The sun was shining bright, and the blue sea was smiling. Little Bubbles the seal loved jumping through the white, foamy waves. The “splash-splash” sound her tail made in the water felt like the most beautiful song in the world.

As Bubbles wiggled onto the shore, she saw something sparkling in the sand. It was a glass object, wide at both ends and very thin in the middle. Inside, there was fine, golden sand. Bubbles looked at this strange thing with curiosity.

Bubbles flipped the glass object over with her flipper. Oh, look! The sand at the top started to drift slowly to the bottom. “It never stops flowing!” thought Bubbles. Watching the sand move was so much fun.

Just then, her best friend Barnaby the seal arrived. “Hi Bubbles! What is that in your hand?” he asked. Bubbles answered excitedly, “It’s an hourglass! When the sand runs out, time runs out too.”

Bubbles had a wonderful idea. “Barnaby, shall we play a game? Who can collect the most seashells before all the sand flows down to the bottom?” Barnaby loved the idea and agreed right away.

Bubbles flipped the hourglass one more time. “One, two, three... Go!” she shouted. The two friends rushed across the beach. Time began to flow, and the grains of sand started falling one by one.

Bubbles looked among the rocks for pink and striped seashells. One, two, three... “Hurry, Bubbles, you must be fast!” she said to herself. She wondered how much sand was left in the glass.

Barnaby found a giant, shiny spiral shell at the water's edge. He pushed it onto the shore with his nose. “This one is so big, I'm sure I'll win!” he said, smiling happily.

There was very little sand left in the top of the hourglass. Bubbles and Barnaby started running back toward it at the same time. “We have to make it, time is almost up!” they shouted together.

When all the sand reached the bottom, they were both standing by the hourglass. They counted their shells. They had both collected so many! “Time is up, but we had so much fun,” said Barnaby. Bubbles smiled, “I learned how fast time flows thanks to this glass box.”