Shipo the Dreamer

"Do you think there is a world outside Aquariumia?" Shipo the fish asked his friend the turtle.

"Of course not. My mother has swam to all the edges of our waters and she told me there are places you reach that you can't go beyond." Belo the turtle answered. 

"But does that mean that's the end? Where does our food come from? Where did we come from? Where do we go when we are not here anymore? Don't you think there is a life beyond here?"

The turtle did not answer. 

The little fish had always been a dreamer. And so he had been asking questions many in their waters could not answer. 

" We should swim up above when the bright light comes just after the food drops and we can see what lies beyond," he had suggested to his turtle friend. 

Belo was sceptical. Afraid even. 

"Stay away from that mischievous fish child!" his mother had warned him when he had told her about the fish's questions. " We are safe here together. And we get what we want. Don't listen to the wild minds of those who seek to lead you astray. That's how our kind disappears. When they swim way too up. That's when the catcher comes." 

Everyone in Aquariumia had heard about the catcher. 

It looked like a wide leaf with tiny holes that let water through they said. Once a creature had been on it, the catcher would quickly rise up above the water as though being pulled by a strong force. Only the strongest had managed to free themselves from its traps. Many that had seen above the water said that huge grotesque-looking giants pulled it. 

The others that couldn't escape its traps had never been seen in the waters of Aquariumia again. 

The stories were told to scare the little ones from swimming way up. But they had the opposite effect on Shipo the fish. He wanted to know what was up there and beyond it. And so he swam up there to attract the catcher. 

"Those giants used to live in Aquariumia a long time ago," old Mr Turtle had told Shipo, "And then they stepped out of the water and their tail fins cut themselves into two. Now they don't swim. They thud around on two thin fins that have flattened at the bottom. They are very terrifying. I have seen them. They turned evil too. That's why they created the catcher to pull other fish and turn them into more of their kind. Listen to what we tell you little fish. You don't want to turn into them." 

This had intrigued Shipo even more. He wanted to find for himself. And so he had swum to the edges of their waters to find any creature that could tell him the easiest way to attract the catcher. 

He had tried many times to swim up when the bright light came and the food dropped but the catcher had not managed to grab him. He always came back disappointed and complained to his friend the turtle.

" Does it only catch the big ones? Am I too small?" he had asked him.

Belo had shrugged. He couldn't understand this annoying obsession of his friend. 

" Do you want to be caught by the catcher?" the Octopus had asked the little fish when he swam into his dark territory looking for answers. 

"Yes… yes …" the enthusiastic fish had answered. 

" Swallow a lot of water. It will make you float to the top of the waters. The giants with think you are dead and they will send the catcher. And there you will have what you are looking for. Be careful though. Too much of it and you will be truly dead." 

The little fish had thanked the octopus and had swum home on its way practising swallowing as much water as he could. He took caution. He wanted to see beyond the waters he lived in. Not to die. 

He did this for many days until he had figured it out. He would float higher each time. The next day, he would swallow just a little bit more, the catcher would get him and his adventures would begin. 

He had asked Belo to him help master it. On the day of the attempt, the two friends had bid each other goodbye not sure they were ever going to see each other again. 

The fish had swallowed as much water as he could and had floated. The catcher had caught him and was pulling him up. He could feel the water being sucked out of the large hollow leaf-like thing. He was jubilated. 

He then felt something large and slimy push his filled belly and a voice he could understand say, "This one's dead." 

The thing pressed once more. 

Water squirted out of the fish's mouth. His tail fin wiggled as he wrestled with the effects. The light was too bright which prevented him to see what surrounded him. He also couldn't breathe well enough. 

" Oh it's not dead," went the voice again, " It's swimming in the net."

"Put it back in the aquarium. It's too small for sale anyway," Another voice went. 

Shipo felt a huge force and he found himself back in the waters again. In no time, the catcher had released him and he was swimming back to his stones in the waters. He tried not to be disappointed. He had made a huge stride so far. 

" What's for sale?" he asked himself. " Net? That's what the catcher is called? And how could I understand the voices? The giants really were one of us years ago as Mr Turtle had said." 

The little fish had gone back even intrigued. He was going to find out what "for sale" was. And whatever it was, the next time he went up, he was determined to be big enough for it. 

His encounter had confirmed to him that there was another world outside of Aquariumia and now more than ever, he was determined to explore it someday.