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Teenie Geenie
Cecelia the Silly Sea Lion
Cecelia was a little sea lion who lived in the San Francisco Bay. That's in California! Cecelia wanted to be a comedian-- she loved to remind her family and friends and any other sea lion she met.
Sometimes the other sea lions would ask, “What's a comedian?”
Cecelia would say, “A comedian is someone who makes people laugh! Want to hear my new joke?”
Cecelia had gotten the idea of being a comedian from watching a man tell jokes by the harbor. He was soooooo funny! The crowd couldn't stop laughing. Cecelia knew that if she wanted to make the other seals laugh that hard, she had to practice.
So when Aunt Susan Sea Lion was teaching the little sea lions to count fish, Cecelia shouted, “Why was six afraid of seven? Wanna know? Wanna know? Because seven ate nine!” Some of the other little sea lions laughed, but Aunt Susan frowned.
Then Seymour Sea Lion was telling his friends, “The fish was forty feet long with five-hundred teeth, but I wasn't scared! I swam up to it and--”
“I bet something smelled FISHY,” Cecelia interrupted. “What do fish say when a story ends? It's FINished!”
Seymour frowned and said, “I was talking first, Cecelia.”
And then at dinner, Cecelia's mommy, daddy, and brothers and sisters were talking about things Cecelia thought were boring. Cecelia thought, “Who wants to hear about boats in the harbor when they can hear great jokes?”
Mommy was saying, “You kids have to be very careful never to get too close to boats.”
Cecelia yelled, “Knock knock!”
Daddy said, “Cecelia, please. Your mother is talking about something important.”
Cecelia went on with her joke. “Want to know who's there? Banana!”
“Eat your anchovies, please,” said Mommy.
Cecelia said, “Now somebody ask, 'Banana who?'”
Daddy didn't seem to want to know 'Banana who?' Instead, he said, “Cecelia, I want you to go sit on the beach and come back when you can be polite.”
Cecelia swam away crying. Sitting on the beach, she said to herself, “No one likes my jokes. I'll never be a comedian.” She didn't notice Seymour sitting behind her! (He was on time-out too, for thowing squid tentacles at his sister.) Quietly, Seymour swam back to the other sea lions.
A little while later, Seymour came back. “Hurry up, Cecelia! It's almost time for the show!” he called.
Cecelia was confused. “What show?”
“Your show! Come on.”
Cecelia followed Seymour to a giant boulder (that's a big rock) decorated beautifully with seaweed. Every sea lion in the bay was there, including Cecelia's family. Mommy smiled. She said, “We do like your jokes, Cecelia. It's just important to know that there's a time to tell jokes and a time to listen quietly.”
“We decided to show you a great time to tell jokes!” Seymour said happily. “Your own comedy hour.”
As Cecelia climbed onto the boulder and looked out at the smiling crowd, it felt much better than when she tried to make people laugh by interrupting. This certainly was a good time to tell jokes!
Everyone laughed.
FINish
Credits
Seal Photo: http://www.publicdomainpictures.net/view-image.php?image=89263&picture=seal-at-aquarium
Created by Dr. Marilyn P. Arnone © 2003 - 2024
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