Iceberg the White Killer Whale

Once upon a time there was a white killer whale named Iceberg. He lived in an underground cave and ate only eels, sucking them down like spaghetti because he was too nervous to go hunting for seals with the other whales, for fear that they’d make fun of him. So he had no friends.

One day he met a witch, and she granted him one wish — “But wait,” the witch said, before Iceberg could say anything. “I know you’re probably going to wish to be normal-colored, but I want you to think hard about that first. So, I’m going to go away and come back in a day.”

“Okay,” Iceberg said, and he lay down in his cave to think about what the witch said. She’s right, he thought. I would have wished that. What else could I wish for, though? I guess I could wish that everyone liked me, which is the whole point of why I’d want to be normal-colored in the first place. Yeah, I’ll wish that.

So, the next day, the witch came back, and Iceberg wished his wish, that everyone would like him. The witch frowned a little sadly. “All right,” she said with a sigh.

And it turned out to be an even worse curse, because then for the rest of his life, Iceberg never knew whether the other killer whales liked him for his personality or because of the wish, and it drove him insane.