Little Fish
by Lil Quong

Little fish, little fish.
Where have you been?

I've been to Santa Barbara
to take in the scene.

Little fish, little fish.
What did you do there?

I looked in the window
to see who was there.

Little fish, little fish.
Who did you see?

The Admiral and Captain
staring back at me.

Little fish, little fish.
What happened then?

I waved my
eyelashes at them.

Little fish, little fish.
What happened next?

They looked at each other
somewhat perplexed.

Little fish, little fish.
What did they do?

They came up front
and looked closer to.

Little fish, little fish.
Your such a tease.

I know that to
but it seemed to please.

Little fish, little fish.
You should leave well alone.

That's all right. I swam home.

"Did you see that,Lee?" The Admiral watched the strange fish disappear into the distance.

"Yes I did," he replied as entranced by the unusual actions of the creature. "What kind of fish was that?"

"I don't know." Nelson turned away and leaned against the back of a chair. "But you know what. I saw one just like that years ago when my mother took us to the beach as kids. A couple cousins and me. My sister wasn't even thought of much less born yet. My older cousin caught one in a, uh..., you know. One of those kid sand pails."

Lee nodded.

"I remember thinking how pretty it was. I showed it to my mother. My cousin wanted to take it home but she said it would die if we didn't let it go. He still wanted to keep it. Then she told us all how fish all lived in the sea in different ways and that we could some day go and try to visit their homes. Of coarse I was just a tiny kid but I wanted her to take us right then and there."

Lee snickered out loud at the Admiral's confession of childhood memories. "That's quite a mental picture there. What did you end up doing with it?"

The Admiral shrugged his shoulders and walked away saying, "Just that Lee. I let it go and now I"m trying to follow it home."

The Captain stood there in silence wondering how seriously he was supposed to take a remark like that. A picture's worth a thousand words or in this case maybe a lifetime.