The Zombie Who Loved to Swim

Lily was not like other children. While her friends played tag or climbed trees, Lily spent every afternoon swimming in Crystal Lake. The water felt like magic to her—cool and gentle, wrapping around her like a soft blanket.

One rainy afternoon, Lily swam deeper than usual. The sky turned dark purple, and strange clouds gathered above. A bolt of lightning flashed across the sky, turning the water silver for one perfect moment.

That's when she saw him.

Green skin. Patchy clothes. Slow, clumsy movements. A zombie!

Lily wanted to scream, but something stopped her. The zombie wasn't scary. He looked sad, sitting on a rock at the water's edge, watching her with big, round eyes.

"Are you... okay?" Lily asked, swimming closer.

The zombie nodded slowly. He pointed at the water, then tried to swim, but he just sank like a stone. Lily laughed and splashed over to help.

"I'm Lily! What's your name?"

"Zzz... Zzz..." the zombie mumbled. "Zom...bie."

"Nice to meet you, Zombie!"

Every day that summer, Lily taught Zombie how to swim. He learned to float like a leaf, kick like a frog, and dive like a dolphin. They raced each other across the lake, played tag in the shallow water, and had underwater tea parties with the fish.

One evening, another lightning storm approached. Zombie looked nervous.

"Lightning... scary," he said.

Lily took his hand. "Not when you have a friend. Watch this!"

They swam together as lightning painted the sky in brilliant colors—purple, pink, gold. The water sparkled like diamonds. Zombie laughed, a sound like bubbles popping.

"Swimming... wonderful!" he cheered, doing a happy splash.

When summer ended, Zombie gave Lily a gift—a beautiful rainbow shell he'd found at the bottom of the lake.

"Friendship... forever, Zombie said, hugging her carefully.

Lily smiled, holding the shell to her ear. She could hear the ocean's song—and the sound of new friends swimming together forever.

And every time lightning flashed after that, Lily knew her zombie friend was dancing in the rain, thinking of her.