What seemed to be just another ordinary day turned out to be just that – and a little bit more. It began as it always did: Mama Fish woke all of her children. Then, they gathered in the Acara Cave, where Papa Fish fed them chum.
“Ma? Would it be alright if I went fishing in the coral reef today?”
“Why do you want to go there?”
“I was thinking it would be nice to do something different today.”
“Are you going alone?” asked Mama Fish.
“I’ll be taking Ganda Fish,” said Pogi.
“An Acara and a Gourami? As long as you two stay together and make sure to look out for one another, I don’t see anything wrong with a trip to the coral reef.”
“Yippee!” said Pogi Fish.
“Just make sure to be careful,” reminded his mother.
Pogi Fish met Ganda Fish at their regular fishing spot near Upper Wreck. And, as usual, they went ‘crab-herding’ together. Today, Pogi would be the shepherd and the Ganda would be the trapper.
“Follow me, I have an idea!” announced Pogi.
“Where are we going?”
“It’s a surprise. Close your eyes and take my fin.”
“Alright,” agreed Ganda.
She extended a fin and closed her eyes. Pogi Fish dragged her through the warm currents near the coral reef.
“Ta-da!” announced Pogi, “Open your eyes.”
“What’s the surprise?” asked Ganda Fish.
“This is it, right here.”
“Oh,” said Ganda Fish.
“You don’t like it?” asked Pogi.
“No, it’s fine,” replied Ganda.
After they found a crab, Pogi swam back and forth, blocking the crab’s escape. With each pass, he moved closer to the crab. Meanwhile, the crab held out his claws as he backed towards Ganda. Pogi made one last pass. The crab raised his claw, timing it just right. With a quick snap, he pinched Pogi’s underbelly.
“Yow!” shouted Pogi.
Ganda rushed to Pogi’s aid, disregarding the crab altogether. While she did, the crab made a hasty retreat, escaping to a nearby hide-out.
“Are you okay?”
“Not really. Look at my tummy.”
Pogi pointed to his belly. The crab-grab left a large reddish-blue bruise.
“Does it hurt?”
“Does it ever!” moaned Pogi.
“What do you want to do?” asked Ganda Fish.
“Let’s hunt for something a little less aggressive,” suggested Pogi.
“Like what?”
“I could go for some shrimp.”
“Me, too,” replied Ganda.
Pogi had enough of fighting with two-clawed crabs for today. Instead, he set his sights on the tiny clawless shrimp. He and Ganda scoured the coral reef, looking for the tiny pink shrimp. Finally, they found a school of shrimp, laying lazily on the sea floor.
“There they are!” pointed Pogi.
He swam towards the shrimp. Before he even got close, they swooshed their tails and jetted safely away. Now, they rested a few meters away from the tiny Acara. He approached them again. Again, they fanned their tails untl they were well out of reach.
“Wait up!” Pogi called to the shrimp.
One of the shrimp stretched the long pods that held his eyes, peering over rocks and coral.
“I see you over there!” said Pogi.
Air bubbles came out of the tiny shrimps mouth.
“Do you see that? He’s laughing at us!” exclaimed Pogi.
“Let’s try something else,” suggested Ganda Fish.
“But I want shrimp for lunch. I want it more than ever.”
“It looks like the shrimp are not interested in being lunch. And as the Old Monkfish always says, ‘You can’t have dinner if dinner can’t be had.’”
“What do you suggest we do, then?”
“How about we catch seahorses?” said Ganda.
“Seahorses? Bleck! Why not just eat coral?”
“It was just a suggestion,” said Ganda Fish, “How about we try clams?”
“Hmmm. Clams might be good,” said Pogi.
In no time, they found clams, sitting along the sea floor, just like the shrimp. Unlike the shrimp, however, clams did not have tails. ‘This should be easier’, thought Pogi.
The two little fish searched the entire coral reef.
“Maybe they don’t live near coral,” said Ganda.
She led the expedition towards Upper Wreck. Still, they did not spot even one clam. They ran into the Old Hammerhead, who was circling Upper Wreck.
“What are you two up to today?” asked Mack.
“We’re hunting for clams, but can’t find any,” replied Pogi.
“Where have you been digging?”
“What do you mean?”
“Clams bury themselves in the sand.”
“They do?” asked Ganda Fish.
Mack plowed the T-bone of his snout into the soft sea floor and shoveled the sand with his nose. As he jerked backwards, a half-dozen small black shells floated freely in the sea. With puffs of air, the clams ‘swam’ around. Pogi and Ganda each approached a clam. Pogi opened his jaw, trying to fit his mouth around the clam.
“This isn’t working,” said Ganda.
“I know…” Pogi sighed.
They had not caught a thing. Pogi was beginning to get upset.
“How about we just nibble on some seaweed?” said Ganda.
“Seaweed? That’s perfectly ordinary.”
“It just wasn’t our day,” said Ganda.
“But I wanted to make it special.”
“It was perfect,” replied Ganda.
“How can you say that? We didn’t even catch crabs. We ALWAYS catch crabs. Today was perfectly ordinary.”
“That’s what made it so special! It was extra-ordinary!” beamed Ganda Fish, “You got in a fight with a crab…”
“And I lost.”
“And then we watched the seahorses…”
“We watch seahorses every day,” replied Pogi.
“Then we learned how to hunt for clams…”
“We didn’t catch any of those either.”
“So we got to eat seaweed.”
“Plain old every-day seaweed,” mumbled Pogi.
“Yes, but I got to do it with you, and that was very fun for me. Wasn’t it fun for you?”
Pogi thought about his best friend said to him. He realized she was right. He smiled and she winked.
“See? It’s not the food that we eat or even if we eat any food. It’s the fact that we’re doing it together. That’s what counts most.”“You’re right, as always, Ganda Fish,” nodded Pogi. Pogi and Ganda went to their separate caves to enjoy dinners with the same old ordinary fish they spent every day with. For Pogi Fish, that was just fine.
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MORAL: With true friends...even water drunk together is sweet enough – Indian Proverb
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