Children of the Tide

by Theo Shapiro

  Part IV: The Hook

  Mad Mandin weaved in and out of coral formations as he hummed to himself and looked for his next place of stay. Mandin never liked to stay in one place for two long. There were too many things to see and too many fish to meet. Mad Mandin wasn’t like any other of his kind. His family and species always liked their privacy and it was rare to find more than two or three living together at a time.

  Mad Mandin also found the life of a moray eel boring. It seemed the only thing they wanted to do was find some crevice to lie in and sit with their head out ready to snap at any fish that went by. Mandin was a bit more curious than other eels. He would swim up to other fish and ask them what they did, how they survived, what they ate, etc., etc.

  Mandin had trouble finding out about other creatures though. In the underwater world eels weren’t the most loved creatures. Many fish feared them and others just didn’t like them. Most of the time when Mandin went up to a fish to talk they would swim away as fast as they could. Originally Mandin would chase after them calling out that he only wanted to talk. It didn’t take long for him to realize that chasing after the fish and shouting at them wasn’t doing much to improve his reputation.

  Despite some setbacks Mandin wouldn’t quit on his thirst for knowledge. He kept traveling, going from reef to reef, and experiencing all the wonders the ocean has to offer. Mandin had managed to meet some creatures that were real interesting and willing to talk to him. He had met a fish that looked like a rock and could blend in with its surroundings. He had met several octopi that could change color in the blink of an eye. He had even met a vegetarian barracuda (now that was an interesting fellow). Aside from meeting different creatures he had learned a lot. Mandin felt that he had a working knowledge of the Fit Tún far superior than most other creatures. Mandin had even spent time with a White Tip Reef shark. After a time the shark tried to eat him but he still learned some interesting things. Mandin’s social personality was one of the many reasons he was known as Mad Mandin.

  Mandin had just left his original reef where he was born. As far as Mandin roamed he always found his way back home for a short stay. He wished he could say he was always welcome back, but this wasn’t the case. In actuality his family probably thought he was stranger than anyone else did. Mandin’s father and mother were as social as a sea slug and whenever he tried to tell them about his adventures they would change the subject or just swim away.

  Mandin also had three brothers, and to say he was the runt of the litter would be the understatement of the century. Each of his brothers is considered some of the most vicious eels in the Pacific Ocean. His eldest brother, Grime, even bragged of biting a Fit Tún, but there are some doubts to the truth of that.

  Mandin was the youngest of the group and by far the smallest so obviously everyone thought he was a momma’s eel, but even she was put off by his weak status and bit him several times.

  Mandin spent three days at home and after his brothers had bit him at least three times each he figured it was time to be off again. On this current trip Mandin had pointed himself out to sea and started swimming. He didn’t know where he was heading, but he figured that if he knew where he was going then he might as well already have been there. It’s this line of thinking that presented another reason why others called him Mad.

  Mandin had no idea how far he had swum but he was entering deeper and deeper waters. The farther he went out he could feel the ocean temperature start to drop and the fish changed all around him. Closer to home where all the reefs were it mostly consisted of bright, colorful fish. The farther he went out he noticed the colors to become less vibrant, eventually turning into a uniform silver or grey. The fish also lived in deeper waters and appeared to me much larger.

  Mandin was starting to get tired and wanted to find a place to rest, the problem was there wasn’t any place for him to stop. He decided the next fish he saw he would ask about a place to stay. Mandin may be considered mad but he wasn’t crazy enough to sleep exposed in the open ocean.

  After a few more minutes of swimming Mandin thought he saw a flash of silver. He strained his eyes, but didn’t see anything. He was about to brush it off as a trick of the imagination when he saw another flash. The flash appeared a few feet below the surface; far too high for a fish around these parts.

  Mandin increased his speed trying to catch whatever it was, but whatever it was seemed to be very fast. At first he saw a flash of silver in front of him, but when he started to head that direction he saw another flash to the left. He altered his course, but by the time he did that the flash would appear in the original spot. For a time he thought there were multiple creatures, but as he neared he saw the flashes appeared too close together to be more than one fish.

  Mandin felt real tired and could tell even if he were fresh he wouldn’t be able to catch this flashing thing. Still, Mandin persisted. Whatever was causing the flash was luring him like the light from the end of an Anglerfish. He had to find out what was causing the flash.

  Mandin paused and looked in all directions. He realized he hadn’t seen the flash in the last couple seconds. Mandin looked all around and even looked behind him. There was no sign of the flash. Mandin figured whatever it was must have been playing around and really turned up the speed quickly fading from his sight. Mandin felt disappointed, but figured there was nothing else he could do except keep swimming.

  Just as Mandin was about to take off he heard a young, high-pitched voice behind him. “Are you hunting me? Because if you are you’re doing a pretty bad job and I doubt you would ever catch me.”

  Mandin spun around, but there wasn’t anyone there. For a second he thought he was really mad, but then he heard the high pitch laughing again coming from behind him. This time when he spun around he saw a rail thin silver fish hovering behind him.

  The fish was probably three feet long and weighed somewhere around 50 to sixty pounds. It’s back was a dark blue and its sides were silver which caused the flash that Mandin saw. There were also some stripes running down his sides. The fish had a large mouth that didn’t seem to fit its body.

  During his initial look at the fish Mandin thought it was a barracuda, but upon a closer look he could see there were some differences between the two and this was a species he had never seen before.

  Mandin felt a rush of excitement at meeting a new fish and Mandin felt a goofy smile spread across his face. Mandin knew that he had a strange smile and gave the impression he was a little crazy; another reason he was called mad. There was also the fact eels don’t smile which made his even stranger. He knew his smile scared a lot of other fish, but this fish didn’t seem to be scared at all. If anything he seemed just as curious as Mandin was.

  “You know I can swim circles around you all day. You’re more likely to eat your tail than catch me.” The fish said in a taunting voice. Mandin could tell from the high pitch voice and inquisitive behavior that this was a young fish.

  “Ha-ha, I’m not hunting you. I’m just swimming, but I believe you, you sure are fast. I’m not from around here and I was just exploring.”

  “You mean you’re just swimming around in these strange waters?”

  “Yep.”

  “That’s crazy.”

  “I prefer mad. After all, that’s what they call me Mad Mandin. That’s my name. What’s yours?”

  “I don’t know, my parents wouldn’t be happy if I talked to every strange creature I see. I shouldn’t even be out here.”

  “Mmmm, I see. Well best not upset the parents. You don’t have to tell me your name, but I wonder if you could tell me what you are. I’ve never seen a fish like you before. Are you related to barracuda?”

  The young fish started laughing. “Barracuda? No, no. I’m a wahoo. I know what you are though, you’re an eel. If I remember right I’m going to say a moray eel.”

  “Well aren’t you as smart as a dolphin. Right you are my friend, but don’t rope me in with other moray’s; I’m a bit…different.”
/>
  “That’s ok, I’m different too.” The fish’s excitement faded when he said this and Mandin saw a change in the fish’s persona. It reminded him of having a dream, then waking up to realize it wasn’t real. Mandin didn’t think it would be appropriate to say something so he didn’t ask what the fish meant by that.

  “Do you live far from here?” Mandin asked.

  Mandin saw that this was another question that the fish didn’t feel comfortable answering so he quickly put the conversation on himself hoping to show that he wasn’t a threat. “I’ve come a long way myself. I don’t even know how far from my home I am. I’ve seen some interesting things on my travels.”

  The fish’s mood quickly brightened to its young self. “Really? What have you seen? I would love to go travel, but my parents like to keep me close. If they knew I came out here they would be soooo mad. Luckily I’m so fast that I can go off on my own for a bit and make it back before they even realize I’m gone. I’m the fastest wahoo my age. I’m even faster than some of the adults.”

  “I bet you are my young friend.” Mandin had to stifle a laugh; the fish seemed to speak as fast as he swam. “I’ll make you a deal, if you show me a place where I can rest and eat I’ll tell you any story you’d like to hear.”

  The fish’s eyes quickly flicked around and for a second Mandin thought he was going to take off, but then he said it was a deal. The fish turned and led Mandin away, steadily going deeper. Mandin had to struggle to keep up, even though it looked like the fish was barely moving his fin. While they swam Mandin told the young Wahoo different things he had seen. He tried to pick out the highlights, but it seemed that any story he told would excite the fish. He told him about eating with a grouper that weighed 500 pounds, watching a Sea Horse race, helping a dolphin free itself from some Fit Tún trash, and a couple of other stories.

  There was one story that he was saving to really impress the kid if he had to barter something to get some shelter. The stories he told seemed more than enough to gain the fish’s trust. The fish started to tell him more and more about Wahoo. Mandin learned that the species is known for their speed and strength. They can grow up to eight feet and weigh 180 pounds. The fish told him that despite his young age he is considered a very small Wahoo and most likely wouldn’t grow to be much larger.

  Despite the Wahoo’s growing comfort with Mandin he could tell something was still bothering him. When he asked what was wrong the fish told him that he had been away from home longer than he expected and was afraid his parents would be furious. Mandin pondered what that was like. He doubted his family knew if he existed at all, let alone wondered where he went for a few hours. He tried to imagine what his life would be like of is parents cared about him and for the first time he thought he was lucky things were the way they were.

  Mandin wanted to give the fish some comfort, but he wasn’t sure how. He may be different but Mandin was a creature that specialized in looking miserable and being a grouch.

  For the first time since they started swimming together there was a moment of silence. It didn’t last long. Mandin was about to start another story of his adventures when a high pitch voice that was similar to the young Wahoo’s but with a feminine touch to it, and filled with panic.

  Mandin turned around and saw another Wahoo, this one much bigger. This Wahoo must have been around six feet in length. From the young Wahoo’s reaction he could tell this must be his mother.

  “Where have you been Kermit?” The larger Wahoo called out, her voice a bit lower, but still high.

  Mandin turned to the young wahoo. Laughing he said, “Kermit? Your name is Kermit?”

  Kermit looked from the larger wahoo then back to Mandin as if he couldn’t decide whom he should explain himself to first. For some reason he decided to answer Mandin first, “I know, it’s lame. That’s another reason I didn’t tell you my name. What type of sea creature goes by the name Kermit? I guess I could have made something up but I couldn’t think of one.”

  “Kermit! Are you ignoring me? Were you by the surface again? I told you never to go there and who’s this?” The larger wahoo fired off questions as fast as Kermit did, if not faster. She swam up directly in Kermit’s face and waited for an answer to one of the many questions she was demanding. It wasn’t hard for Mandin to realize that this had to be Kermit’s mother.

  Even though Mandin had never seen a Wahoo before today it wasn’t hard for him to read their facial features and from the looks of disappointment he received from his mother he could tell Kermit was in big trouble. Mandin felt partly responsible for some reason and felt he had to come to Kermit’s defense. “Excuse me.” Both Wahoo turned to him as if they forgot he was there. Kermit looked at him with a mix of surprise and a pleading look that begged for Mandin not to tell on him. Kermit’s mother looked at him with a lot more mixed emotions; there was anger, fear, mistrust, and curiosity. The first of these emotions he had received from his own mother many times before, the other ones were new to him.

  “I can explain everything,” Mandin said; trying to come to the aid of the young fish. Kermit’s fin started to move nervously, clearly expecting the worst. “My name is Mandin, but everyone calls me Mad Mandin. Anyway I’m a bit of a traveler and like to go exploring. I became lost and got in a bit of trouble when I saw this young hero right here. You see he was on his way home I assume or something of the sorts when I shouted out for help. Being the clever fish that he is he immediately distrusted me and was prepared to swim away when I explained my perilous situation of being lost without any food and nearly falling asleep while swimming being so tired from my travels. Sharks may be able to sleep and keep moving but we eels have not mastered this trick. I digress, this kind fish offered me a bit of reprieve but he was mature enough not to give away any personal information or turn his back on a stranger. In fact I didn’t even know his name until I heard you shouting it.”

  Once Mandin had finished this story, which he thought was relatively the truth with just a few tweaks to the facts, Kermit’s mother looked from Mandin to Kermit and back again. She seemed to know Mandin’s story wasn’t the whole truth, but there was no way she could prove it. Kermit looked at Mandin as if he was about to kiss him.

  Finally Kermit’s mother seemed to admit defeat and accepted the story. “Fine, I guess I should say good job Kermit. We’ll still have some things to discuss later, but let’s first take care of ….Mad Mandin you said? Why do they call you Mad?”

  “Oh there are all kinds of reasons. One of them was I tried to eat Lionfish just because I was told you can’t. I wasn’t successful, but I was close than any other eel living.” Kermit stifled a laugh and his mother gave Mandin a look as if she didn’t know if he was serious or not.

  “Ok then.” She said. “Well it would be rude of me to turn you away after my son has already done so much for you. I can offer you some food and a place to rest, but don’t expect too warm a welcoming; Wahoo’s aren’t the most rusting fish in the sea. My name is Breeze. Home isn’t too far away so you will be able to rest soon.”