The Fish

• Jackson Crawford, Grade 6
• Short Story
• 2017

"What?"
"Yes, I tell the truth," assured Phillerman. It was Sunday morning, at the beautiful Hsif Bay. Phillerman once again assured Sfih "Yes, there is a fish bigger than your head."
"Well is it bigger than my dog?"
"Bigger."
"As big as my house?"
"Still bigger."
"As big as the earth?"
"So much bigger."
"As big as the universe?"
"Bigger."
Sfih was getting sick of this, anyway, a fish that big couldn't exist, so he asked "Show me this fish." And so off they went to see this fish bigger than the universe.
"Here it is!" Phillerman announced as they went into his house. It was tiny, not even as big as Sfih's foot. It just swam around in a little tank, no, a fish bowl.
"Really?"
"Well, aren't you amazed?"
"Why would I be amazed, that fish is so tiny?”
"No, but if you look at it through that magic machine I accidentally invented, it grows, and grows, until it's bigger than the universe!"
Sfih walked towards it, but still thinking "How can this tiny fish be so big?" When he reached the machine, it was very disappointing. All you could see was a cardboard tube, with a magnifying glass stuck through it.
Sfih looked in, and the fish was so big, he could see the most minor features, like the placement of its gills! Of course he knew why.
Phillerman asked "Do you see now how big my fish is?"
"No," and with that he went back down to Hsif Bay.
Back down at Hsif Bay, the sun was setting, he had lost track of time, and remembered - the fishing festival was tomorrow!
The fishing festival happened every summer on the island of Laroc every first Monday. The one to catch the biggest fish won $1,000,000. Sfih could use the money to buy the new deluxe fishing rod, the Plek!
"The Plek, it's the newest in fishing technology! Need a drink? It has a pre-installed cup-holder! Want a gourmet meal? It acts as a deluxe coupon which gives you free food at the wonderful Htac restaurant! It's what you use to do anything!"
This was the ad which lured Sfih into wanting a Plek, Sfih had never had a cup holder on his fishing rod, or a trip to a gourmet restaurant for free!
Now Sfih was down by the bay again, with his good old trusty, award winning fishing rod, he had owned ever since he was a little boy. He named it Hifs! He liked Hifs, because it was original, and it actually was the reverse of his name. The first fish he caught was a shark, a hammerhead!
It was Monday now, and he had a giant fish weighing in at a good 1000kg! He had to order a bulldozer to bring it in! In the end, he realised, he could catch a fish this big, with his fishing rod, and he didn't need that silly fishing rod, named 'Plek'!