Era Nochebuena. Tristán y Chantal estaban preparando tarjetas de Navidad para entregar a sus familiares y amigos.

—Tristán, necesito el lápiz azul —dijo su amiga.

—Yo también —contestó el niño.

—Pero no lo estás usando.

—Lo voy a usar.

La pequeña extendió la mano y tomó el lápiz.

—¡Devuélvemelo! —exigió Tristán enojado.

—Lo estoy usando —respondió Chantal—. Te lo doy cuando termine.

—¡Dámelo ahora!

Tristán le arrebató el lápiz a Chantal; pero como en ese momento ella estaba coloreando, sin querer hizo una raya en la tarjeta de su amiga.

—¡Mira lo que hiciste! —protestó ella echándose a llorar.

—¿Qué pasa? —preguntó el abuelo Diego.

—¡Tristán me ha arruinado la tarjeta! —exclamó la niña.

—Fue culpa de ella —replicó Tristán—. No hubiera debido quitarme el lápiz.

—Tengo una idea —dijo el anciano—. ¿Qué les parece si les cuento un incidente similar que ocurrió entre Augusto y Guido? Tal vez les sirva para entenderse mejor.

—Colguemos aquí estos adornos —propuso Gobi.

Él y don Ramón sostenían cada uno un extremo de un alga colorida.

—Camila, ¿cómo se ve? —pregunto el viejo pez globo.

—Está bien —contestó ella tristona.

—No te gusta, ¿eh? —le dijo Gobi preocupado

—Ya he dicho que está bien —respondió ella.

—¿Te duele la cola? —le preguntó don Ramón.

—En realidad no... a menos que la mueva —explicó la sirena.

—Entonces, ¿qué te pasa?

Camila suspiró.

—Me gustaría no tener que estar en la cama. Quiero ayudar a poner adornos, quiero divertirme. Pero no puedo... por culpa de mi cola. ¡Qué rabia!

Camila se había lastimado dos días antes jugando en el banco de coral. Un pedazo grande de coral se le había caído en la cola y le había hecho una herida.

La Navidad era una fiesta muy importante para ella, y tener que guardar cama con la cola lastimada no le parecía nada divertido. Sus amigos habían ido a animarla; pero aún estaba un poco alicaída.

De pronto se oyó un estruendo en el patio, seguido de gritos de enojo.

—¿Qué pasa? —preguntó Camila.

—Son Augusto y Guido —dijo Gobi.

—Parece que no se llevan muy bien —explicó don Ramón—. Enseguida vuelvo.

Guido y Augusto habían estado juntando conchas, trozos de coral y algas coloridas para decorar la habitación de Camila. El caballito de mar estaba impaciente por mostrarle a la sirena lo que habían encontrado. El cangrejo, por su parte, se sentía cada vez más irritado con su amigo.

—¡Mira lo que encontré! —anunció Augusto al acercarse a la casa de Camila.

Pero cuando se adelantó para enseñárselo, Guido le agarró la cola y lo derribó. Todo lo que llevaba se desparramó por el suelo.

"CLIP!!" Shallo shouted. "Look what you've done!"

"Serves you right!"

"Why would you do that?" Shallo was very upset.

"I'm tired of you taking the credit for everything," Clip said. "Remember, we collected them, not just you! All morning you've been going on about what you collected for Camille, even if I was the one who found it."

"I have not!" Shallo argued back.

"Have too!" Clip replied.

The crab and seahorse started fighting, shoving and pushing each other.

"Clip! Shallo! That's enough!" Old Budder said firmly.

Shallo let go of Clip and sat down in a huff. Clip crossed his claws, and gave an angry grunt.

"It sounds like you two aren't getting along so well today," Old Budder said.

"It's Clip's fault," said Shallo.

"No, it's not!" Clip snapped back.

"I didn't ask you whose fault it was," said Old Budder. "Arguing about who did what wrong is not going to help. We need to find a solution to this problem, and without fighting or arguing about it. But to find a solution, you're both going to have to take the time to listen to each other. Agreed?"

Shallo and Clip nodded their heads.

"Why don't you explain your problem first, Clip," suggested Old Budder. "What happened?"

"All morning long," Clip began, "Shallo has been going on and on about what he's going to get for Camille, and how he'd find much prettier coral than me. I didn't mind it at first. But then I'd go to collect something, and just as I was going to pick it up, Shallo would be there and grab it first. I asked him to not do it, but he didn't listen. He was always saying that he had found this and he had found that. But I had found some of the stuff too.

"I probably shouldn't have lost my temper," Clip continued. "But I was so frustrated that I didn't know what else to do."

"I see," said Old Budder. Turning to Shallo he added, "Did you realize that you were making Clip feel bad?"

Shallo shook his head. "I just wanted to do something nice for Camille," he explained. "I wasn't trying to make Clip angry … but I guess I did."

"Well, this is good news!" Budder exclaimed.

Shallo and Clip both gave Old Budder a puzzled look.

"What do you mean?" asked Clip.

"Well," began Old Budder, "now that you know why both of you were angry it's easier to make up."

Shallo gave a sigh. "Clip, I'm sorry for the way I was behaving. I didn't realize it was bothering you so much or else I wouldn't have done it."

"I'm sorry too," said Clip. " I shouldn't have gotten angry at you. Please forgive me."

"Sure," answered Shallo.

The two friends thanked Old Budder for his help.

"Well, let's not keep Camille waiting any longer," Old Budder said.

"You're back!" Camille said happily.

"Clip and I found lots of cool things," said Shallo.

The coral, shells, and colorful sea plants were dumped out on the bed, as the five friends studied each piece and decided where to place them in Camille's room.

"Thank you so much," Camille said. "You're such wonderful friends. I thought that I was going to have a terribly boring Christmas because of my accident, but you've made it a lot of fun."

"You've always been there to help us when we've had our not-so-good times," said Shallo.

"Merry Christmas, Camille," Clip said. "And Merry Christmas to all of you, my special friends."

"I shouldn't have been so selfish," said Tristan. "I didn't really need the crayon right then. I could've shared it with you."

"It wasn't nice of me to grab it from you," Chantal said. "I could have used a different color until you were done. I'm sorry."

"You see," said Grandpa Jake, "there are ways to work things out without getting upset and fighting."

"Can we go back to finishing our cards?" Tristan asked.

"For sure. And I have to say, your cards are beautiful. I'm sure they'll make your families very happy."

Moral: Arguing and fighting don't help to sort out problems. They usually only make you more angry and upset at each other. Try love and thoughtfulness instead, and you'll see how much better things work.