An Unlikely Prize

Chapter 1

Sometimes, fish don’t know what’s best for them. Neither do birds, for that matter, and they say the inability to have something makes the wanting it all the more intense. Well, how would you feel if all you ever wanted was always hanging in plain view but just out of reach? Now for a fish, just out of reach could be as good as a world away when the object of their wanting is on dry land an inch away from their pond. And if ever this were true, it was true for Julsie the Koi in the lily pond.

Julsie lived a hard-working, ambitious underwater life in the large pond just outside the museum. Her gleaming orange and gold scales shone brightly under the morning glow of the sun, and excited children watched with mesmerizing fascination as her feathery fins followed her wherever she swam. With wide-eyed wonder Julsie approached each corner of her pond as if it were new every morning, holding hidden treasures secretly placed by an unknown friend for her to find and adore.

Such a treasure, and one that would cause an awful lot of commotion in the coming day, Julsie found lying beneath the large lily pad near the far end of the pond just this morning. She swooped down and scooped up the glistening present with a fin and gracefully zig-zagged back to her favorite spot beneath the purple Lotus patch in the corner of the pond. From here she could gaze at the oddly-shaped object without Turtle or Sturgeon asking those never-ending questions. Of course, Turtle and Sturgeon considered Julsie just a little strange, but they enjoyed her excitement in finding awe in every corner of their little world. Well, think of spending your entire life in a world the size of a pond. Even a large pond would not afford the average fish a very exciting lifestyle, and Turtle and Sturgeon knew the pond’s limits far too well. Boredom, especially in this little underwater world, was a constant Creeper, always lurking in the shadows, ready to engulf the first fish or reptile who even slightly gave in to its deadening dole drum.

Usually, Turtle and Sturgeon would notice Julsie quietly floating alone in the sun-speckled water underneath the Lotus patch, looking intently at one treasure or another. When they couldn’t bear the mystery any longer, and the thought of the Creeper hi-jacking their lazy day was too much to endure, they would meander their way to her side and ask, “What’d you find today, Julsie?”. Julsie wouldn’t show them right away, and she always acted surprised and “none-of-your-business-y”. But after several pleas from both Turtle and Sturgeon, she would begin to slowly weave a fantastic tale of what this particular object was, how it came from the world above the lily pads, dropped into the pond by some careless creature who would soon be missing it from his collection. Any moment now, this creature would come searching for his lost prize in a fearsome frenzy, overturning their wet world with nets or hooks or even hands. Her eyes would keep darting to the surface of the pond as if the creature were just out of sight, and Turtle and Sturgeon would listen intently, quickly following each glance with a peek of their own.

Finally, when all hope seemed lost, Julsie would look at them both, softly say, “But then...”, and Turtle, Sturgeon and Julsie would be transformed into aquatic heroes, saving the little pond from the dryland intruders and keeping the treasure under water for all time! What fantastic stories Julsie would tell under the Lotus patch, and what amazing adventures unfolded with Turtle and Sturgeon! And one such adventure happened just this morning when she found an especially special treasure just outside her pond...

Chapter 2

If it wasn’t for such a perfect Spring sunshine outside, Barty would have stayed on his bottlebrush stem waiting for something to happen along without wishing that anything actually would. But this breeze just couldn’t be ignored, and the slow swishing of the salt grass neighborhood lulled Barty into a lazy breeze-floating flight. You see, Barty is a Japanese White-eye; a green-feathered bird, more round than long with large white eyes and a short black tail. Although Barty loved hearing of adventures, picturing adventures or reading about them, he did not possess the courage to strike out on one of his own. That is, until just yesterday.

Barty had decided yesterday morning that he was going to finally embark on his own adventure, even if just for a few days. Barty was from the wood on the other side of the museum, and he had lived there all his life. Not that it was a bad wood, or that he didn’t have friends or interesting things to do there, but he longed for something that thrilled him; something that excited his soul and filled him with a sense of destiny and risk. So, he had set out to find the pond he had heard about from the sparrow that lived under the awning on the rear of the museum. The sparrow had told him of the lily pads and the bright purple lotus blooms and the frogs and the turtles and the fish. Naturally, being starved for something splendid and slightly heroic, Barty set off that instant and arrived at the little pond on this perfect Spring morning.

But now, with the cool breeze blowing through his feathers and the pond neighborhood filled with sweet Spring sounds, adventure was the last thing on Barty’s mind. Slowly down he glided over the lily pads, looking for a comfortable petal on which to land and take a drink. As he lightly landed on the pad near the puffy purple Lotus blossom in the corner of the pond, he observed a large gold and orange Koi slinking slowly along below.

“What an odd world to live in,” Barty thought to himself. “Always wet, never a chance to climb out and soak in the warm sun or soar on the breeze. What on earth could this creature do all day if not to fly, and hop and eat delicious bugs and seeds? Her food must be always soggy, and constantly swimming must be tiring and boring.”

As Barty continued in this way, not at all understanding the entirely different life of the beautiful Koi swimming placidly below his lily pad, the Koi -- Julsie as you might have guessed -- had spotted Barty and was thinking similar thoughts.

“How odd to be covered in feathers, dry as a bone with skinny little sticks to hold oneself up. I can’t imagine what that world must really be like.”

The two carried on with this mutual fascination for several minutes until, just then, Julsie, the fish about whom Barty was speaking, poked her head out of the pond and smiled at him.

Now, have you ever been caught off guard by something as simple as a smile? Maybe you had to go to the store with your mother and you knew it was the most boring store in the whole world, and as you walk in you see “Ice Cream” written in huge letters across the front of a counter. Your heart skips a beat, you quickly begin to imagine what flavors must be behind the glass on top of the counter, and you immediately forget your misery. And then, all of a sudden, the trip to the store is the most perfect adventure you could have imagined. Barty, likewise, was caught completely off guard by the simple smile that met him at the edge of the lily pad.

“Hi” came the voice from the beautiful fish.

“Hi” Barty replied. Never being a talkative bird himself, he looked away and acted as if he was mildly amused with the empty lily pad on which he was perched.

“My name’s Julsie. I live in the pond.”

“You live in the pond? Have you always lived in the pond?”

“As long as I can remember. Have you always lived up there?”

“I was born in the next wood, just over there.” Barty said, pointing to the other side of the museum. “I have a great big soft nest. Do you have a nest?”

“A nest? What would I do with a nest?” exclaimed Julsie. Suddenly she realized she knew very little of Barty’s world and what it must be like to live outside the water. As the thought dawned on her, questions began popping into her mind so quickly she couldn’t pick the first to ask. But even before she could choose a question to ask, a puff of Spring breeze flipped the lily pad and Barty came sprawling into the water!

Chapter 3

“Cough! Sputter! Aaack! Shpew!” came the gurgling sounds from Barty’s wet, rapidly moving beak. He was scrambling back up on his lily pad with considerable help from Julsie and Sturgeon. Sturgeon had been floating not far away when he heard Barty splash into the water with a yelp. Rushing to help Julsie who was already pushing the frantically flapping bird to the surface, he couldn’t help but chuckle to himself. As Barty climbed safely to the dry top of the lily pad, Sturgeon exclaimed, “Well!” slightly out of breath, “that is definitely the first time I’ve seen a flyer try his hand at swimming! Not too successful if you ask me.”

“Grow some gills before you try that again, buster!” chided Julsie, eyeing the funny bird, who now looked all the more ridiculous with soaked feathers sticking out in all directions. “Poor, cute little bird” she thought, although she would not admit her empathy, least of all to either Sturgeon or Barty.

“Oh knock it off! You’ve never been dry, so you don’t know what it’s like to be wet!” Julsie and Sturgeon exchanged smirks, realizing Barty was considerably upset at the event.

“We didn’t mean anything by it” Julsie told Barty with a sweet look in her face. “We just expected you to sprout fins on the way in!” Sturgeon and Julsie both let out a hoot, and Barty, shocked at first, quickly shot them a disgusted look and flew off, dripping pond water all along the walking path.

“Can’t take a joke” Sturgeon said, swimming along with Julsie as she commenced her treasure hunt.

“I did get his goat, didn’t I?” she chuckled with a smile. “Still, he seems to be a sweet little bird,” she said, looking back in the direction Barty had frantically flown. Sturgeon shot her a sideways glance wondering what was going on in that head of hers, and then slid along back to the other end of the pond.

Julsie settled beneath the lotus patch and began looking at her latest treasure. She couldn’t help thinking of the funny little bird that had happened into her pond this morning. Something about him caught her attention and wouldn’t let it go; something familiar. But still, what on earth could a bird and a fish have in common? 

Chapter 4

“Barty! Ba-arty!” called a high, raspy voice from the other side of the pond. Barty looked up from his thinking and noticed a medium-sized, mostly black and green Turtle relaxing near the moss-covered ledge. The waterfall, located just next to the this ledge, continued its never-ending trickle down the rock maze as Turtle began a most interesting conversation with Barty. Barty had been perched on the salt grass near the far edge of the pond enjoying the breeze and the funny sounds of all the insects, birds, bugs and other creatures around the garden. Casually, Barty had been inspecting the pond, although disguising his inspection as best he could, to try to get another glimpse of the Koi who had helped him out of his embarrassing predicament. Turtle, not missing a thing around his pond, observed the bird searching the surface of the water.

“How do you like our pond?” Turtle asked, as Barty landed next to him. Barty always thought Turtle’s voice was slightly higher-pitched than it should be. It sounded something like the wooden door of the tool shed scraping the concrete when the workers opened and closed it, getting tools to landscape the museum. Turtle’s voice could make anything sound interesting, like listening to Grandpa tell a funny story from way back when.

“I like it just fine.” answered Barty. “I don’t have much use for the water, but I like the trees and lily pads well enough.”

“Do you know what kind of pond this is?” Turtle asked, lowering his voice slightly and with a flash of amusement in his eyes. Barty was instantly captured by the possibility of mystery, and he shook his head, “No. What kind of pond is it?”

“Well, as long as I’ve been here -- and I was here when the lily pads were just sprouting -- it has been a wishing pond.”

“A wishing pond? What on earth is a wishing pond?” asked Barty, now completely fascinated by the conversation.

“A wishing pond,” Turtle began, very matter-of-factly, “is a magical place where a gift of any kind, thrown into the pond, will grant a wish to the one who drops it in. If you watch, visitors to the museum will stop here, think for a moment and then drop in a coin. Of course, I don’t think it works right away, because they usually leave looking pretty much the same as when they arrive. No wizards appear, no lightning bolts flash, no thunder or sparkling fairies. It really is a beautiful, subtle kind of magic, I suppose.”

“I suppose,” agreed Barty. “What kind of wishes do they make?” he inquired, thinking of all the possibilities the wishing pond could produce.

“Oh, now that I couldn’t say.” declared Turtle, looking surprised at the question. “You see, no one says their wish out loud. If they did, the wish would never come true.”

“It sounds kind of silly to me” quipped Barty.

“No sillier than daydreaming or pretending” replied Turtle. “What have you ever wished for? What do you imagine when you get time to imagine?” Turtle, having seen his admiration of Julsie the other morning, added with an inquisitive tone, “Ever imagined being, say, a fish?”

“A fish?” Barty squawked, shooting a slightly suspicious but mostly startled glance at Turtle. “It would be hard to imagine since I know nothing about fish, or swimming or pond life at all.”

“But what does that have to do with imagining? I’ve imagined I’m an eagle, soaring high above the pond, looking down on the people and the museum, diving fast, fast through the air to land wherever I please!” Turtle paused for effect. “Never imagined?”

“Well, I, um, yeah, sure. I’ve imagined being a rhinoceros, and stomping through the safari with nothing to fear and eating anything I like. I would run faster than a zebra, and I would be the strongest rhino in the prairies.”

“Ah! You have imagined a life beyond this.”

“Of course. Who hasn’t wondered what it would be like to do something amazing, heroic, reckless! To go on an adventure!”

“Well, that’s what the wishes in the pond are. They are imagination with real dreams and real desires attached. These are fantasies in people’s heads that they want to get out; to live out. They can’t be satisfied with what they are living and doing, so they have to dream of a different life.”

“So, where do these dreams come from? Why can’t people be satisfied with what they are doing in life?” This was a new concept to Barty, who had never thought to be discontented with his life.

“A good question, Barty” Turtle stated with a melancholy tone. He looked down at the pond and seemed to be looking through the water to another world. “People are never satisfied; not with anything, ever. They have to have more, better, prettier, newer. There is no end to their desires.”

“But why?”

“Well, they weren’t always like that. They chose to be that way.” Turtle caught Barty’s eyes with an intense gaze. “But that’s a story for another time,” he said after a slight pause. “Just know for now, they don’t know what their purpose is, so they can’t know what they want.”

Barty felt as though his heart had just taken in some horrible news, and a strange sense of sadness shadowed him. But still, he wanted to know more of the story and thought he might ask Julsie about the wishing pond. Maybe she would know. After all, she had lived her whole life right in the middle of all those wishes.

Chapter 5