Once Upon A Time

September 2009

Once upon a time, there was Little Fish. She lived among her fish family in a shallow and winding river, which was running through fields and woods, bringing its fresh water to many small villages, settled down on its high banks. During warm summertime, when the sun was high in the sky and pleasant breeze was barely touching the cool waters of the river, Little Fish played with her mates the whole daylong. Her favorite thing ever was to jump high above the sparkling clean water, to take a look at the bright and colorful world above it, and to sink down to the very bottom of the shallow river. In the winter, the river became frozen and Little Fish fell asleep for a few months until the time when the warm sun melted the ice in the spring and the river was freed to run joyfully through the blooming fields once again.

One winter, Little Fish had a dream about a wide-open water, its mysterious depths and about strong winds blowing above it. She saw herself being in this water, jumping far above it and seeing no end to it.

When Little Fish woke up from her sleep in the spring, she couldn't get the dream out of her head. She kept thinking about the wide-open water, the exciting and fascinating life she would live there. After a while, she decided to go and see her mother, whom she shared her thoughts with and asked for an advice.

“It seems to me, sweetie, as if you have already made up your mind. You know what you want. If you think that you have to leave the shallow river to be happy, here is my blessing. Just keep in mind that no matter what, you are always welcomed here for this is your home.” – Said Fish Mother and kissed her daughter good-bye.

Upset and excited at the same time, Little Fish bade farewell to the rest of her fish family and friends and swam down the shallow river. She followed her dream, which, just like a northern star, led her to the water she longed for. After many days and nights, Little Fish finally got to the great blue ocean.

Her heart jumped with joy as she rushed into the endless waters laying in front of her. She sank deep down, to the very bottom of the ocean, and shot up to its very heights, breaking through its surface and seeing nothing but the sky, blue as the ocean itself.

But after a while, when her initial excitement cooled down a bit, she sensed that there was something wrong. For some reason, she felt uneasy, out of the balance, in a way. She was looking for an explanation, but she couldn't find one. It seemed as if she has got everything she ever dreamed about, but in spite of that, it didn’t feel right. There was the whole ocean to swim in, but for some reason she felt as if its waters were closing down on her. There was the whole bunch of juicy seaweed to eat but it tasted awfully bitter and salty to her. She got playmates, but she looked so different from her new pals that she never felt like she was one of them. Little Fish did her best to adapt, to change herself to fit into the new environment but it didn't work out. She was aimlessly swimming around in the blue waters, until she finally told herself: “I suppose, everyone got its own place in life and mine is the one where I was born. I probably should give up the ocean and come back into the shallow river.”

She sighed and decided to swim around for a bit longer, just to say good-bye to the wide-open water she fell in love with so much, and to her life here. She felt uneasy for she knew that now, after having a taste of a wide open water life, living in the shallow river won't feel right, either.

Sad and deep in her thoughts, she was wandering around, glancing at the unwelcoming waters of the ocean for the last time when she heard someone talking to her.

“Why are you so sad, Little Fish?”

She turned around and saw an old and wise catfish, who was looking at her with curiosity and concern. Little Fish came closer and told him her story. When she finished, the old catfish looked at her kindly and said: “My dear child, have you ever thought that instead of giving up your dream of the wide open waters, leaving the salty ocean and going back to the shallow river, you should consider a fresh water lake to look for?”

“A fresh water lake? What is it?” – She asked, for she had no clue of what it was.

The catfish smiled into its whiskers.

“A fresh water lake is something that can be as great as this ocean, but it feels as comfortable as the shallow river you came from for there is no salt in its waters.”

“Salt?”

“Yes, my dear child, salt. Something that this ocean is full of. Something that makes it no good for you.”

Little Fish felt like the weight of the whole world was lifted up off her shoulders. At once, everything became so clear and simple to her. She hearty thanked the old and wise catfish and joyfully headed to the wide-open waters of the great fresh-water lake up on the north.