“‘I want those pearls to give my wife!’ the shark said. ‘I forgot it was her birthday, so I need to get her an extra special gift so she won’t be mad at me anymore, and I want those pearls!’ Peter could tell the shark wouldn’t listen, and while Peter was an excellent fighter, he knew he couldn’t take on a shark. And even though he knew how to fly, the mermaid would be too heavy to carry. But Peter Pan was a very clever boy.

“‘Hey, shark!’ Peter said. ‘If I can find you a pearl necklace, will you leave her alone?’ The shark thought about it and swam back and forth for a moment. ‘If you can find me another pearl necklace, I’ll take it and let her go. But you need to get me one soon! It’s almost dinnertime and I need to get back to my wife!’ So Peter promised the mermaid that he would be right back and took off to the beach.

“He found the whitest sand and used his spit to roll it into teeny tiny balls the size of pearls and strung them together with a thin piece of seaweed. Peter quickly flew back to the cave and waved the fake pearls in the air. ‘Hey, Mr. Shark! I found you a necklace of pearls!’

“The shark swished his tail in excitement. ‘Good! Give it to me now!’ Peter Pan knew that sharks have terrible eyesight, so before he gave the shark the fake pearl necklace, Peter said, ‘First let her go, then I’ll give you the necklace and you can take it to your wife!’

“The shark was irritated but agreed. The mermaid leapt into the water and escaped the cave. ‘Now give me those pearls!’ the shark said.

“Peter tossed the necklace into the air and it splashed into the water. The shark grabbed it in his teeth, but the fake pearls made of sand dissolved as soon as they hit the water. When he brought them to his wife, there was nothing left but a string of seaweed. Mrs. Shark, now only having a piece of seaweed for a birthday present instead of a beautiful pearl necklace, was so mad at Mr. Shark that she chased him around the ocean, nipping at his tail!

“Peter and the mermaid watched from the shore and laughed at how silly the shark looked. Even now, there’s still a shark that wades through the waters of Neverland with a big bite missing from his tail fin.”

The end of the story threw the kids into fits of laughter.

“Stupid shark!” said Tristan.

“Don’t say ‘stupid,’ it’s a bad word!” Lucy said. “’Sides, you’re the one who wanted to be a shark!”

“Not anymore!”