Land of Sooj

By Shelley Gilbert

Young adult/children's fiction book, ages 7-19. "Charming children’s book. The stories are beautifully written and morally relevant." Little, Brown and Company.
Land of Sooj is an early land where seahorses live. Each of the six seahorse stories is independent but all are connected by a seahorse family of God and Angels who look after the seahorses. Romantica, God of The Seahorses, and her Angel children protect the little seahorses as they learn truths and lessons of life in the Land of Sooj. Each story conjures up vivid and beautiful images. Fantasy and virtue are twin currents entwined throughout the flow of the stories.
The six seahorse stories are:
APOLLA SEAHORSE
A seahorse discovers her purpose in life.
CHERRY SEAHORSE
A tiny seahorse finds her power.
VANILLA AND CHOCOLATE SEAHORSES
This is the story of twin seahorses. One likes the getting there, the other likes the being there.
MARSHMALLOW SEAHORSE
Sometimes the gentlest seahorse must protect her heart.
YESNO SEAHORSE
In the Land of Sooj, a seahorse always pays for a wrongdoing.
SEA3 SEAHORSE
To one seahorse, creating is everything.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Shelley Gilbert
• Release date: Dec 19, 2011
• ISBN: 9780971831773

Shelley Gilbert

I'm an award-winning, well-reviewed Author and Artist who has created and published six original fiction and nonfiction books for adults, young adults and children. Currently shopping my powerful novel "Swimming Naked with Jellyfish" among film industry principals to turn this intense, heartfelt story into a movie.

Book preview

LAND OF SOOJ

Six Seahorse Stories

Fiction Book for Young Adults and Children Ages 7-19

By Shelley Gilbert

Charming children’s book. The stories are beautifully written and morally relevant.

Little, Brown and Company

Published by Shelley Joy Gilbert, Ossining, NY, 10562 USA

Smashwords Edition - 11,550 words

Copyright © 2011 Shelley Joy Gilbert

All rights reserved. This book, or parts thereof, may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, mechanical or electronic, including photocopying, without written permission from the author. www.shelleyjoygilbert.com. [e-mail]

ISBN: 978-0-9718317-7-3

Cover and Interior design: Shelley Gilbert

www.shelleyjoygilbert.com

This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is coincidental.

Other Books by Shelley Gilbert

Islands, A Coloring Book for Adults, 30 Drawings, 30 Poems, 2001

Swimming Naked with Jellyfish, 2008

Islands, A Coloring Book for Teens and Kids, 30 Hand-Drawn Drawings, 30 Poems and Recipes, 2010

Islands, A Coloring Book for Adults, Volume 2, 30 Hand-Drawn Drawings, 30 Poems, 2011

Islands, A Coloring Book for Adults, 2nd Edition, 30 Hand-Drawn Drawings, 30 Poems, 2011

To Hank, Into Eternity

CHAPTER 1

Apolla Seahorse

A seahorse discovers her purpose in life.

Long ago, when our Universe was pregnant with new planets, Earth emerged from her violent birth full of wonder and secrets.

Earth's body was immense. Her oceans were vast. Her land was lush and deserted.

Clinging to a shore beside a great ocean, the mysterious Land of Sooj was born.

The Land of Sooj was quiet and still, as no creatures lived on the land yet. Life began in the liquid belly of the planet. In the Land of Sooj, life began in the Midnight Green Ocean.

The Midnight Green Ocean was deep, dark, and dangerous. It was so huge that millions of seahorses lived and died there without ever seeing land. With their graceful S-shaped bodies and noble horse heads, the seahorses were the most elegant creatures in the ocean, and the most hunted.

Their mesmerizing charm attracted predators small and large. As their petite bodies glided slowly through the water, they were easy prey even for a small crab crawling backwards. Every now and then, a monstrous creature would thrust its fierce body through the giving water and suck thousands of seahorses down its muscular throat in one gigantic gulp. It wasn't long before the seahorses began to decline in number.

The seahorses had a mild, passive nature and accepted their life as it was. Complacent in every way, they didn’t feel sadness but neither did they feel joy. All were obedient and willing to be tamed by the majestic Midnight Green Ocean. All, that is, except for Apolla Seahorse.

Apolla was a sad seahorse. As much as she tried, she couldn’t move her body up and down, like the other seahorses could do. She could only go to the right and left. She couldn't even raise her long nose up. It always faced down into the darkness. Apolla saw all the other seahorses moving their heads up and down with an easy freedom and swimming in whatever direction they chose. They could sleep laying down if they wanted, but Apolla could only sleep standing up. Because Apolla was so different, all the seahorses avoided her. She felt like a freak. This