to "munch" his feet off, and this was tickling like crazy.
The sharks looked at Kieran questioningly: "Do you want to ride in the real ocean?" Kieran looked at the sharks baffled. This was new. "You can do that?" he asked cautiously. The little sharks grinned their bubbly grin and said: "Surely. Wanna join us?"
"But I have to go to bed soon?" Kieran asked a little anxious. He wanted to see the ocean so badly but he cannot be late for his bedtime. The sharks smiled a little devious. "Your mom won't catch us. Promised." Kieran pondered a little but finally the curiosity won.
"YAAAAAAAAAAAAY." he squealed excitedly and the sharks laughed together with him. They reached their little soap bubble fins to him and Kieran grabbed them carefully. He knew from experience how easy those delicate bubbles could burst.
But this time he grabbed real fins and no bubbles. And he was surrounded by his friends, the Bubblebath Sharks, but this time they were real sharks.
Kieran became anxious. Those big teeth were far to narrow to be comfortable with. His friends suddenly became so intimidating. But when he take a look in their eyes he knew immediately that his friends were still his friends, even if they looked different now.
They surrounded him lovingly and nudged him carefully. He crawled at the back fin of one of the Bubblebath sharks and took his surroundings in. The water was deep green and mysterious. It was warm and salty. Beyond them there was a never ending void and this was the place he rather didn't want to look at.
The sharks dived with him to a riff. Kieran giggled and laughed when he saw those many colorful corals and fishes.
It was such a beauty, Kieran won't ever leave this place.
The sharks bursts to the surface of the ocean again and altogether they rode over the huge waves. Sharks couldn't jump like dolphins, you know, but they are very fast and agile, if they want to.
For hours and hours they rode the waves, climbing up the crests and diving down the valleys in a breathtaking speed.
Kieran was beyond ecstatic. This was the best bath he ever had until one of the sharks nudged him again and said: "We have to go back".
Kieran was a tad bit disappointed, but he knew that his mom would miss him desperately. If it came to him, he would stay here forever, he was so happy here with his beloved friends.
When he sat back in his warm bathing tube he developed that the water of the ocean was pretty cold despite what he thought before. He was freezing a little. He took in his surroundings, his eyes bulged when he saw the bathroom. It was completely soaked. This really was the biggest mess he ever did.
"Oi. Moms gonna get angry". Kieran said warily. But the games with his friends, the Bubblebath sharks were so much fun, Mom would understand it? Would she? Kieran sighed. He would face the music later.
Kieran looked at the sharks sadly: "Mom won't let me take a bath tomorrow with the bathroom soaking like that." The sharks avoided his gaze carefully.
The smallest one looked a bit sad. Kieran was puzzled. "What?"
The biggest one took a deep breath. "Kieran, we won't come back." Kieran panicked. What? His friends left him? "I was a good boy" he pleaded desperately, tears streaming instantly down his cheeks. "I didn't do any harm to you, did I?"
"No, my little one. You didn't do anything. You are such a great kid. But you are also a big kid now. And big kids are not playing with Bubblebath Sharks anymore. This is something only little kids are playing. And you can't stay a little kid for the rest of your life. You have to move on."
Kieran looked at his friends, his big blue eyes wet from his tears. "I love you, I love you so much, I don't want you to leave me."
The biggest shark nudged him a last time. "Look inside you. The place in your heart, where the sun is sleeping. Can you see it?" Kieran concentrated so hard to see it. And suddenly there it was.
"Yeah, that's the place where my happiness is staying."
The Bubblebath Shark smiled his bubbly smile at him. "Yes, my little one. This is the place where your happiness is staying. And that's the place we are staying, too. We don't abandon you, we just leave you. You just can't see us anymore. But if you look inside you and found the place of your happiness you will hear us sing to you."
Another tear ran out of the big blue eyes of the child. "Do you really have to do this? Can't you stay a little bit? Just for me?"
The sharks shook their heads sadly. "We love you Kieran. And that's the reason why we will stay with you forever. But everything has an end. Like your childhood will end one day. But as long as you remember the Bubblebath Sharks, we will stay by your side."
Kieran lifted his hand and hesitated. "Can I cuddle you one last time?" The smallest Shark squealed: "YESSSSSSSSSSSS" and snuggled in his hand comfortingly.
The soap bubbles bursts one after another, but Kieran felt how the little shark wandered slowly to his little heart. To the place where the sun was sleeping and his happiness staying.
One after another they took their place in his heart.
And as long as Kieran was living he wouldn't forget his Bubblebath Sharks.
