Three Fishes Find Their Way

Three fishes lived in a quiet bend of the river. Silver Thoughtful loved questions, blue Thoughtless loved adventures, and golden Very-Thoughtful always studied the water before swimming into unfamiliar places.

One day, they followed the current toward a town. Food drifted past the banks, and bridges cast cool shadows. Thoughtless wanted to stay, while Very-Thoughtful noticed fishing boats tied nearby.

“This place has nets,” she warned. “Our old bend is safer.” The others promised to return tomorrow. But tomorrow brought more tempting food, and once again they postponed the journey home.

The next morning, Thoughtful and Thoughtless raced ahead through the reeds. They did not see a fine net stretched across their path. Both rushed into it and became trapped among its folds.

Very-Thoughtful stopped in time. She could not push through the strong threads, but she could see the fisherman watching from the bank. She needed a plan that would make him loosen the net.

She swam upstream and splashed hard just beyond one end. The fisherman turned toward the ripples. Before he looked closely, she slipped beneath the reeds and hurried around to the opposite side.

Now she splashed downstream, making another trail of bubbles. The fisherman thought the fishes had escaped through opposite ends. He lifted one corner of his net to check whether its threads were torn.

The lifted corner opened a gap beneath the net. Thoughtful and Thoughtless swam through immediately. Very-Thoughtful met them beyond the reeds, where all three could finally breathe and rest safely together.

“You helped us when we would not listen,” Thoughtful said. Thoughtless agreed that another tomorrow was too long to wait. They turned upstream at once, keeping well away from every rope and boat.

At their old river bend, the reeds waved gently above clear water. This time, all three looked carefully before exploring. A friend’s warning became something to consider today, rather than promise to remember tomorrow.