On a small rocky beach lived an old crab that everyone was afraid of. He was big and strong, but the reason he was so feared was that he was a hothead. He was having a hard time because some seaweed had  unexpectedly started growing on his back, and it was getting bigger and bigger every day. He’d never asked a beach dweller for help — he was too full of himself. But this time, he had no choice.

Not far from there, he came across a shrimp. The shrimp was eating little bits of sea moss from a rock.

"Hi buddy!" the crab greeted the shrimp, flashing him a friendly smile. "Can I ask you something?"

The shrimp was surprised — he'd never seen the cranky crab smile before. "Well, I guess you can as long as you don't come any closer."

"Could you please help me get rid of this annoying seaweed on my back?" asked the crab, trying to sound pitiful.

The shrimp stroked one of his whiskers as he thought, and then asked, "Why would I do that? You'd eat me for sure!”

”Oooh, you shrimp are so vain. Everyone says you guys are so tasty, but I prefer by far, a nice medium-rotten octopus leg,” the crab said as he got a little bit closer to explain himself better. “Listen. You're getting me wrong. How do I put it...? Ok. Have you ever seen what clownfish and anemones do?" The shrimp nodded with a bored look on his face, but the crab went on. That's called a 'quid pro quo' arrangement, which means if you scratch my back, I'll scratch yours." The crab was trying to sound convincing, "Come on. How about it? Are you in?"

The shrimp didn't trust the crab, but asked anyway, " And ... what would I get in return?"

 At this point, the crab would’ve offered him the moon, so he happily replied, "I'll catch any sea creature you like, to provide you with as much food as you need."

"I'm vegan," the shrimp blurted out.

The crab started to get a little hysterical, "Vegan?? Since when are shrimp vegan?"  But the crab suddenly realized the timely coincidence, "Well, all the more reason! — you'll be able to eat the seaweed from my back anytime. Deal?”

”Ok. Count on me,” said the shrimp, and they closed the deal with a high-five. Well, it was more like a high-two, but it makes no difference ...

From then on, the crab and the shrimp got on like a house on fire. The crab stopped being “the cranky crab” and the shrimp got quite chubby  despite being vegan, and they all lived happily ever after.

* Pictures by ¡StockPhoto.com