Oscar was a special young octopus. He lived with his fish friends in the ocean. His fish friends were not always nice to him.

Oscar's fish friends often teased him.
"Oscar is as blue as a bluebottle!"

The fish taunted when Oscar swam around the kelp.
"Oscar, you are as brown as the klingy kelp!"

Oscar lay on the sandy sea bottom and the fish jeered:
"He is a white as foamy sea froth!"

"Oscar you are as green as slippery sea slime! Hahahahahahaha!"
The fish would laugh at his colour changes! Poor Oscar felt sad.

A pajama shark came along. All the fish panicked and flicked with fear. Oscar jettisoned into the jagged rocks and turned himself black to blend into the cracks!

The fish flicked and flurried all over while the shark snipped and snapped at them. But Oscar was safe hiding in the rocks. Nobody could see him!

Once the shark had left, the fish gathered. Oscar came out of his hiding place and the fish chorused: "Wow Oscar! We never knew that your ability to camouflage would come in handy! We are so sorry for teasing you."Oscar felt so proud. He finally knew what his special ability meant!

The next time the shark visited, Oscar helped shelter the fish in the slimy green seaweed, protecting them from the shark by turning green.

The shark was none the wiser and just swam away. After all, it just looked like nothing but green seaweed! Oscar felt so happy that he could help his friends.