The Lightning Kid’s Frenzy

The King was beginning to suspect that there was a good deal of Lightning in Shark Boy and a good deal of Shark in the Lightning Kid.  The former often had hair that stood up and spoke fondly of a certain kind of lightning while the latter had taken up the unfortunate habit of biting his parents... with sharp, shark-like teeth.

There was another shark-like behaviour, though: constant movement.  Especially in attempting to stand independently.  The King had watched in amazement as the Lightning Kid tried to push himself into a stand without touching walls or furniture.  From a hands-and-knees crawl, he would put his feet on the floor, and from the bent over position, he would straighten up, hands held aloft in a sign of victory... till he flopped over onto his bottom anywhere from one to six or seven seconds later.  He could do this over and over again, with a ferocity and intensity that could only be described as frenzied.   The little prince was a boy who wanted to stand.  He wanted to walk.  He wanted to move.

The Queen had been diligent in directing this energy into important development.  By standing the Lightning Kid up against one piece of furniture and placing an object he wanted on another, he could be enticed into walking briefly between the two, without holding onto anything else.  Various toys, books, and even socks could be used, but none was so enticing as another Shark Boy favourite: the goldfish.