Francine is a small coral crab who lives in the reef and helps to protect it-or at least he will when he gets bigger. He is playing along the reef one day when he sees two eyes peeking at him from underneath a rock. As he gets slowly closer a small octopus creeps out from underneath the stone. Francine has never seen an octopus before so he screams and runs home to tell his mom he saw a monster. When he comes back with his mom the octopus is gone. When he is alone again the octopus comes back and tries to talk to him and be friends, but Francine is still afraid because the octopus looks different. The octopus sadly swims away. One day when Francine is playing with his friend Barnie, he accidentally goes too far out and gets caught in a current that quickly sweeps him out toward deeper water. Frantically he yells for help, but Barnie can't reach him. Out of nowhere, the octopus appears again and helps him back to safety. They begin to talk and Francine discovers that they are the same age and have a lot of things in common. He also finds out that just because someone looks different they aren't necessarily scary.