Indie Ink Challenge

My very first Indie Ink Challenge came from illogical_being  it simply said “You are a fish stuck in a tank. Describe the world as you see it.” For a moment I was like hmmm… and then proceeded to scribble.

My earliest memories of a free life are of swimming in the brilliant blue waters of the Atlantic ocean along the coast of New Jersey. I playing a game of catch me if you can with my bff’s  when suddenly a net descended and scooped me abroad a trawler. After a long transit involving trucks, trains and automobiles I finally wound up in a fish tank for the waiting room of a  Children's hospital.

I was amidst some august company. There was the queen angel , a lion fish, the sailfin tang, the butterfly fish; me was a maroon clown. I was a replacement for the porcupine puffer which after a long innings had passed away a few weeks ago. 

On my arrival I hounded by kids trying to get my attention. I was a celebrity of sorts after some people on the outside had made a movie on our kind. The first few weeks in the tank were dizzying to say the least. Kids would barge into the waiting room  tapping on the glass to try and get me to wriggle. Depending on my mood I would do a little sway to the delight of the kids who would run back to their parents shouting “mom,dad look it’s Nemo”  The others in the tank though envious of my popularity never said it outright but the old wizened butter fish told me to save up some zest for fame is tinsel and the attention span of man is short.

The butter fish was right. Soon a big TV was installed right opposite the tank and overnight all the loyalties had shifted to  SpongeBob SquarePants and Justin Bieber. We were left to amuse ourselves. Rarely would a kid stop by to play with us.

It was during one of these days that I met Ryan. He was unlike other kids. Very silent and withdrawn around people but when left alone at the tank; hours he would spend looking at me with amazement in his big eyes and that smile on his face narrating fantastic tales of oceans and stars. This lasted  a few weeks by which  I assumed he would be a permanent fixture in my life but fate dealt  me a cruel hand and my only friend was never to be seen again.

As I swim in these waters that I’ve gotten so accustomed to, I muse, 'I live to die an another day.' 

p.s.  Finding Nemo led to environmental devastation for the clown fish

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I challenged Melissa to ‘ a walk in the clouds’ and she did a stellar job here. And thanks to M from whose twitter stream I leeched the link for IIWC.

I had this nice big first draft but my computer crashed midway and kept crashing for the whole of yesterday. Worst of all I hadn't saved the draft. So here is what I recollect in bits and pieces an imperfect recollection but just in time for the deadline :)