In the deep blue ocean lived a little octopus named Oliver. He had a soft body and eight flexible tentacles, but most special of all, his skin could change into various beautiful colors.
Oliver was a curious little one who always wanted to explore every corner of the ocean. But his mother always worried about him because there were many sea creatures in the deep sea that he had never seen before.
One day, Oliver secretly slipped away from home and swam toward the deep-sea area he had never visited. The water there was bluer and deeper, where sunlight could barely reach.
Suddenly, a huge shadow swam overhead. Oliver was so scared that his whole body turned black, and he quickly hid behind a piece of coral.
"Little one, you don't need to be afraid," a gentle voice said. Oliver peeked out to see a giant whale looking at him tenderly. "I'm Grandma Bella the blue whale. Are you lost?"
Oliver said nervously: "I... I want to make friends, but I'm worried everyone will be afraid of me."
Grandma Bella smiled kindly: "Why would anyone be afraid of you? You look like a very lovely little octopus."
Just then, a group of colorful little fish swam over. The leader was a colorful fish named Rainbow.
"Wow! Your skin is so amazing!" Rainbow said excitedly. "Can you teach us how to change colors?"
Oliver smiled shyly, and his skin slowly turned rainbow-colored. "This is our octopus talent. When we're happy, we turn colorful; when we're scared, we turn black; when we're angry, we turn red."
"So interesting!" A little seahorse swam over. "I'm Jumper. I can hop between seaweed. Want to see?"
Then a little sea turtle also swam over: "I'm Slowpoke. Although I swim slowly, I remember many ocean stories. Want to hear some?"
Oliver was so excited! He never knew there were so many interesting friends in the ocean.
Rainbow suggested: "Let's play hide-and-seek!" Oliver happily agreed. When it was his turn to hide, he turned the same color as the coral, and everyone couldn't find him.
"Oliver, your color-changing ability is amazing!" Jumper said admiringly.
"And your tentacles are so flexible, you can do so many things at once!" Slowpoke also praised.
Oliver blushed with happiness, his skin turning pink. "Each of you has your own special talents too! Rainbow swims the fastest, Jumper is the most agile, Slowpoke is the wisest, and Grandma Bella is the most gentle."
Grandma Bella nodded: "Children, this is the wonderful thing about friendship. Everyone is unique, and our differences make friendship more rich and colorful."
As it grew dark, Oliver had to go home. His friends promised to play together again tomorrow.
When he got home, Oliver excitedly told his mother about the day's adventures. Mother was very happy after hearing: "Oliver, I'm proud that you made so many good friends. It seems my worries were unnecessary—you've grown up."
From that day on, Oliver played with his new friends every day, exploring the ocean together. They helped each other and learned from each other. Rainbow taught everyone swimming techniques, Jumper shared agility secrets, Slowpoke told ancient ocean legends, and Oliver performed various interesting magic tricks with his color-changing ability.
Most importantly, Oliver learned a truth: true friendship isn't about how similar we are, but about how we appreciate each other's differences and find joy and growth in those differences.
From then on, the deep sea was always filled with the happy laughter of a group of little friends. Their friendship was as deep as the ocean and as beautiful as coral.