The Fish

• Darcy Barlow, Grade 7
• Short Story
• 2017

Oliver sat, waiting, the boat he was in rocking slightly. “Come on, come on…” he thought. He concentrated hard on getting it on exactly the right time and… “Splash!” the fish jumped up, and Oliver clicked the button. Perfect! A great shot. The camera had got it perfectly.

“I did it!” Oliver shouted! “That’s nice dear.” said his mother. “What were you going to do again?” “I told you mum,” said Oliver. “I was going out to get a picture of the spotted giraffe fish.” “I keep telling you, honey, it’s not real!” Said his mum. “Then look at this!” said Oliver. He showed his mum the picture. She stared at it for a while, then said “I didn’t know the spotted giraffe fish looked so plastic.” “What?!?” shouted Oliver. “That is the most legitimate picture I have ever taken!” “Looks like you’ve taken ton of fake photos.” “Fine then.” Said Oliver. “If I’m not back by midnight, forget I ever existed.

He sat by the river. The line was as still as a sleeping sloth. His snoring was worse than a warthog eating steak. There was a tug. The snoring stopped. Another tug. One of Oliver’s eyelid’s crept open. Another tug. Oliver jumped up, screaming the war cry he was learning at school. He ripped the line through the water. He flung the line up, and grabbed the fish out of the air…. and tripped into the lake. He splashed a bit, the started to calm down and tried to touch the bottom of the lake. He couldn’t feel it. He started to swim back to shore. The water was pulling him back. He couldn’t move. He felt something grab on to his leg. He turned around. There was seaweed tied to his leg. “Whew” he thought. “I thought maybe a sea monster had grabbed me. How stupid am I.” He chuckled. Something rose from out of the water.

Back at the house it was 11pm. Oliver’s mum sat in her armchair waiting. The grandfather clock in the hallway chimed like Big Ben except a lot smaller. Suddenly, she heard a scream. She stood up and listened. Another scream. She knew it was Oliver’s. She flung the door open and got in the car. The lake wasn’t very far away, maybe she’d be able to make it in time. She turned on the car and drove as fast as possible.

Oliver was being pulled under the water. The thing was violent. It seemed to hate him. Oliver’s mum spotted the splashing coming from the water. She dived in, calling “Ollie, I’m coming!” She swam towards the splashing and groped around. She found Oliver’s arm and pulled but the thing fought back. Eventually, Oliver’s mum won the tug of war. She pulled him out of the water. “Are you ok?” she asked.
“Yes” he said. “Look”. He opened his hand and inside was a tiny spotted giraffe fish. Oliver smiled. “Told you.”