THE FISH WHO DREAMT OF FLYING

 Once upon a time, in a vast ocean. A fish was born. His name was Skeet. Now Skeet was different than his brothers and sisters. His fins were  longer and tougher than his siblings. But, being younger and weaker, he was unable to open them and that made him slower than his siblings. Often they  made fun of him, mocking how his name meant 'Swift' but he was the  slowest. Like every fish in the ocean, as he grew he joined a school of fish. One day his school went on a trip to the shallow part of the ocean. Skeet was so nervous. For a fish born in the ocean, the world becomes limited to water. He can never imagine a world outside water. Sky and  land were just a far-fetched theory. So naturally, it was a monumental  day for Skeet to get familiar with the vast new worlds, he only heard  of.

As the school entered the shallow waters, a blinding white light welcomed them. It made the water shine like a miracle! The whole view mesmerized Skeet. The light showered the water with magical  rays falling onto him. The hazy water became clear. He could see the edge of the water! Above that edge, he could see another ocean. Blue,  but not dark like his home. It was bright, shiny and full of white  puffs. He started  swimming towards it, like he was hypnotized by it and gets further away from his school. The water felt lighter and lighter as he  swam up and up. As he reached the top, his mind was blown!

 Above  him, was a whole new world! As he popped his head out of the water, he was welcomed by a strong gust of cool wind. Above him was the sky,  another world joining hands with the ocean via this bright white light.  He saw white puffs, miles away, drifting slowly. Along those white  puffs, he saw something that totally changed his life. He saw the fishes of the sky, with large feathered fins, gliding across the vast sky.  "Wow, are they angles?" He spoke looking at them bewildered by the very  sight in front of him. "No my son, they are actually birds. They fly in  the vast sky like we swim in this vast ocean." A heavy voice broke  Skeet's trance. He turned to see his teacher of the school, Boris the  sting ray, looking up following his gaze. "Oh sir! Sorry for diverting  away from the school. I was just curious to find what lies above the  water." His voice trembled as he expected a scolding. " It's OK to be  curious son, but too much curiosity might be fatal you see. The sky  looks fascinating, but for us mariners, the longer we stay above, the harder it becomes for us to breathe. So, for now, you should grow  stronger and bigger, so one day you can look up the sky as long as you  want." Boris smiled patting Skeet on his back fin, instructing him to  follow and rejoin the school.

A couple of years  passed, the fishes in the school grew bigger with time. "Aahh! It  actually feels like yesterday that i met with this batch. Look how much  you guys grown." Boris gazes the fishes around him with proud eyes. " It's time for you guys to graduate and lead your life as your own. Just don't forget your good ol' teacher." Boris laughed, as the fishes replied synchronously, "We will never forget you or your teachings sir!". "Good good, my students are all grown up now. Before you guys leave your old teacher, I want you guys to tell me what are your  ambitions. What you aspire to do after graduation." Boris asks. A traveler, a family maker, a cleaner, a food gatherer. The fishes start  to enthusiastically tell their aspirations as Boris encouraged them. Finally Boris looks to the last fish, hiding shyly behind a small  rock. " Skeet, my boy. Open up! You are the only one left." All the  other fishes turn around to see a slender, long fish with silver skin and unusually long and rigid fins. He swims away from the rock, his small forked tail swirling behind and looks towards Boris. " Ummm…. Sir well… i don't have an ambition as such but I have a  dream. I dream to fly one day. I want to touch the sky once in my  life." Pin drop silence was followed by a roar of laughter by the other  fishes. Skeet looks down in shame as other fishes continued to laugh. "Is he for real?" , "He should become a comedian" , "He is never serious" , "Fly? He can't even open his own fins fully, even after growing up.  Learn to swim first." His head was low but Skeet heard all the other fishes mocking him. Suddenly! He feels something patting his tail. He gets startled and looks up to find Boris smiling at him. " Be sure to  watch the night sky for me. I never seen it but I heard it's way more  beautiful than the day sky." Everyone stops laughing as Skeet's eyes lit up.

"Mom I am heading out!" Skeet shouts from one end of the coral as he steadily starts swimming away. "Don't go too  far and don't be late." Mom shouts as Skeet nods and turns around. As he started to move farther, he heard a coarse, authoritative voice, "  Where you off to now?" He slowly turns back, clinching his eyes, he knows what is going to come. From the opposite direction, his dad was  coming with 3 of his siblings after gathering food. "Look at your  brothers and sisters, all help me to bring food to our house. And you,  you are still chasing a fool's dream. Grow up Skeet! Survival is the rule of life. And fishes don't fly, its the rule of nature. You can't  defy rules of the world. When will you understand?" His dad looks at him with sorry eyes. " Everybody around this ocean ridicules you son. Is  this what life is for you? A delusion? Don't make a joke of your life son. Please." Skeet looks down, and swims away as his dad,  frustrated by his negligence moved towards the house. He kept staring down as he hears the passing by fishes, turtles and other organisms laughing behind his back. The news of the  fish who dreams of flying had spread fast. It was a topic for everyone to ridicule. Everyday they saw this silver skinned,fish with unusually long fins go to shallow waters. Trying to jump and fly out of water, but failing every single time. His wings, still too heavy for him to  spread, he was slow. That's why he always had to hear the criticism and  jokes whenever he goes out. His spirit was never strong. From the time of birth to this day, Skeet was always a laughing stock for others. Every day of this disappointment made his mind waver today. "Maybe I am delusional.  Maybe dad is right. I can't defy the rules of nature. Maybe the dream I  see, is really as good as a dream. But not reality." Drops of tear  dribble out of his eyes when suddenly! he bumps with someone. "Oh…long  time no see my son!" Skeet looks up and his crying eyes starts shinning again.

" What are you doing nowadays son?" The comforting voice of Boris helped Skeet to calm down. "Umm… nothing  much sir." He was glad to hear his voice after so long. "Have you  fulfilled your dream son? " Boris winks at him. Skeet again turns his eyes down, the tears adjusting at the edge of his eye, ready to fall.  "Sir, I tried,I tried a lot. I tried everything, but I guess everyone  was and  is right. Fishes don't fly. The laws of nature, I can't defy it." His voice trembling, like every drop of confidence in him died  today. Boris looks at his heart broken former student and smiles. "The nature never discourages you to do anything. You know why our world is  multidimensional and not just a 2 dimensional plane?" Skeet shakes his  head unable to come up with an answer. Boris smiles and replies, "Because god made it like this. So there is no straight path that is  right. He never made a path for us, he gave us million choices, to make our own path. Some gladly follow the paths paved by everyone and some take new ones. No one is right or wrong. My child, when you take a different path from others, they may not understand now. But when you  reach a different location than theirs, they will acknowledge you. So don't sleep to dream. Live the dream." Hearing those words Skeet looked  at Boris with a newfound confidence. He bid his goodbyes and went towards the shallow waters, to make his own path.

He is ready. Ready to face all the criticism. But follow his love for the sky. He looks up, the bright white light was not there, but a shimmering  silver light. "The night sky!" he exclaimed as he got ready to jump out  of the water. "But what is this eerie feeling?" Something was odd. The water around him started feeling colder and colder. He turned, nothing. Just grass and some corals, and wait a minute…something  moved pretty fast behind the corals! From underneath that, a horrific sight emerged. He saw eyes! The big round eyes itself told the story. The shadowy creature kept coming closer, there was no doubt in Skeet's  head. "A predator!" He turns and in one quick move, dodges the predators  attack as the big fish pounced towards him. He started swimming, as fast as he could… but he was no match  for the bigger fish, who followed his scent, coming closer and closer.  His curiosity might become his end today. Skeet, terrified and crying for help, twisted and turned. Dodging the attacks from the vicious fish behind him. He could feel his presence, inches close to his tail. And in that time of tragedy, magic happened.

Skeet  went a little deeper, only to find that it was a bad choice. The  predator fish started swimming better and faster. It was his area. The  perfect area for him to catch his prey. Skeet skillfully dodges another attack and started swimming up and up. He mustered the courage and swam  as fast as he could. As the water became thinner and thinner, he turned back to look. The predator was right on his tail, the ghastly mouth of  his, wide open to devour Skeet. There was nowhere for him to go now. Skeet looks at front and as a divine hand reaching to save him, a bright glimmering light showered upon the silver line of the water. For him to survive, to dream, it was the only ray of hope. The light blinded the predator, he paused for a second. This was the chance Skeet needed. He swam as fast as he could towards the light and jumped! He closed  his eyes as he felt water leaving his surrounding. All he could feel was  cold wind caressing his whole body. "What is this feeling?" He hesitantly opens his eyes and looks down. He could see the ocean line  beneath him! He looks straight and realizes. "Oh…. I AM FLYING"  He  looks up, the sky was dark this time and filled with small bright spots. Then he felt it, he looked behind, his fins were finally open to all  its glory. It looked like they were made for this moment only. Like he was meant to fly! He starts descending, and dived into the water. His  heart was pounding. He dived deep and came out, this time jumping even  higher. He spreads his fins as the wind carried him through his flight. "I can't believe, I am flying" tears starting rolling down from his eyes. But this time he wasn't looking down, but up. Up at the sky he only dreamt to fly in. As his tears fall a familiar bright light showered  upon him. The same light that saved him from that predator. He looks up  and the source was, marvelous! A giant white ball was the reason of  shinning all that glimmering lights. It was magical. The light shone all  around him, making his silver body glitter with the water drops twinkling as it fell from his body. For the very first time in his life.  He felt that, "This…..this is exactly what I was born to do."

In this amazing world, there are fishes who fly. Birds who don't fly but run fast and animals that are slow on land but swim faster. The fish won't be competing a hawk in flying. But in the world of fishes, it will be the numero uno. The same goes for the bird, it will never be as fast  as cheetah, but in the kingdom of birds, he will be the fastest. We live in a world of exceptions. Where most organism follow a generic way of life, some pave their own paths to become exceptions. The nature  never minds an out of the box thinking. Evolution always starts with  that one organism who dared to change. So dare, be unique, be an  exception. Embrace what you like. People will laugh, pity you,  discourage you. But once you pave a new path…..many will follow you and  you will become the leader of that path. People are scared of change,  where nature embraces it. No dream is small, no ambition is far-fetched.   You just need to have the courage to deviate from the path. In this  world full of rules, be an exception. Just like the fish who dreamt to  fly.