He dreamt of the first day the company opened its doors and how so many people were very excited. There was a large and lavish ceremony with a ribbon cutting, champagne, a large cake, dignitaries present, and a hope for a sound, financial future. But everything had fallen to pieces with one little mistake. He awoke and then dozed off again.
The second dream was not as pleasant. He was with the board of directors who were discussing how to exert some damage control after the spill. There were many who just wanted to come clean and admit to the mistake, pay the fine, then move on. But he refused to bow to environmental pressure and vowed to fight them to the end. Profits were the most important thing.
He awoke again to the driving rain and a few seconds later dozed off again. The third dream was more of a nightmare. He was taken to the site where all the fish and wildlife had died. The water was a strange pink color and the dead fish glared up at him with open eyes that seemed to scream for some kind of justice. Suddenly, one of those fish was he, dead in the water, and a victim of a severe chemical spill.
“Bernard! Bernard!”
He woke out of his reverie. It was morning and the rain had stopped; the sun had begun to warm the water. Tatiana was floating around in front of him.
“Tatiana.”
“I’ve been looking all over for you. Where did you get that fishing lure?”
“I caught it.”
“You have to help me. The entire kingdom is caught in a giant net.”
“What can I do?”
“You will think of something. Come on, we don't have a minute to lose.”
They rushed off.
The pair arrived at the sight where the entire village squirmed in a large net.
“You are sitting on my face,” screamed one fish.
“You know, you don't smell so great,” announced another.
“How are we going to get them down?”
“I have a plan,” smiled Bernard. “Come on.”
They raced away and not more ten feet from the boat Bernard jumped with all of his might and knifed through the water's surface in a spectacular display of aquatic gymnastics catching the attention of the two fishermen who just the day before had almost hooked him.
“That's the guy who got away yesterday. Look, my lure is still in his lip.”
The two fishermen forgot about the net for a second and concentrated on catching the one that got away. But Bernard who had adapted to being a fish and had much practice swimming was too fast and powerful for them. They tried to scoop him up with a net attached to a long pole but missed.
Meanwhile, Tatiana had managed to chew a hole in the net that allowed all of the fish to escape. One by one they raced out and discovered freedom.
“We must help Bernard,” said Tatiana.
They all turned to see him entertaining the two fishermen who were not impressed with this fish that seemed to be getting the better of them. It was then that one of the guys pulled out a gun and a shot rang out across the calm morning waters.
Bernard, bleeding profusely, was convinced that he was going to die. He started to rise to the top of the water. Tatiana was by his side and crying.
“Oh, Bernard, please don't die.”
King Sloan and all of the other fish surrounded him in horror unable to do anything to save the fish that had rescued them.
“How did you know they would let the net go?”
Bernard opened his eyes and smiled. “Sometimes humans are too greedy.” He closed his eyes again.
The light started to fade and things went black. Bernard floated to the water's surface not breathing. Suddenly, he began trashing around and changed from fish to human. The other fish all scattered.
“I am human again,” shouted Bernard from the top of his lungs. He started to find his stroke and made it to shore. He was out of breath and coughing up water. He rubbed his shoulder and touched his lip; the lure was gone.
The two fishermen were stunned.
“Hey, you’re that guy who everyone is looking for.”
“How would you guys like to catch a really huge pike?
“Sure would.”
“Great this is what you have to do.”
Once the two fishermen had left, Tatiana cut through the surface and watched Bernard walk away.
7
Bernard stood in the sunshine in front of a large group of people that included environmental protesters, company officials, and reporters.
“I am truly sorry for all of the environmental damage that I have caused, the heartache, and the anger. As humans and on top of the food chain, sometimes we think that we are invincible and have license to do whatever is good for us. We forget that the food chain is a delicate balance and when one upsets one end of it, the entire structure suffers.”
There were a few people clapping, but many just stood there in total disbelief.
“I know deep in my heart that I deserve jail time for my actions. However, instead of rotting away in prison where I will be of no good to society, I would rather continue as my post as CEO where I plan to donate some of the proceeds of our profits to environmental causes. Furthermore, we are going to produce friendlier products and I can assure you that will no longer dump chemicals into the river and lake. I am looking forward to working with all of you on several proposed ecological projects.”
The crowd clapped and some even cheered, but certain individuals didn’t believe what they were hearing.
Amanda Stevens, the reporter, looked up at him. “Mr. Fish, what made you change your mind?”
Bernard shrugged his shoulders. “Some things are best left unexplained.” He smiled at Amanda.
8
The sun was setting over the great water that surrounded his cottage. Instead of sitting on the deck, Barnard sat at the edge of the knoll grass and threw corn that hundreds of fish, mostly trout, ate with great relish.
The Poppy
It was a cold, overcast day at the soldier’s monument. Mr. Cluster’s high school history class stood in the frigid temperatures probably thinking of other things rather than the ceremony that was taking place right before them. It was Remembrance Day in Canada and Veteran’s Day in America. The teacher had taken his class to witness the placement of the wreaths and to understand the sacrifice that the men and women made for the sake of freedom.
In a precautionary move, the wise instructor had confiscated all cell phone devices so not to be embarrassed like he had been a couple of years ago when a student had been texting something during a veteran’s moving speech. Although he had spent some time in class preparing the students for the seriousness of the event, there was no way that he could watch over all of them.
Eric Sanderson stood with the rest of his classmates and shifted back and forth to regain feeling in his feet. He kept making fists exercising his fingers to keep them warm. He wore a poppy that was sloppily hooked to his jacket. He seemed anxious as one of the veterans, Blair McCaffey, who had served in the Navy, spoke of his experiences from a wheelchair.
“The waters were infested with Japanese subs, but we had to get the supplies to our men because they were so desperately needed.”
Boring! Boring! Boring! Shut up you old bastard and let’s go back in the bus.
“It was the most important mission that I had ever been on and