Sharks and Fish

FOWC with Fandango — Disruption

” This is our pond, our lake, our stream this body of water is belongs to us, ” said the fish who could swim around all day and not see another fish unless they wanted to- which they never did because in this little story the fish are only concerned with their own little body of water.

However, if they did swim into another fish it was super helpful to all concerned if you were swimming in the same direction.

Life was good when nobody made a ripple in the cool smooth universe where they lived.

“Chill” said the fish,” just chill the heck out. Read a book, sniff some flowers close your eyes and think of England. Do something but quit being so loud.” they told their disruptive neighbors- the whales and dolphins were the noisiest I’ve been told.

They always had something to complain about and they had been doing it almost forever, swore the fish. Seriously. How many times did they have to listen to them complain?

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“This might be your pond, your lake or even your ocean,” said the sharks but we don’t care about your feelings we could care less about what you think or want and if you swim anywhere near us we will eat you and your family and if we hear one peep out of you about why we are making ripples in your pond, we will spit you out and eat you again.”

The sharks had no patience for the fish who just wanted to get through the day without creating a ripple in their pond, their lake or their patch of ocean.

Some sharks die if they stop moving- and that is science. So sharks make lots of ripples and I’m sure that the ones who don’t die if they stop moving make ripples for the Hell of it because they’re sharks and it makes fish who don’t like random ripples mad.

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And above the fish, near the sharks and listening to the noise coming up from water was the sky.

It got tired of all the bickering and bloviating sharks and fish so

it stomped it’s foot, shook it’s fist and shocked them all.

Grandpop’s Lantern

Pixabay at Pexels

Fandango’s Flash Fiction Challenge #71-

It was at the end of Summer and Grandpop and I were in the gardening shed in his backyard.

The shed was full of well maintained gardening tools and terracotta planters and a collection of garden gnomes sitting on shelves and under the potting table.

Sitting in the center of the table top was a lantern and for a second I thought it had already by lit because it was shining, just a little.

Grandpop saw me eyeing the lantern and out of nowhere he tells me that he leaves a lantern hanging from a tree in the front yard so that Nan could find her way back from the Spirit world on the anniversary of her death and that he hopes after he is gone I will do the same.

He promised her that one small thing and if you made a promise to Nan you had better keep it.

I said I wasn’t on board with that because Grandma was all teeth and yelling and her eyes- wow, when she was mad they burned.

” I don’t know Grandpop, she was a handful when she was alive. How am I supposed to manage her now that she’s dead and in a bad mood to boot? I mean, Grandpops, I love you and most of the time I loved her but it took a sniper and a Priest to take her down.”

Grandpop reached for the lantern on the table and he put his other hand on my shoulder, patted it and took it away. ” Truer words about your Nan were never spoken , and that’s why I hang the lantern in other people’s yards.”

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