Finley Learns to Be Kind

Finley was a little goldfish. He lived in a big, round bowl. In his bowl, Finley had shiny rocks and a green plant. But Finley was not happy. He was not kind.

Finley liked to blow bubbles at the other fish in the pet store. He would wiggle his tail and splash water at them. "Go away!" he would say. "This is my bowl!"

One day, a little girl named Lily came to the pet store. She saw Finley. "Oh, he is so cute!" she said. Lily asked her mom if she could take Finley home. Lily's mom said yes! Finley was so happy that someone wanted him.

When Finley got to Lily's house, he saw a big, new bowl. It was bigger than the one at the pet store! Lily put in new rocks and a bigger, greener plant. "Wow!" thought Finley. But then, Lily put another goldfish in the bowl. "No!" thought Finley. "This is MY bowl!"

Finley started to blow bubbles at the new goldfish. He wiggled his tail and splashed water. But the new goldfish did not go away. The new goldfish smiled. "Hello!" she said. "My name is Goldie. It is nice to meet you!"

Finley was surprised. Goldie was being nice. Finley thought about how he was being mean. He felt bad. "Hello," Finley said quietly. "My name is Finley."

Lily came over to the bowl. "I am so glad you two are friends!" she said. Lily gave them both some fish food. Finley and Goldie ate together. Finley felt happy. He liked having a friend. From that day on, Finley tried to be kind to everyone. He learned that being kind is much better than being mean.