A Fish Tale

SIDE BY SIDE

A Fish Tale

Cheryce Berg

Once upon a time, there was an empty space in Kids’ Harbor. But one day, a big glass box arrived for the empty space. It was carefully lifted on top of a black cabinet, filled with gravel and gallons of water and blasted with bubbles. Then it was lonely for many days because the water was being made perfect for…

Fish! Just a few at first, and they were called “test fish.” Their job was to test the water. They didn’t get names because when the water wasn’t perfect yet, some of them…

…went to fish heaven and the crabs on the bottom ate what was left of them. Kids’ Harbor was sad.

But the happy fish got coral reefs and plants to hide and play in yummy fish food. And the kids and the teachers and the workers in Kids’ Harbor waited lots of days for…

More fish! Colorful fish! They arrived one by one with the Fish Doc, Mr. Matt. Mr. Matt brought the fish in water in little bags in little boxes in bigger boxes

in a red truck. He put them in the big glass box on top of the black cabinet filled with gravel and water and bubbles and reefs. He gave them toy jellyfish to play with and more fish food. And most of them were very happy, except for the ones who weren’t…

…who went to fish heaven and the crabs on the bottom ate what was left of them.

One day before Christmas, something scary happened and all the fish almost went to fish heaven. The feeder was broken down, the bubbles stopped bubbling and the fish were gasping for air at the top. But thankfully God helped the workers to notice and call Mr. Matt the Fish Doc who raced to the rescue. He fixed the feeder and the bubbler, and the fish loved him for it.

And then came Valentine’s Day when the fish were ready for names because they were very happy in Kids’ Harbor. So there was a big contest where kids thought of fishy names and the favorite names were picked by the workers. The winners were given candy and special crowns that said, “Champion Fish Namer.”

Scooter, named by Eliza Clark, is the Clown Fish boy. Tangerine, named by Zavian Shirley, is the Clown Fish girl. They have stripes of black, white and yelloworange. Scooter and Tangerine have a famous relative named Nemo, who is in the movies.

Oona

Oona, named by Celia Maurer, is the Three-Stripe Damsel, who wears stripes of black and white. Oona used to be afraid and hide in the coral, but now she is not afraid anymore of the kids who peek in the glass box.

Sherbet

Sherbet, named by Justus Atchison, is the Royal Gamma, and he is shades of purple, fuchsia, orange and yellow. He is an acrobat who likes to swim sideways or even upside down because God made him to swim in tiny openings in caves.

Gary

Gary, named by Piper Panner, is the Goby Fish boy, and Sophia Speedy, named by Sebastian Moore, is the Goby Fish girl. Both are long, white fish vacuum cleaners. They gulp up dirty gravel and spit it back out clean and sparkly. Everyone needs a Goby or two.

Big Al

Big Al, named by Becca Roe, is the Sailfin Tang, who is big and flat with black and white stripes, a yellow tail and who can change colors when he wants to. He was bullied in his other home and so came to Kids’ Harbor so his scars could heal. He is now all better and happy.

Squiggle

Squiggle, named by Josiah Herr, is the Starfish who is green and likes to hide. He only comes out to eat the brine shrimp feast.

And then there are Crabs, who eat yukky things on the bottom and don’t have names but are still appreciated for their hard work.

Speaking of eating, have you seen the brine shrimp feast yet? You can watch it if you come by the big glass box on Sunday morning around 9:15 am. All the fish get excited and wiggle swim all over.

Mr. Matt the Fish Doc has more fish waiting to come to their new home in Kids’ Harbor: a blue Dory, a yellow tang and an angel fish. They will come when it is warm enough for them to travel in their little bags in little boxes in bigger boxes in a red truck. We will give them names, too…

…and they will all live happily ever after in the big glass box in Kids’ Harbor.