Once upon a time, in a blue ocean the color of shimmering sapphires, fish fluttered freely about Bikini Bottom, the happiest reef of them all.
However, one day, a shadow was cast over the reef by a creature so vile, so evil, that everyone in Bikini Bottom was doomed to never wear sunglasses (not even neon colored aviators!) again for all eternity.
Never mind, that’ s not really what happened. Yet it is what may have occurred if
Logan the Lazy Whale decided he was perfectly content with gorging himself on Fish
Nips and lying around on his rather large bottom all day.
Actually, there was one other that Logan the Super-Sized Cetacean liked to do, and that was swimming in circles.
He had many friends who were very concerned about him. They would say, “ Logan! You need to get off that bottom of yours and do something other than swim in lazy circles! Your belly is getting too big for your tail!”
He would answer, “ No, no, I’ m just fine the way I am. Swimming in circles is my exercise.”
His friends would huff and flit away mumbling under their breath.
Logan would keep swimming in circles, humming to himself, when another one of his friends would just so happen to be passing by.
“ Logan!” he would say, “ You need to start getting exercise!”
But he would just shake his head and respond calmly, “ No, no. This is my exercise. I am just fine the way I am.
Once again, Logan found himself watching his friend’ s receding fins.
That day, Logan decided to make a bowl of alphabet soup for lunch. Just before inhaling the first ten gallons of soup, he noticed that some of the noodles in the bowl spelled out “ Just Belive” (which he understood to be “ Just Believe.” Fish Nip cravings were not often conducive to paying attention to spelling lessons in school).
Later that day, as Logan was swimming in circles, he thought about his lunch. For the first time, his musings had nothing to do with how good it had tasted.
Instead, he thought about when he was a young (and much, much smaller) whale.
He thought about how he had wanted to be the fastest whale. He also thought about how the only thing he seemed to be good at was eating.
That was the day lunch changed something in Logan other than his weight. He had finally found the courage to chase his dreams.
He hired the best trainer he could buy, Donnie, and he started to train every day after school. He didn’t tell anyone his secret, until, one day, his mother walked into his room while he was training. He had sweat pouring down his brow, and he was huffing and puffing.
“ Logan! What are you doing?” she exclaimed, worried about his sudden change in attitude.
“ Well Mother, you see, I had a dream, and that dream didn't involve multi-flavor
Fish Nips. I've always wanted to win the Swimming Fishlimpics, but I didn’ t believe in myself. Until I saw noodles in my soup telling me to ‘ Just Believe!’ so I did. I hired
Donnie to coach me for the Fishlimpics, and now I’ m in training.”
Logan’ s mother was speechless. She didn’ t know what to think.
“ You decided to do something because your SOUP told you to?! Here I thought you had finally gown a pair and decided to prove yourself to your friends and family.” she said, “ Well whatever it takes to get you moving, I’ m so glad you are believing in yourself, and working hard on something!”
The Fishlimpic Trials came up even faster than Logan could eat. Thanks to
Logan's new training regime, he made the finals without difficulty.
As Logan warmed up before the finals, he couldn't believe his eyes. When he turned to his left, he saw “ Workhorse Wallace,” the world-famous whale known for his insane three-a-day training sessions. When he turned to his right, he could see Waldo the Wave-Maker warming up in the distance. Logan remembered how Waldo had been on the can of his favorite brand of alphabet soup after winning a gold Fishlimpics medal.
Before Logan knew it, he was behind the seaweed starting line. The second he heard the conch-shell whistle blow, he was off, separated by mere pieces of kelp from the fastest whales in Bikini Bottom.
Logan thrusted his tail up and down as hard as he could, trying to gain speed.
However, as the finish line came into his vision, the only thing he could feel in his tail was a dull burning sensation. Then came the heaviness, the feeling that his tail was being sat on by every other whale in the race.
The finish line didn't seem to be getting any closer, but out of the corner of his eye, the other racers just seemed to be pulling away farther and farther.
Logan knew he wouldn’t let himself think during a race. Donnie always told him to race with his feelings, not his thoughts; but as he kept losing momentum towards the end of the course, his feelings were only that of helplessness and shame.
Who am I to be racing with these whales? He thought resignedly. Why did I even think I had a chance? Everyone's a champion except me. No one else follows crazy instructions from their soup. All that training that got me through the semi-finals could probably only do just that – get me through the semi-finals. He remembered how he had always been the whale at school that was good at eating and nothing else. He remembered how Wallace and Waldo had been famous even as young whales and had probably never eaten a whole bag of Fish Nips in one sitting.
When Logan finally passed the finish line, the seaweed rope appeared blurred as his tears slid down his face. He had finished seventh, barely missing last place.
That night, when Logan got home, he didn't even have the energy to swim in circles. Instead, he made himself a quick bowl of alphabet soup and grabbed the biggest bag of Fish Nips he could find. Just as he was ready to pour a shower of the fish crackers into his soup, his little sister zoomed by, knocking the bowl over.
This did not help Logan's already awful mood. He glumly bent to pick up the spilled soup, when he read the words spelled out by some miracle.
“ Just Believe.”
Four years passed, and he trained harder than ever. This time when he competed in the Fishlimpics, he was able to come in first place! Now, it might seem suspicious the way Logan jumped from seventh to first in only four years. In the race, he actually finished fourth, but the first, second, and third place qualifiers got disqualified! Logan had finally achieved his dream after years of hard working and believing in himself. Now, instead of politely looking away from Logan when other fish saw him, the swam up to him and asked for his autograph!
However, one day, a shadow was cast over the reef by a creature so vile, so evil, that everyone in Bikini Bottom was doomed to never wear sunglasses (not even neon colored aviators!) again for all eternity.
Never mind, that’ s not really what happened. Yet it is what may have occurred if
Logan the Lazy Whale decided he was perfectly content with gorging himself on Fish
Nips and lying around on his rather large bottom all day.
Actually, there was one other that Logan the Super-Sized Cetacean liked to do, and that was swimming in circles.
He had many friends who were very concerned about him. They would say, “ Logan! You need to get off that bottom of yours and do something other than swim in lazy circles! Your belly is getting too big for your tail!”
He would answer, “ No, no, I’ m just fine the way I am. Swimming in circles is my exercise.”
His friends would huff and flit away mumbling under their breath.
Logan would keep swimming in circles, humming to himself, when another one of his friends would just so happen to be passing by.
“ Logan!” he would say, “ You need to start getting exercise!”
But he would just shake his head and respond calmly, “ No, no. This is my exercise. I am just fine the way I am.
Once again, Logan found himself watching his friend’ s receding fins.
That day, Logan decided to make a bowl of alphabet soup for lunch. Just before inhaling the first ten gallons of soup, he noticed that some of the noodles in the bowl spelled out “ Just Belive” (which he understood to be “ Just Believe.” Fish Nip cravings were not often conducive to paying attention to spelling lessons in school).
Later that day, as Logan was swimming in circles, he thought about his lunch. For the first time, his musings had nothing to do with how good it had tasted.
Instead, he thought about when he was a young (and much, much smaller) whale.
He thought about how he had wanted to be the fastest whale. He also thought about how the only thing he seemed to be good at was eating.
That was the day lunch changed something in Logan other than his weight. He had finally found the courage to chase his dreams.
He hired the best trainer he could buy, Donnie, and he started to train every day after school. He didn’t tell anyone his secret, until, one day, his mother walked into his room while he was training. He had sweat pouring down his brow, and he was huffing and puffing.
“ Logan! What are you doing?” she exclaimed, worried about his sudden change in attitude.
“ Well Mother, you see, I had a dream, and that dream didn't involve multi-flavor
Fish Nips. I've always wanted to win the Swimming Fishlimpics, but I didn’ t believe in myself. Until I saw noodles in my soup telling me to ‘ Just Believe!’ so I did. I hired
Donnie to coach me for the Fishlimpics, and now I’ m in training.”
Logan’ s mother was speechless. She didn’ t know what to think.
“ You decided to do something because your SOUP told you to?! Here I thought you had finally gown a pair and decided to prove yourself to your friends and family.” she said, “ Well whatever it takes to get you moving, I’ m so glad you are believing in yourself, and working hard on something!”
The Fishlimpic Trials came up even faster than Logan could eat. Thanks to
Logan's new training regime, he made the finals without difficulty.
As Logan warmed up before the finals, he couldn't believe his eyes. When he turned to his left, he saw “ Workhorse Wallace,” the world-famous whale known for his insane three-a-day training sessions. When he turned to his right, he could see Waldo the Wave-Maker warming up in the distance. Logan remembered how Waldo had been on the can of his favorite brand of alphabet soup after winning a gold Fishlimpics medal.
Before Logan knew it, he was behind the seaweed starting line. The second he heard the conch-shell whistle blow, he was off, separated by mere pieces of kelp from the fastest whales in Bikini Bottom.
Logan thrusted his tail up and down as hard as he could, trying to gain speed.
However, as the finish line came into his vision, the only thing he could feel in his tail was a dull burning sensation. Then came the heaviness, the feeling that his tail was being sat on by every other whale in the race.
The finish line didn't seem to be getting any closer, but out of the corner of his eye, the other racers just seemed to be pulling away farther and farther.
Logan knew he wouldn’t let himself think during a race. Donnie always told him to race with his feelings, not his thoughts; but as he kept losing momentum towards the end of the course, his feelings were only that of helplessness and shame.
Who am I to be racing with these whales? He thought resignedly. Why did I even think I had a chance? Everyone's a champion except me. No one else follows crazy instructions from their soup. All that training that got me through the semi-finals could probably only do just that – get me through the semi-finals. He remembered how he had always been the whale at school that was good at eating and nothing else. He remembered how Wallace and Waldo had been famous even as young whales and had probably never eaten a whole bag of Fish Nips in one sitting.
When Logan finally passed the finish line, the seaweed rope appeared blurred as his tears slid down his face. He had finished seventh, barely missing last place.
That night, when Logan got home, he didn't even have the energy to swim in circles. Instead, he made himself a quick bowl of alphabet soup and grabbed the biggest bag of Fish Nips he could find. Just as he was ready to pour a shower of the fish crackers into his soup, his little sister zoomed by, knocking the bowl over.
This did not help Logan's already awful mood. He glumly bent to pick up the spilled soup, when he read the words spelled out by some miracle.
“ Just Believe.”
Four years passed, and he trained harder than ever. This time when he competed in the Fishlimpics, he was able to come in first place! Now, it might seem suspicious the way Logan jumped from seventh to first in only four years. In the race, he actually finished fourth, but the first, second, and third place qualifiers got disqualified! Logan had finally achieved his dream after years of hard working and believing in himself. Now, instead of politely looking away from Logan when other fish saw him, the swam up to him and asked for his autograph!
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