Ellie and Sunny’s Goodnight Tune

“Tap, tap, sing,” Ellie hummed. Sunny tapped, tapped, and squawked right over the song.

Ellie smiled at her parrot. “That was almost it, Sunny.”

Their little pirate ship was tied to a wooden post beside Moon Shell Island. The island’s sandy shore curved around a quiet cove, and the moon laid a pale path across the water. On deck, Captain Ellie wore a blue scarf and a hat with a feather tucked in its band. Sunny perched on the rail, his green feathers ruffled by the night breeze.

The rest of the crew had finished supper. They had coiled the ropes, folded the sails, and tucked their boots beneath their hammocks. Now they were settling in for the night. Ellie wanted to teach them a goodnight tune—one they could hum together while the ship rested beside the island.

“I know a tune with three parts,” she told Sunny. “First, two taps. Then a little song. Listen.”

Ellie tapped her wooden spoon on a small barrel. Tap, tap. She waited, then sang, “Moon above, rest below.”

Sunny bobbed his head. “Moon above!” he squawked, and tapped his claws while Ellie sang the next words.

“Not quite,” Ellie said, still smiling. “The taps come first. The singing comes after.”

She tried again. Tap, tap. “Moon above, rest below.”

Sunny tapped, tapped, then sang, “Tap, tap!” His song came at the wrong time, but he looked so pleased with himself that Ellie gave a little laugh.

“Your turn,” she said.

Sunny tapped once, sang a note, tapped again, then let out a cheerful squawk. The tune tumbled all over the deck like a hat in the wind.

A sleepy sailor peeked out from a hammock. “Is that the goodnight tune?”

“It’s on its way,” Ellie said.

Sunny tilted his head. Ellie looked at her spoon, then at her parrot. She would have to find a way to make each part easy to hear—and give Sunny a chance to copy it before they put the pieces together.

Ellie set her spoon beside the barrel. Sunny leaned close, waiting for the next try.

“Let’s do one little part at a time,” she said. “First, only taps. No singing yet.”

She tapped the barrel twice. Tap, tap. Then she rested her hands in her lap.

Sunny opened his beak, but Ellie held up one finger. “Wait until I’m finished.”

He closed his beak and watched her hands. Ellie tapped again, slowly. Tap … tap. She waited.

Sunny tapped his claws on the rail. Tap … tap.

“That’s it,” Ellie whispered. “You heard the two taps.”

Sunny puffed his chest. “Tap, tap!”

“Now we’ll try only the song.” Ellie kept her hands still and sang, “Moon above, rest below.” She let the last word settle before she spoke again.

Sunny listened. His beak opened, then closed. Ellie waited without hurrying him. At last, Sunny sang, “Moon above, rest below.” His voice was small and sweet.

The sailors shifted in their hammocks to listen.

“Now we can put the parts together,” Ellie said. “Two taps. A little pause. Then the song.”

She tapped. Tap, tap. She waited. “Moon above, rest below.”

Sunny watched her, then copied the pattern. Tap, tap. He paused, just as Ellie had. “Moon above, rest below,” he sang.

Ellie’s eyes widened with delight. “You did it!”

Sunny gave one proud flap of his wings. “Again?”

“Together,” Ellie said.

This time Ellie tapped while Sunny tapped beside her. Then they both sang the words. The tune had room for every part: the two steady taps, the little pause, and the song that followed.

From his hammock, the sleepy sailor hummed along. Another pirate joined him, then another. Soon the whole crew was humming softly with Ellie and Sunny, each person following the same easy pattern.

The ship’s ropes gave a quiet creak against the post. Ellie rested her spoon on the barrel and listened as the crew carried the tune across the deck. Sunny sat close beside her, pleased that his taps had found their proper place.

The crew hummed the tune once more. Ellie tapped the barrel. Tap, tap. Then she paused, and the sailors sang, “Moon above, rest below.” Sunny joined them, his voice fitting between the ropes, the waves, and the quiet night air.

“Again,” murmured one sailor, already tucked beneath his blanket.

Ellie nodded. The tune began with two taps. Tap, tap. The crew waited together, then sang the words. Sunny waited too, and when it was time, he sang right along.

The moon’s path stretched across the cove. On shore, the palms stood still, their leaves resting against the night sky. The ship rocked gently beside the island, held snug by its rope. No one needed to hurry. There was nowhere else to go before morning.

Ellie tapped again, more softly this time. Tap, tap. The crew sang, “Moon above, rest below,” in low, sleepy voices. Sunny’s head tipped to one side as he listened to them all.

A pirate in a striped nightcap hummed the tune without making a sound. Another sailor’s eyes closed before the last word was done. The captain folded her blue scarf and set it beside her pillow.

Sunny gave the pattern one more try on his own. He tapped twice on the rail. Tap, tap. He paused, then sang, “Moon above, rest below.”

Ellie patted the rail beside him. “Just right.”

They repeated the tune again, and it grew softer. Tap, tap. “Moon above, rest below.” The crew’s voices became a gentle hum. The next time, they sang only the last few words. After that, everyone simply listened to the waves brushing the shore and the ropes creaking lightly in their loops.

Sunny tucked his beak beneath one wing. Ellie settled into her hammock, where the blanket was warm around her shoulders. Across the deck, the crew grew still in their hammocks, while the ship rested safely beside Moon Shell Island. Sunny’s last little tap sounded like a goodnight.