The Great Barrier

“Nova, what have you been up to?” came a voice in a slow, stern tone. Nova turned around and saw her mum, floating there looking at her. Nova gestured to the bewildered humans to wait there. “Just...” Nova wasn’t sure how to reply. She knew that her mother had always hated humans. But she thought about it, and she was convinced that the humans she’d met were nice. How could they pose a threat? So she decided to take a risk. “I met two humans. They’re using the brush that I gave the girl to save the coral! It’s working out so well, there might actually be hope for us!”

“But how could you do that to us, Nova?” Her mother was angry, but also seemed reserved, as if she genuinely had to teach her a lesson. “How could I not, mum? The humans were so kind to me, how could they ever harm us? They genuinely want to use the paintbrush to bring the coral back – and this is just the start! Just think of what they could do-” “Humans can’t keep anything pure, Nova. The last thing that they’re going to do is paint the coral and not stop until every piece of coral has been saved. I mean, to them it has value, right? So they’re probably just going to sell it or use it to gain money and fame for themselves. Meanwhile, they’ll just keep on polluting until we all die. So from now on you will not give them anything else, okay? You can’t trust the humans with these things.” “Fine,” said Nova defiantly, swimming away. “But you’d be surprised by how kind these humans are, mum. Besides, we need some help. Surely we should accept it rather than run from it.” Nova dragged the two people out of the house and started bringing them back home.