A short story about a big fish:
Big Fish was a legend. Every child that grew up in Alligator, Mississippi knew the stories. They all had an uncle or a cousin who had seen Big Fish, usually late at night while drinking on the edge of the river. More than one unfortunate family member was rumored to have been swallowed by the deep water leviathan, never to be heard from again.
The stories said he was longer than the Mississippi summer and his mouth was wider than the Louisiana delta. His appetite stretched as far as the moon and back. People whispered that his eggs could cure disease and turn the elderly back into new born babes. Every aquatic creature ever born could trace its lineage back to Big Fish.
No one doubted the legends were true.
Holly would often think about Big Fish on those lonely summer nights spent skipping rocks by the moonlight. She figured he must be a lonely fish, just like her. Fish, as with people, were always scared of what they did not understand, especially when what they did not understand could swallow them whole.
Holly was not surprised when Big Fish eventually emerged in the shallow Mississippi eddies near her parked Volkswagen. He was, however, more ill-natured than she had imagined.
“Come closer, little human, so that I might eat you.”
“Why would I do that?” responded Holly.
“Because if you don’t, I will come and eat you anyway, and eat that car of yours, and eat everything you’ve ever loved.”
Even by the moonlight, Holly could see Big Fish was large enough to do so.
“What if I run away?” she asked.
“I will find a way to eat you whether you come to me or not. The Mississippi is a long river. Everything runs into it eventually.”
Holly wanted to escape, to find some hiding place where neither Big Fish nor her parents would ever find her. But she knew Big Fish told the truth. Everything does run into the Mississippi, even tears, and he would eventually eat everything she had ever loved, including the moon.
But if running away were not an option, being eaten alive also seemed a rather unhappy conclusion. “Before you eat me, perhaps we can strike a deal.”
It was lucky for Holly that Big Fish was a bargaining sort. “What kind of deal do you have in mind?” he asked.
Hoping to appeal to his vanity, Holly offered, “Let me take a picture of you, all of you”
She heard a loud rumbling sound, so deep it seemed to be coming from China. Big Fish was laughing.
“I am too big. There is no camera in the world wide enough to take a picture of me.”
“I have a fish eye lens.”
“Your fish eye lens could not even fit my entire eye.”
“That may be true, but allow me to try. If I can take a picture of all of you, then you agree to set me free, and not eat anything I have ever loved. But if I fail, I will walk into your mouth myself and save you the trouble of coming after me.”
Big Fish agreed, thinking this little human was not particularly bright. But then again, humans never were.
Holly hurried to her Volkswagen and started unloading her luggage. She had been planning to run away, and had all her possessions crammed into the tiny car. She found her extra piece of luggage, the heavy duty container that protected all her photo equipment. If her family were to make a list of things they could not understand about her, photography would be near the top.
Holly hurried to set up the tripod and mount the camera, worried that Big Fish would not be very patient.
“Now hold still. I’m taking this picture by the moonlight so you can’t move or it will blur.”
Big Fish, despite knowing her efforts were in vain, accommodated the human girl. He stopped breathing, and stayed so motionless he rivaled his only friend, Old Turtle, who might go years without moving an inch.
Try as she might, Holly found that Big Fish had been telling the truth. She could not even fit one of his eyes inside her lens. After trying for over an hour, she gave up.
“You were right, Big Fish. You are truly the biggest thing I have ever seen. You can eat me now.”
The truth was that Big Fish had fallen asleep and all but forgotten his midnight snack. But when he woke up to find a human willing to jump inside his mouth, he was very happy indeed. Life as Big Fish never ceased to be rewarding.
Holly rushed to unpack her camera case. It was more of a trunk than a suitcase, and she had always joked it was big enough to fit a person inside. She had never expected to use it for human cargo though.
Once it was vacant, she dragged the case into Big Fish’s mouth, and besides laying in it herself, she filled up every bit of space with retail-sized bottles of shampoo, conditioner, and body wash she had quickly emptied out.
Before closing herself in, she shouted up to Big Fish, “I’m ready.”
She had just enough time to slam the door shut upon herself before she and the case were hurtling down into the gullet of Big Fish.
When she had bought the case, the saleswoman had said it was sturdy enough to survive a hurricane, yet resilient enough to comfortably ride over Niagra Falls. However, she doubted whether it had been tested under the extreme conditions it was about to encounter. Yet, with the case’s foam padding, plus the extra cushion afforded by the empty plastic bottles, Holly found her capsule to be quite comfortable.
Holly had no way of knowing when she would reach the center of Big Fish, but it was a journey that might take a long time. While she waited, she dreamed about the moon, who came to thank Holly for not allowing Big Fish to eat her.
After a long, long time, so long that she forgot why she was running away and learned to miss her parents again, the suitcase came to a stop. Using the inside latch she had never understood the necessity for, Holly opened up the case and peered into the blackness. Somehow, it was darker now that she had opened the case. She could see nothing but the inside of her soul. Holly knew the only way to find your way inside a fish’s gullet is by smell, and she navigated her way to Big Fish’s store of eggs.
Big Fish was born long ago, before animals needed to distinguish between males and females. Big Fish reproduced through a mixture of parthenogenesis and ancient magic. Big Fish, therefore, was not really a he. Holly still thought of him as male, though, because he believed he could solve any problem by eating it.
Holly was surprised to find that, despite his tremendous stature, his eggs were so small, only slightly larger than normal fish eggs. She filled her bottles with as many eggs as could fit, ate a few hundred herself, then settled back to wait some more.
Eventually, everything runs into the Mississippi. Eventually, Holly and her eggs were deposited in a marshy bank along the river’s edge. She was wet and stank like fish roe, but she was alive, and now she could claim she was the daughter of Big Fish.
Big Fish seemed proud of himself. “I’ve given birth to many things, but never to a human. If you ever have a problem and need my help, call for me. I will come and eat the problem for you.”
But Holly would never see Big Fish again. She returned to the river and found her car still there, waiting for her. She packed away all her belongings and returned home. Her family had barely noticed her absence, and if anything, they understood her even less, but it no longer mattered. Everyone needs a family, even Big Fish.
And now, Holly was rich. She used the fish roe she collected from Big Fish’s ovaries to create her own branded anti-aging cream. It worked remarkably well, and she became a millionaire.
Eventually, everything runs into the Mississippi, and much of her wealth was swept up by the river, though she was still rich enough to be happy. Some people said that she smelled of fish, and her family did not understand why she was suddenly so fond of swimming and swallowing her food whole, yet they loved her anyway.
And nothing that Holly truly loved was ever eaten, by Big Fish, or anyone else.
I have decided photo of the week is no longer appropriate, since I rarely get around to posting photographs that often. Instead, we’ll just call it photo of the moment.
