A Day Of Schooling

These Twelve Will Never Forget

A Day of Schooling

Mr. and Mrs. Fish usually stayed in the center of the pool. The water was deep, calm, and had a slow-moving current. It was shaded by a gnarled oak tree that was showing its age. It had many leaf-filled branches that shaded the pool from the hot sun, keeping it cool. The base of the majestic oak was of great thickness, and because it entered the soil at the water's edge, its roots formed a tangled maze that harbored small fish and animals near the shore. At the edge where the water was shallower, the sun's rays gently warmed the water to a comfortable temperature in the morning. Little fish, minnows, and other small animals could come here in the morning to find bugs to eat or soak in the warmth.

On this particular morning, Mr. and Mrs. Fish and family were at the edge of the pool, receiving and enjoying the warmth of the morning sun. Mr. and Mrs. Fish were two average-sized bullheads. They are bullheads and could be proud of their slick golden brown skin. They could also be proud of their long whiskers, which would waver when they swam with short thrusts of their relatively small but powerful tail. They could also stop quickly and easily with their side fins and tails. They also had strong, sharp spikes on their side fins and a top fin that might be used to defend themselves. Mr. Fish, being masculine and a little older, was more prominent, more robust, and broader across the shoulders than Mrs. Fish with her long, slender feminine lines. Mrs. Fish, even though a bullhead, was not as bullheaded as Mr. Fish.

The rest of their family, which they called their Mellow Minnows, their little ones, numbered only twelve, but Mr. and Mrs. Fish were very proud of them, and this day, they had something essential to tell their little ones.

“Last night, your Father and I had a talk," said Mrs. Fish. to her attentive minnows, "We have decided that it is time for you to learn the dangers in your life,"

“Danger! What dangers? We have not seen anything that looked dangerous,” said one little minnow.

“Yes, we know we have taken you, so far, only to the safer places of the pool.”

“Why have you only taken us to the safer places of the pool?” inquired another small minnow.

“Well, it's like this. We wanted you to be old enough to learn of the dangers before you encounter them, " their mother said in her kind, loving voice.

“Today, you are going to have your first lesson,” said Mr. Fish. “First, don’t think that you know all there is about this pool you are swimming in.. You need more experience to be well qualified and know how to keep out of danger. Go by our judgment or by the judgment of others more experienced and not by what just anyone you may meet on your travels tells you. They may not know the right way. Are there any question?”

“No,” they all bubbled together.

“Now, just following the first rule is not enough. You will have to follow other rules also," continued Mr. Fish. "Whenever you are around the places where Sharp Tooth the Turtle, Mr. Slithers the Snake, Long Bill Bird, or Shadow the Fisherman may be, always be careful of them. They are your enemies and are dangerous. They would like to catch you and eat you.”

“What do these enemies look like and where do they live? I want to know so I can stay away from them," inquired one of the less brave of the minnows as a shiver went from his head to his tail.

Mr. Fish continued his lecture as the little school gathered in close. “Mr. Sharp Tooth is a giant reptile that is relatively flat with broad shoulders with a hard bony green and brown colored shell. He sticks his head out of his shell, and in his mouth are his sharp teeth.”

When the little minnows heard this, a shiver ran down all their bodies, making their tails wiggle.

Since Mr. Fish had their attention, he again continued his lesson. “You may see Mr. Sharp Tooth in shallow water, the deep water or you might see him sunning himself on a log. He has strong jaws and long claws. He may seem slow but he can hide and then quickly bite what is near him.”

“Now Mr. Slithers is different. He has a long, round wiggle body with beady eyes and sharp powerful jaws. You may see him any place but he is usually near the top of the water or on the bank. He is very fast and tricky so be extremely careful around him.”

“Long Bill Bird is a creature that lives in the space above. You will see him when he and his shadow dives for the water, swooping up just in time to skim the water but still have time to get what he was after. You may see him almost anywhere and he comes so fast you must be very quick to see him and get out of the way of this always hungry intruder.”

“The fisherman is just about the strangest of all the dangers you will meet. Sometimes he tries to catch the larger fish like us, but at other times he sets traps for the little ones like you. This means that you have to contend with him all your life and not just while you are little like you do with Long Bill Bird and Mr. Slithers. Usually you can tell if the fisherman is around because you can either feel the vibrations from his very awkward movement on the bank or you can see his shadow. If you ever do see the shadow, follow the Leaders Code which is. 'If you see him, call out shadow.' Also, never play with or bite on his bait for even some of us larger fish get caught in doing so."

Mr. Fish swallowed hard and said, "In closing your lessons, just remember to always keep your wits about you and always be alert. If you follow all these lessons, I believe you will have no trouble staying out of trouble with the dangers of the pool. Now, because you were such good, listening students, we will let you do something special. Would you like to tell them what it is, Mrs. Fish?"

“Yes, I would, Mr. Fish, We are going to let you, my Little Ones, join the school like you have been wanting to.”

“Oh boy, we are sure going to have fun now.” Said one thrilled minnow.

“There is just one word of caution we would like to give you. Whether at work or at play keep your eyes open and it will be a safe day. And now be off with you and have a good but safe time.”

“Oh, thank you, Mother, dear. We will always remember your words. Goodbye." And with that, all 12 of them swished away to find the big school.

Now that the little ones had gone to find the school, a tear came to the eyes of Mrs. Fish, for she knew from the experience of past years that even after being warned about the dangers, the little ones that just swam away would not remember the words that were spoken to them when they are at play. So Mr. and Mrs. Fish now swim slowly away from the warm shallow water into the deeper, cooler water of the pool, where they will stay thinking of their little ones.

By this time, the little ones had caught up with the school, which was starting its daily rounds of the feeding stations. The school sometimes called these places in the pool where food was usually abundant.

In just a little time after joining the rest of the little minnows in the school, they were just like one big happy family. This school was a company or group of about a hundred minnows. All were playing with each other when not eating anything they could find. Some would chase each other, some played tricks on others, and some played hide and seek. One of the school minnows started a joke that turned out to be wrong. This one would yell "shadow" and then laugh when he would see all the minnows fearfully dash for shelter. After a few times of doing this, the minnows no longer sought cover, so his little game was over.

One of the minnows was a little boisterous and teased the others into going on a daring excursion. They were swimming where Sharp Tooth the Turtle lived. He said, "I will show you how to be brave. I will swim around him just to show you that I am not afraid of him and that he isn't as dangerous as everybody thinks him to be."

When the school came to where the turtle lived, they saw Sharp Tooth the Turtle in his regular place. He seemed to be sleeping and didn't look dangerous. Just as the minnow that said he would swim around him came close to it, the turtle woke up. When Sharp Tooth saw that the little minnow was within reach, he quickly stretched out his neck and snatched the minnow with his sharp teeth. After swallowing the first one, he dashed after the rest of the school, but because they saw what had happened to that one, they were already swimming away in fright.

They soon forgot what had happened to the first one and continued playing games and eating as if nothing had happened. They again needed to remember to be careful and alert, but they were not watching. Finally, the school was tired of the deep water and decided to come closer to the surface.

When one minnow saw small ripples on the top of the water, he asked another nearby, "What is causing the ripples in the water?"

The one nearby hadn't listened very closely in school, so he didn't know it could be Mr. Slithers. He laughed it off and said, "On, I don't care what it is. It is probably just a breeze blowing across the pool."

The first one said, "If it was a breeze, it would ripple all the water over the pool."

“Oh, I don’t care what it is. I’m sure that it is nothing to be bothered about.”

Did the last one say it was nothing to be bothered about? He would not have said that if he had known what was above them, for above them following the school was old, hungry Mr. Slithers. He saw the carefree minnows and decided picking one from the school for lunch would be easy.

When Mr. Slithers thought the time was right, he swiftly descended into the midst of the school, attacking the closest one with his mouth wide open.

A small group separated as the minnows dashed headlong away from the intruding party. They thought they were lucky and would not be hurt. Soon, they forgot about the excitement and became easygoing and carefree again.

Among this small group were the 12 little ones of Mr. and Mrs. Fish. Here again, the little ones needed to remember the words of Mr. and Mrs. Fish. They were not alert. Usually, during this time of day, Long Bill Bird craved young minnows. Today was not any different. He was circling above the pool, looking for some unsuspecting minnows. The ones he sighted were the group that the 12 were in. After circling once more, he rapidly dived after his prey. Long Bill Bird did not select the little ones, but they were freighted and quickly swam away to safety. They would think of the words of their Mother and father but would soon forget to be alert, just like the times before, and went on playing.

Cousin Carp had seen what had just happened, and because she could see the little ones were not alert, she went to find Mr. Fish to tell him. After learning of the danger that his little ones had been in, he got Mrs. Fish, and they started looking for the 12.

They figured the little ones would still not be as careful as all minnows should. They were not hurt when chased by Sharp Tooth, nor when Mr. Slithers separated them from the school. They also thought they were lucky not to be the chosen prey of Long Bill Bird. But they could still be in great danger.

Mr. and Mrs. Fish decided that after all the workouts their Little Ones had in escaping from dangers, they would be hungry, so they went looking for them in places with plenty of food. After looking in part of the pool, they decided to try to look for them in the smaller flowing channel where there was usually plenty of food. Upon swimming here, they came upon a sight that made them terrified. Thereupon, the channel floor was a glass jar, which was not unusual, but what they saw in it, and the shadow they saw caused them to fear. In the clear jar were their little ones, trapped by the fisherman whose shadow fell across the channel floor.

With the quick thinking of Mr. Fish and the even faster planning of Mrs. Fish, they decided on their following actions. They knew every fisherman always had his eyes out for some of the average-sized bullheads and acted accordingly. They swam within full view of the fisherman, hoping that what could happen did happen. When the fisherman saw these two, the excited fisherman quickly picked up the jar with the trapped little ones and started towards the larger bullheads. As the fisherman did this, he lost his footing on the slick rocks and fell, letting the jar fall. The little ones' prison broke, setting them free.

Then, Mr. and Mrs. Fish and the little ones quickly swam past the wet fisherman and headed to the safety of the deep pool.

That evening, the little ones were hushed. They felt very embarrassed about their actions that day, for they had not been alert like Mr. Fish had taught them.

As darkness settled in, Mrs. Fish asked them, "Would you rest better if you told me what you are thinking?"

“Yes, I think we would, but we did not know how to tell you how sorry we were about not practicing what you taught us about the dangers of the pool," spoke the leader.

“Oh, Mother, we will never go against your word ever again," blubbered all twelve of them, being very sorry minnows confessing their wrongdoings.

From then on, the little minnows always did what they were taught until last weekend when one was caught by a fisherman on his line just 10 years after their day of schooling.

“Do you know how I know all this? I was the fisherman and the fish I caught told me their story.”

Larry E. Whittington

The above was taken from a handwritten note on unlined paper in pencil. The penmanship is mine, but I do not remember when or where it was written. It is a made-up story, as can be seen. I may not have been able to read all of it because of the faded writing; I just filled in what it may have originally looked like. I am curious to know if this story was a school assignment or if I was writing something at the time. I will never know.

I need to edit this work to make it more appropriate for young children when read to them by their parents.

An English teacher might have her/his class make corrections and changes (edits) suitable for a shorter story for young children. I would keep my name with the edits by the student's name. Permission was granted on 12/20/2024.LEW

Larry E. Whittington