When the fish grabbed the worm it got a moment of the tastiest morsel it would ever know, and then the hook came in.  When the fisherman caught the fish, he hauled it in the boat and did a little dance because this was the kind of fish he could sell for a great price, and then his back gave out from the strain.  When the fisherman’s brother sold the fish to the merchant, the merchant smiled behind his hand because he knew more than the brother what a catch like this was worth, and the when the merchant sold it to the major domo of the prince, the major domo smiled behind his hand because he knew how much more the prince would pay.  When the fish was served at the prince’s wedding reception, the princess beamed with the joy of a girl living out her dream.  Six years later, from a tower, she gazed out at sea and dreamed of a ship that could take her away, far away, from slippers made of glass and husbands made of royal steel.

When she jumped from the tower she turned into a fish, with the taste of a delicious morsel on its lips, and swam to the deepest salt water where the coral is a rainbow between waving anemones.  She twirled and danced with the currents, and then she looked for something to eat.

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St. John Campbell is a pseudonym

Read more stories by St. John Campbell

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