Bigger Fish to Fry

It was a balmy day in early summer and the city's festivities were in full swing. Shanna stood amongst the bustling crowd of parade-goers. She felt the fishbowl sloshing around under her arm as she anxiously shuffled her feet on the spot. The whirr-pop of firecrackers entered the confetti-filled air, mixing with the cheers and screams of children and adults alike.

She noticed the family to her right standing and staring upward in awe as the giant fish slowly crept around the bend. The children pointed as its bloated body bobbed and swayed, suspended in the air. Then behind it another one emerged, and then another. The crowd went wild.

Shanna turned to leave, as the water in the fishbowl under her arm sloshed again. "Herman," she said loudly enough to be heard over the commotion, "I think I'm going to be sick." Covering her mouth, she picked up the pace, heading for an alley to escape and collect her thoughts.

"Ey, now. Cut that out, missy!" A tiny cockney voice shouted up from the bowl. "Ya gonna spill me right outta me 'ome, if ya don slow down!"

Shanna looked down and grinned at the little pink-and-orange scaled fish as it frowned over the lip of the clear glass bowl. His flippers comically hanging on for dear life. "Sorry, Herman," she said, "I just need to get out of here. I can't watch this anymore."

Herman flashed his razor-sharp teeth. "Oh yeh? 'Ow duya think I feel?"

The pair slipped away into a relatively quiet alley to discuss their next move. Shanna pulled over an old wooden crate and sat down, placing Herman's bowl on her lap. She grimaced as she attempted to set aside the nauseating scene she had just witnessed. "Fish aren't meant to fly," she said, "It's unnatural."

"I know, I know." Herman said. "But yer people 'ave been doin' this to me people fer decades now."

Shanna shook her head. "I know, but it isn't right. And we're going to stop it. At least for this year."

When her turning stomach calmed, she brushed away the strands of brunette hair that stuck to her forehead in the midday heat. "We need to get to the top of that building over there." She pointed up to a tall, rundown-looking building a block away that would provide a decent vantage point, as well as a safe distance from charges when they went off.

"Why there?" Herman asked, somewhat worried about the answer he was going to get.

"Because," Shanna said as she got to her feet and began the brisk stroll to their destination, "we'll need to be safe from the security patrols--oh, and the explosions."

"E-e-explosions? What in the bloodly blue blazes are ya plannin'? If a single one a me family is hurt, missy. Yer gonna be next!"

"Relax, Herman." Shanna shot back. "The explosions aren't much more than big firecrackers, really. It'll be just enough to snap the cables and set my friends--and your family, free."

Herman looked incredulous. "Oh? Is tha' so? And when the wind picks up and they float away, what then? We jus' wave bye-bye and that's it?"

Shanna stopped in her tracks and held Herman up to eye level, some water spilled over the lip. In that instant, she realized that they were standing just shy of a security patrol, and the group of uniformed guards slowly walked by, looking quizzically in her and Herman's direction. Shanna ignored them and played cool. Thankfully, just then their attention was drawn to a rowdy scuffle that had broken out further down the street. They moved on.

Shanna looked Herman directly in his bulgy green eyes and sighed. "Listen, I need you to trust me. If I hadn't saved you from that hellish fish-blimp processing facility I just so happened to be working at, you'd be up in the air along with your family."

"Maybe I'dda been better off!" Herman bubbled back at her. Shanna shook her head. "I just need you to trust me, Herman. I'm going to save everyone. Once we get up to that building, I'm going to detonate the charges. After that, we just need to pray. I'm counting on Franny and her airship to wrangle them in before the wind takes them. After that, we're heading for the sea!"

"I'll believe it when I see it! Oh, and who the bloody hell is Franny?"

"My sister." Shanna said. "My family to your family, Herman." Herman frowned and swam to hide behind a piece of coral--the only other thing in his bowl.

Frustrated, Shanna placed the fishbowl back under her arm as she continued her steady jaunt to the old building. After walking the long city block, and pushing her way through the Blimp Day crowds, she and Herman had finally arrived. She made the exhausting climb up the 10 flights of rickety stairs, Herman silently sloshing around in his bowl, too angry to even complain.

When they reached the top, she placed the fishbowl on a concrete ledge to give Herman a good view, she then reached into her shorts pocket and dug out a small black remote control. She looked back over her shoulder at her friend. "Are you ready?" Herman frowned and bobbed up and down slightly in his water to signify a nod.

Shanna hit the button and waited. Nothing happened. She looked back again at Herman. He shrugged, and turned around to face the concrete behind him. Shanna let out a frustrated sigh and slouched down to her knees. A few more seconds went by, and then she could hear it. POP POP POP POP POP POP. The small explosions went off in succession. Herman spun around to get a look. Shanna grabbed the fishbowl and darted back to the ledge of the building. The huge menacing blimp-fishes rose up in front of them like painted zeppelins heading off to war. The crowds screamed below, first with delight, then with terror as the people watched their precious Blimp Day monstrosities floating away.

Shanna held her breath as she and Herman waited for the whirring hum of Franny's airship,The Pegasus. "Come on, Franny. Where are you?"

Herman's family began to float up above the tops of the surrounding buildings. They were higher in the air than where Shanna was standing. She spotted security guards on the tops of nearby buildings trying to grab ahold of the ropes that dangled from the giant fish. The wind was picking up now, and Shanna began to worry that their entire plan was for nothing.

Herman just watched in horror. "It's unnatural," he gasped. 

Just then the massive gunmetal grey airship rose over the horizon. The powerful turbines kicking up a storm of dust and confetti. The security opened fire on the ship to little effect. A hatch on the ship's underside opened and a huge make-shift fishing net dropped out and snatched up the three fish blimps with ease. It then zipped out of sight.

"Talk about an entrance!" Herman shouted from the lip of his bowl. Shanna jumped and wooted, unable to contain herself. More water spilled from the bowl. "Ey! Watch it!"

"Sorry, Herman. Lets get out of here." Shanna turned and ran for the other side of the building. She put the fishbowl under her arm and sprinted for the shoddy rope bridge that connect to another rundown warehouse. They crossed the bridge, it swayed and jerked from side to side with every step, but Shanna barely noticed. She then darted for a rusty water tower and began the climb up the precarious ladder that she hoped would hold her weight.

When they reached the shingled top, Shanna doubled over to catch her breath. She brushed away the hair from her forehead and waited. "What now?" Herman asked.

"We wait," Shanna puffed. Another moment passed, and the familiar wirring hum of the airship returned. This time a long rope ladder was dangling from the deck. Shanna could see her sister waving down to them. As she reached up to grab the ladder that would take them all to the sea and to safety, she looked down to her little fish friend in his bowl and said, "I told ya we'd do it."

Herman grinned as he grabbed tight on the lip of his bowl. "But fish ain't meant to fly. It's unnatural!" And away they flew. 

Reviews

[Xxcrimson11xX (Martina)]

I enjoyed it a lot! I don't really know how to review anything so um... okay. I really loved it! I loved the idea! The only thing i didn't really understand was why she felt sick? I don't think it matters much but I don't know. Anyway, there's almost nothing wrong with it and I think it's great!

[Butterfly_Kid]

Thank you so much. I'm happy you enjoyed it. I'm going to add a line of dialogue that will just quickly explain why she felt sick. It's just because she felt that it was inhumane and mean to make fish into blimps. This made her feel "sick" at the sight of them. Thanks again!

[Andrew Leister-Frazier]

There's a special quality about your work. It's got so much personality, I get a sense of adventure from reading these. I'm about to run out of your stories to read. Do you have any more?

[Trigorin]

Your writing is technically correct, but really, who cares if fish fly or not? There are, after all, flying fish (which don't exactly fly, but it's more or less the same thing). The main character's reaction to the fish seems completely nonsensical and takes the audience right out of the piece. If you want her to be nauseated by the fish, give a different reason for it than just them flying.

[Butterfly_Kid]

Thanksssss. The idea of her being sick isn't because the fish are just flying, but because of the inhumane way in which Hermon's particular species of fish were turned into blimps by people, simply in the name of this parade/celebration. The entire thing obviously takes place in a fantasy world where this sort of treatment of the fish is commonplace but also controversial. At least that was what I was going for. It seems that isn't clear enough. I'll consider adding some details. As for whether or not you care, I suppose is your prerogative, of course. Still, thanks for the feedback. It's just something I wrote vaguely inspired by the work of Scott Westerfield.