Once upon a time...
there was a little fish who wanted nothing more than to abandon his aquatic post and fly through the air.
The other fish laughed at him and his mother scolded him for having such silly dreams,
but he was determined.
He would swim far down to the floor of the riverbed then up up up as fast as he could
and he would just break the water's crust, an inch or two into the open air
then, PLOP!
back into the water.
He did this all day all night for weeks
and his determination fueled him.
One day a small old woman drifted by in her small old boat and saw the little fish hop out of the water.
She waited to see him in the air again and caught him in a jar
She spoke fish and asked him what he dreamed of.
She was the collector of fish dreams and as payment for taking his dream story she promised to make it come true.
"I only want to swim through the air as easily as I swim through water."
"Dear fish, your fins will now be full and feathered and you will fly through the air and in the water as you wish."
At that she tossed him into the air and he set sail!
And the small old woman steered her small old boat on down the river...
The End.
