F for FISH FOX FIRE

A fish once swimming in the water realized that life is very dull. There is only water water everywhere and I do not even drink water. And all I can see are other creatures just swimming away. This is so boring. I want a more exciting life. Maybe, life outside the water may be more exciting.

But how can a fish get out of water ? She’ll die. So what was she going to do? The fish thought and thought for a long time and then came up with a brain wave. She thought, there is a turtle swimming there, why don’t I ask him if I can sit on his back and when he pops out of the water I can see the world and when I’m not comfortable he can sink into the water again.

So she did just that. She asked the turtle if he would help her to see the outside world by sitting on his back. The turtle was a kind soul so he agreed. Now the fish would sit on the turtle’s back and watched the outside world with wonder and when she felt she was getting out of breath, the turtle would sink into the water.

As time went by the two became good friends and the turtle started taking the fish to new places. One day he even left the sea and paddled into the river which was emptying itself into the sea. It went upstream where the fish could see trees which lined the banks of the river and the little homes of fishermen who lived close by.

As the turtle swam and the fish popped it’s head out of the surface of the water she saw an animal on the bank of the river lapping the water as it was thirsty. The fish was curious so she asked the turtle to slow down. The turtle slowed down and the fish looked at the animal with red fur who looked at the fish and said, “Hello, I’m a fox. Who are you and what are you doing perched on the back of that old geezer ?”

The fish said, “I’m a fish and I was bored of life so I decided to see the world. And since I can’t live out of water this is the only way I can and the turtle is helping me.

The fox looked at the fish and thought to himself, “What a juicy morsel. But how do I get her, she is in very deep water. If I can persuade the turtle to come to the shallow water, maybe I can jump in and catch the fish. That will be a good meal for me

Now foxes are very clever creatures and wily too. So he said, “Well, well ,well. You are a very smart fish to want to see the world but, really you can’t see much from the sea or even the river. The world is much bigger and there are very exciting things to see. Why don’t I show you the really exciting things to see!” The fish said, “How is that possible ? I can’t live outside the water. How will I see all these exciting things ? “

The fox licked his chops and said, “It’s very simple. I’ll get a bucket of water and you just jump in. I’ll carry the bucket by its handle in my mouth and carry you around the world and you can pop your head out and see all the wonderful creatures and other stuff. You will not believe your eyes when you see these exciting, interesting and wonderful things.”

Listening to the fox the fish was besides herself with excitement. She promptly agreed and although the turtle told her not to, she promptly jumped into the bucket that the fox ran and brought and filled up with water.

Now the fox trotted on the path leading out of the woods, holding the handle of the bucket in his mouth while the fish popped out its head to see the world. She was thrilled but was also getting very uncomfortable as there was not enough water in the bucket and as the fox trotted some of it would splash out. You see the fox was in a hurry and you can guess why.

The fish asked the fox to turn back but he said he wanted her to see the most wondrous thing in the world first and then he’ll take her back. Since the fish was in a bucket there was not much she could do about it.

The fox trotted on and soon the fish could see an orange glow. She asked the fox what was it, the orange glow. The fox said,” Oh ! That is a fire. Some humans are probably on a picnic and cooking on it.” The fish was very curious and asked the fox to go closer so she could look at it. The fox slowly crept close to the fire but he did not see the root of a tree sticking out of the ground and tripped on it. The bucket went flying and fell on the ground with a loud clanking sound. The water spilt out and the fish fell into the fire. The humans had an extra treat that day because of a certain foolish fish who was now a foolish fried fish.

Moral: Don’t try new things when they are not part of your existence or you will become a fish out of water.