Big Fish, Little Pond

Big Fish, Little Pond

Out in the country there was a little pond.

Living in the pond were many fish, growing fish, small fish, striped fish, and catfish.

The biggest fish in the pond was the wisest of them all.

When any fish had a question, they went to the big fish for the answer. Growing fish showed off how they were growing, and how fast they could swim. The big fish was happy for them.

Small fish happily learned new things from the big fish’s experiences.

Striped fish sometimes needed advice. The big fish had plenty of advice.

Catfish stayed close to the bottom but listened to the big fish when he told them about what it was like at the surface of the pond. Some thought it sounded good, some did not. Everyone was happy with how things were going. They were free to move around the pond and explore.

Then, one day, the big fish started to wonder.

“What would it be like if the pond was bigger?” He had no answers for that question. He had never even seen a really big pond.

The next time the farmer had friends over, they went out on the pond in a rowboat. The big fish made his move!

With a mighty “whoosh” he jumped into the boat, right into an open cooler. As luck would have it, he had landed in the perfect spot. And at the perfect time, the farmer and his friends were not paying attention. He was safely in the cooler and no one had noticed!

Later that night, one of the farmer’s guests went to empty the cooler.

“What’s this?” he exclaimed! “This big ‘ol; fish must have jumped into my cooler!”

Since the guest did not want to eat the fish, he took the cooler and the fish out to the park across the street. He let the big fish go in the big pond in the park.

The big fish’s dream had come true. He was now in the big pond, just as he had imagined. He swam around looking for growing fish, little fish, striped fish, and catfish. He had his advice all ready, and really wanted to start making friends.

The growing fish just looked at him strangely when he tried to give them advice. All the little fish stayed together and answered each other’s questions. The striped fish all came from a fish farm far away and feared everything…including the big fish.

The catfish asked what it was like at the surface, but the big fish had no idea. He had never been to the surface of this big pond!

Then the big fish saw some other big fish, just his size. He swam to them eagerly! They just looked at him. They were already wise. They knew all the answers. They understood why the striped fish were scared. They knew the growing fish would grow out of their attitudes, and the little fish would grow up to be medium fish. They were wise without the big fish or his experiences. He became one of the crowd of big fish in the pond.

The big fish had plenty of time to think. Here there was no one to help and no questions to answer. He felt kind of sad. He missed his little pond where he could teach little fish, and show growing fish new things, and help catfish understand what the surface was like.

He was not helping anyone in this big pond. He realized he had been needed at the little pond.

Not long after he realized that he had made a mistake, a boat came out on the surface of the big pond. The men inside had big nets and a tank filled with water.

“This is a strange assignment.” Said one.

“It sure is.” replied the other. “I guess there are just too many fish in this pond. We need to catch a few.”

What do you think will happen to them?”

“Well,” said the first. "I heard that they were going to relocate them to a small pond in the country.”

The big fish was so excited. This was his big chance to go back to the little pond. When he saw the net dip into the water, he swam right into it. Before he knew it, the tank was being dumped into the small pond in the country.

He was home!

As he swam away from the shore, he passed the growing fish, the little fish, the striped fish and the catfish. Everyone seemed happy to see him. Even the new fish from the big pond somehow seemed happy he was there to help them.

He knew he was right where he belonged. He was back where he could really help, where he was needed, in the little pond.

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Sometimes the smallest stories have the biggest message!