Fin Deep

      FIN DEEP


         Eat. Eat. Eat. Swim. Find Food. Swim…

         A fish’s thoughts aren’t often chaotic. They do not seem to suffer from the bouts of insanity that mammals sometimes do. In the grand scheme of things, fish are fairly simpleminded, only thinking about such things as eating, swimming, and possibly breeding, if an attractive member of the opposite sex is present. This particular fish was not unlike any other, and he would surely live out his days thinking these singular thoughts without a care in the world.

         He was a large mouth bass, though he didn’t know it, and he had no name. On this day, as with every other day, he was swimming in his cool lake, searching for crabs, worms, and of course, smaller fish. He had already eaten a crayfish, two small crabs, and a minnow when he came upon the fat pink earthworm. The bass swam over to it, then stopped as he had an uncharacteristic shift in thought, from Eat to Wait!  Caution is an unfamiliar concept for the bass, but he watched carefully as the worm squirmed, twisting this way and that, always moving, but never going anywhere. It seemed strange that a worm could hover in the water, but after watching it, the bass forgot all about his momentary distrust and opened his large mouth, sucking the worm in. He crushed it in his mouth and sucked on the juices, preparing to swim away and find other morsels, when another thought suddenly struck the bass- Pain! Pain! Pain!- The worm had somehow stabbed him in the throat! He tried to spit it out, but it was just a piece of torn flesh.   
       
            The fish’s throat and gills burned, and he tried desperately to turn and swim away to safety, but something was pulling him back, something was somehow caught inside his mouth and was dragging him through the water. The bass was terrified and struggled valiantly, but with every thrash, the pain in his throat and mouth intensified. He decided to stop fighting and let his invisible attacker waste their own energy pulling him along. Suddenly, he was yanked out of the water and flung skyward. The bass thrashed in pain and horror, wishing somehow he could look away from the sight before him. As he hung in the air by his mouth, he saw strange creatures, much bigger than he, with no fins and strange, catfish like barbels on their heads and faces. They had square white teeth, which they bared at each other. One of them grabbed the bass by the gill and reached inside his mouth. The pain swelled and then burst, and the strange pink creature pulled a shiny, curved bone from the fish’s body and held him up for the other creatures to see. They bared their teeth at him and he thrashed again, hoping he could make the creature drop him. His only thought now was Breathe! Breathe! Breathe!  His mind was beginning to dull, body growing weak and powerless. He hung there in the air and watched the creatures show their teeth and communicate in their ugly language, and now his body was screaming at him BREATHE!  But he couldn’t seem to force any air through his gills. Dying. Dying. Dying…

         Suddenly, the bass was back in the water, gills flashing as he breathed, deep and fast. He was very confused about what had happened, but very happy to be alive and swimming. After a few moments, he felt normal again, and an ache in his throat was the  only reminder of his ordeal. He swam a few feet away and saw a fat earthworm hanging in the water. For some reason, he felt trepidation about the worm, but after watching it squirm, twisting this way and that, the bass forgot about his initial distrust and opened his wide mouth, sucking the worm in.
         Eat. Eat. Eat…