A tiny blue fish and a tiny white fish wandered through the bright red coral reef, looking for something (anything) to do. Just like any other day, they quickly found something to occupy their time.
Along the coral, there were two fish in a lip-lock. One was a large green fish. The other was a large blue fish. Pogi nearly swam right between them before Ganda nudged him out of harm’s way.
“Why did you do that? They’re just kissing.
“No, Pogi! They’re fighting!”
Suddenly, the large blue fish nipped at the green fish and they locked lips again. When the large blue fish nipped again, the green fish backed away and hid in a nearby cave.
The blue fish went towards the cave and the green fish disappeared from side, headed towards Lower Wreck. When the large blue fish turned, his right eye was heavily scarred. It scared Pogi so much that Pogi swam towards the safety of Upper Wreck and Mack the Knife. Ganda Fish was just behind him.
“What’s wrong with the two of you?”
“We just saw this mean old blue fish with only one eye!”
“That must be Jack Dempsey…he’s a friendly fish,” stated Mack.
“He was fighting with a green fish in the coral reef.”
“That must’ve been one of the Green Terrors. They were probably stirring up trouble.”
”I thought Jack Dempsey was a fighter,” said Ganda.
“He used to be a fighter, but nowadays, he only gets upset when someone’s in his backyard.”
“Where is his backyard?” asked Pogi.
“In the coral reef,” replied Mack.
“Okay, we’ll keep that in mind,” said Ganda, “Let’s play hide-and-seek, Pogi.”
Ganda didn’t give it a second thought as she chased Pogi around Upper Wreck. The two small fish stayed out of the Hammerhead’s way and he stayed out of theirs. As long as they did that, everyone was happy.
After Ganda tagged Pogi, it was his turn to be ‘it’. As he circled Lower Wreck, he kept a steady eye on the coral reef. The One-Eyed Jack was nowhere to be found.
A white flash in the distance caught Pogi’s eye. It could’ve been Ganda, the beautiful Pearl-White Gourami, but it was not. It was the Jack Dempsey. A glimmer of sunlight hit the Jack Dempsey’s scales in just the right way. The silver-white reflection fooled Pogi Fish.
Pogi saw the fish swimming in the distance. The Fish disappeared into a tangle of seaweed and a water-logged tree. Pogi followed the Jack Dempsey. Ganda noticed Pogi and decided to sneak up and scare him.
Pogi scoured the seafloor, searching for Ganda Fish. He noticed a tail poking out of a hollow tree trunk. Pogi carefully swam into the other end, ready to tag Ganda. Ganda sneaked in behind him.
Inside the treek trunk, it was completely dark. In the darkness, he saw the large fish-shaped shadow. He darted up and poked the fish in the snout.
“Gotcha!” he shouted.
“Don’t you mean, ‘I have you?” growled the Jack. The old Jack Dempsey grabbed Pogi Fish by the lower lip, just as he did to the much larger Green Terror. Now Pogi Fish realized it wasn’t any kind of kiss at all.
“Yipes!” he screamed. With a sudden jerk he pulled free from the Jack. He bumped into Ganda Fish.
“Help!” cried Ganda.
“Oh no!” shouted Pogi.
In all actuality, the one-eyed Jack was shocked by all the noise inside the hollow trunk. His good eye grew wide as he focused on the two fish. Pogi could only see the scary eye. He tried escaping, but Ganda blocked his way.
“Let me go! Let me go! Please, please, please don’t eat me!” said Pogi.
Everyone escaped from he darkness of the tree trunk. Pogi and Ganda’s shouts attracted plenty of attention. Even Mack made his way to the spot where the three fish met.
“What’s all the commotion?” asked the old Hammerhead.
“You tell me,” grumbled Jack.
“You tried to have me for dinner!” exclaimed Pogi Fish.
“You were inside my tree trunk!” argued the Jack. His normally blue face reddened in anger.
“We’re you in Jack’s tree?” asked Mack.
“I was, but I didn’t know it was his.”
“You should watch where you’re going. That’s no excuse.”
“How was he supposed to know, Jack?” asked the Hammerhead.
“I suppose you’re right,” agreed Jack. His face turned from angry red to a shade of calm blue.
“I apologize, Mr. Jack,” said Pogi
“Me, too,” added Ganda.
“I’m sorry, too. I just don’t like people invading my home.”
“None of us do,” said Mack.
“We’ll make sure never to do it again, Mr. Jack.”
“You don’t have to call me Mr. Jack, kid.”
“Yes, sir,” replied the tiny blue Acara.
The Jack Dempsey gave Pogi Fish a wink with his one good eye and grinned at the two tiny fishes.
“If you ever need anything, you let me know, alright, kid?”
“If you know Louie the Cat and his gang, we could use help with them.”
“Sure thing, kid. I’m the reason you never see them in Upper Wreck.”
The old Hammerhead cleared his throat.
“I guess Mack has something to do with that, also.”
“But Jack Dempsey used to be one of the meanest fighters in the sea.”
“I can still give Louie and his boys a good rope-a-dope,” said Jack. He curled his fins into fists and made boxing motions. That was enough for Pogi and Ganda. Now they had two friends to keep them safe.
Jack even played hide-and-go-seek with the two tinier fish. Unfortunately, he was larger and slower. That only meant one thing. The two smaller fish had thousands of places to hide. When Jack did find either of them, he often could get into the places only the tiny fish could go.Still, he had a grand time with his two little fishy friends. And that was just alright with the one-eyed Jack.
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MORAL: Appearances can be deceiving.
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