Manny, the Northern Pike, was swimming lazily across the bottom of the lake. He was in ten foot of water. The water, for the most part was clear, and he could look up and see a pleasant view of blue and white above the surface of the water. It was the most idyllic day he had ever experienced. The water was calm and the surface was unbroken. He mused that his life was wonderful.
Manny was a special fish, for sure. He lived in a round body of water, surrounded by sandy beaches and sand bottom. There were weeds growing in the bottom of the lake, and they tickled his belly as he swam past them. There were a few rocks and other objects on the bottom of the lake.
One day, his reverie was interrupted, momentarily by a strange sound. He stopped musing and listened closely. He could sense a vibration in the water. He became aware of a low hum, and as he waited, a noise, like a growling, bubbling sound grew louder and closer.
A dark, ominous shape came to a stop above him. He backed up, keeping an eye on the strange shape. Manny looked up, and his eyes widened in fear and disbelief. There was a large splash, and an object sank quickly past him, nearly hitting him. There was a trail of bubbles that surrounded the object and followed it to the bottom of the lake. There was a thumping, crunching noise as it burrowed into the sand.
Then, all was still.
Suddenly, he heard and saw an object break the surface of the water. It was a small circular shape and floated on the surface of the water. He became aware of a minnow that was slowing sinking down to where Manny was floating. The minnow was swirling in a slow, mesmerizing circle, as it sank lower and lower into the lake. It wiggled and flittered its tail. It was acting quite strangely and Manny swam a little closer to look at it.
He felt a little uneasy. The minnow had a glassy look in its eyes and looked like it was on the verge of going to sleep. There was no response when he swam closer to the minnow. “Are you alright?” he asked. The minnow fixed an eye on Manny, and made no response. A bubble came out of the minnow’s gill and floated upwards.
Manny was concerned about the little minnow. It was very odd for this little minnow to be in this part of the lake, and alone. Most of the time, minnows are with other minnows, since they travel in groups called schools. This was totally out of character for this small minnow.
You might wonder why a fish would be concerned about another fish, since they all eat one another, but, Manny wasn’t hungry at the moment and was just bursting with curiousity and compassion for this small creature.
Yeah, right.
