In the sparkly, swirly galaxy of Glimmerfluff, where planets smelled like cotton candy and stars hummed lullabies, lived a boy named James. His spaceship, the Bumblebee, was small, round, and painted sunshine yellow—except for the big, wobbly dent on the side. (That happened when James tried to park between two comets. BONK!)

James loved exploring, but there was one thing he avoided like a black hole: water. Not the tiny, tickly raindrops that sometimes dripped from space clouds, but the big, swishy, splashy kind. The kind that lived in the Ocean Nebula, a shimmering blue planet where waves roared like space dragons and bubbles popped with little pfft! sounds. "Water is too wiggly," James would say, crossing his arms. "And it makes my socks all squishy!"

One day, a distress signal crackled through the Bumblebee’s speakers. Bzzzt! Crackle-pop! It was from Captain Pip of the Silver Squid, a spaceship shaped like a giant octopus. "Help!" squeaked the captain’s voice. "Our treasure chest—full of the galaxy’s last jar of Moonbeam Marmalade—has fallen into the Ocean Nebula! Without it, the Space Fairies won’t have their tea, and they’ll turn all grumpy and gray!"

James gulped. The Ocean Nebula? That meant water. Lots of it. His knees wobbled like jelly on a trampoline. But then he thought of the Space Fairies, their wings drooping like wilted lettuce, their tea cups empty. He took a deep breath—it smelled like burnt toast, because he’d forgotten to turn off the spaceship’s toaster again—and grabbed his Anti-Gravity Snorkel. "I’ll do it," he said, his voice squeakier than a mouse in a squeaky toy factory.

The Bumblebee zoomed toward the Ocean Nebula, its engines purring like a sleepy kitten. As they neared the planet, the air turned thick and salty, like a giant’s sneeze. ACHOO! James coughed. Below, the waves stretched out like a giant’s blue blanket, rippling and giggling. "This is fine," James muttered, gripping his snorkel. "Totally fine. Just… very wet."

He strapped on his Space Swim Boots—big, clunky things that made him walk like a robot with hiccups—and jumped. SPLOOSH! The water swallowed him whole. It was cold, like a snowball hug, and it fizzed against his skin like soda pop. James flailed his arms. Flippity-flop! He sank like a rock in a sock. His boots, instead of helping, just made blob-blob noises as they filled with water. "Oh no," he gurgled, bubbles escaping his mouth like tiny, panicky balloons.

Then—WHOOSH!—something slimy and warm wrapped around his ankle. James screamed (or tried to, but it came out as glug-glug). He looked down. A friendly space squid, its tentacles shimmering like rainbow noodles, was giving him a ride. "Thanks!" James gasped, patting the squid’s head. It felt like a wet, wiggly stress ball. The squid inked a happy face in the water—blort!—and zoomed toward the treasure chest, which was stuck in a coral reef that looked like a giant’s Lego castle.

The chest was heavy, like a sack of potatoes with a grumpy cat inside. James tugged. Grrrr! The squid tugged. Squish-squish! Together, they pulled it free. But as they surfaced, a sneaky space crab—its shell crunchy like a bowl of cereal—snipped at the chest with its claws. SNAP! CRUNCH! "Hey!" James yelled. He grabbed a nearby seaweed rope (it felt like slimy spaghetti) and swung it at the crab. WHAP! The crab tumbled into a jellyfish, which stung it right on the nose. ZING! "Yowch!" the crab yelped, scuttling away.

Back on the Bumblebee, James handed the jar of Moonbeam Marmalade to Captain Pip. The captain’s eyes sparkled like disco balls. "You did it!" he cheered. "The Space Fairies will throw the biggest tea party the galaxy has ever seen!" James grinned, his socks still squishy and his hair dripping like a leaky faucet. He smelled like salt and adventure, and his heart was beating like a drum in a parade.

That night, as James curled up in his spaceship bed (which was really just a pile of blankets shaped like a nest), he realized something. Water wasn’t so bad. Sure, it was wiggly and wet, but it was also fun—like a giant, splashy playground. And courage? Well, courage was just being a little bit scared… and doing it anyway. Snore-snuffle. James drifted off to sleep, dreaming of squids, space crabs, and the next adventure waiting among the stars.