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- Story Listed as: Fiction For Teens
- Theme: Action & Adventure
- Subject: Fairy Tale / Folk Tale
- Published: 01/24/2015
Once upon a time there was a fish named Lipstick. Lipstick lived in a small fish bowl, and spent her days swimming around leisurely, but in circles. Each day flakes were dropped into Lipstick’s tank by the humans who lived with her, and she would eat them. She didn’t have a care in the world. Lipstick’s bowl was in a room that had no windows and blank walls. She didn’t have much of a view but since couldn’t remember ever knowing anything else, she didn’t mind very much. But she always had the vague sense that something in her life was missing.
One day, Lipstick heard snippets of a conversation about herself. One of the humans she lived with said, “It will be too hard to take the fish with us when we move, let’s just flush her.” The other human said, “That’s so mean!” The first human said, “Whatever, fish don’t have feelings.” Lipstick had no idea what it meant to be flushed, but she would soon find out. Her bowl was carried into another room and then she was dumped into what seemed like another fishbowl. This was different from her bowl because it was bigger and she couldn’t see through it. The water in this new bowl didn’t smell or taste as fresh. Lipstick almost didn’t care about this though, because she had a feeling that something very scary was about to happen. And then it did. There was a very loud, almost deafening whooshing noise, and suddenly Lipstick was caught in a downward spiral and then it became very dark. Lipstick was very scared, so she closed her eyes. She kept them closed for what seemed like a very long time, until she felt like she was out of the current that was pushing her along.
When Lipstick opened her eyes she could hardly believe what she saw. She saw so many other fish, some who looked exactly like her and some who looked different. She saw so many bright colors and so much beauty and so many nooks and crannies to explore. She didn’t know what she was looking at, but it was coral. Lipstick swam around and explored her new surroundings. She didn’t know where she had ended up, but it felt much more exciting than where she had been. There was so much to see and she quickly became very tired. This new world was so much bigger than her fishbowl and she felt that she must have swam much further then she usually did. She found a small, cozy cave and settled in for a rest.
The next day, she woke up and was so glad to realize that the extraordinary events of yesterday weren’t just a dream and she was still in this mysterious, wondrous new place! She was very glad to be here, but a little worried. She was getting so hungry! She wondered if food would just appear in front of her like it had where she had been previously. She felt that it probably wouldn’t, since she could no longer see the people who used to feed her and it seemed to be later than her feeding time. She felt a little sad for a while missing the comforts of her old home where she knew the routine. But she realized that she would need to find food and she felt that there surely had to be something she could eat in this vast new place that she found herself.
She was swimming and looking for the flakes of tasty food that she always ate when she saw a bunch of other fish swimming together. She felt very drawn to them and so she swam up to one of them and said, “Hello, my name is Lipstick. I am new here.” The other fish introduced themselves and welcomed her warmly and offered to share their next meal with her. Lipstick felt so grateful and happy, and had wonderful feeling of belonging.
Lipstick spent a wonderful few hours with this group of fish, a school they called themselves. They got to know each other over a meal which didn’t include flakes, but was delicious anyway. By the end of it, she felt that she was a part of their school. Lipstick’s new friends showed her where to find food, and some delightful sights around what Lipstick learned was called the ocean. She realized that in this wondrous new setting, there were endless things to discover and learn and that each day held the possibility of a new experience. After a while, one of the fish named Confufish said, “We had better get back; there is a lot to do today.” They invited the Lipstick to come with them, and she went.
“What are we going to do today?” Lipstick asked. She was so curious about what her new life had in store for her. One of the fish answered “We need to find more bacteria to help us clean the oil spill.” “Oh dear,” said Lipstick, “what is oil?” Another fish answered, “Oil is a sticky substance that has fallen into the water from the land. It’s poisonous to everything in the ocean.” Lipstick wondered out loud, “If it came from the land, why can’t the land clean it up?”
Confufish responded “Because, Lipstick, the land is working on it but it is taking a long time, and we have to look after our environment and each other on our own! We cannot stand by and watch the oil damage everything.” This seemed like a lot of work to Lipstick, who had never had to do much in her life, and she said so. Confufish laughed and said, “Yes, it is a lot of work but it’s important, and actually when we work together with the bacteria, it is not too much. We just have to find the bacteria and tell them where to go. The bacteria consumes the oil so it is no longer polluting our water. This is what the bacteria feeds on and we help them find it, they eat it and it no longer exists. We help each other, and in this way we take care of each other and our habitat. We need our habitat to stay healthy, because it provides our food. It is the system we use here in the ocean. Everyone does their part, and we depend on each other, and together we accomplish things we could never do on our own. We take care of the ocean and the ocean in turn takes care of us.”
Lipstick understood.
A Fish Called Lipstick(Radhika Mani)
Once upon a time there was a fish named Lipstick. Lipstick lived in a small fish bowl, and spent her days swimming around leisurely, but in circles. Each day flakes were dropped into Lipstick’s tank by the humans who lived with her, and she would eat them. She didn’t have a care in the world. Lipstick’s bowl was in a room that had no windows and blank walls. She didn’t have much of a view but since couldn’t remember ever knowing anything else, she didn’t mind very much. But she always had the vague sense that something in her life was missing.
One day, Lipstick heard snippets of a conversation about herself. One of the humans she lived with said, “It will be too hard to take the fish with us when we move, let’s just flush her.” The other human said, “That’s so mean!” The first human said, “Whatever, fish don’t have feelings.” Lipstick had no idea what it meant to be flushed, but she would soon find out. Her bowl was carried into another room and then she was dumped into what seemed like another fishbowl. This was different from her bowl because it was bigger and she couldn’t see through it. The water in this new bowl didn’t smell or taste as fresh. Lipstick almost didn’t care about this though, because she had a feeling that something very scary was about to happen. And then it did. There was a very loud, almost deafening whooshing noise, and suddenly Lipstick was caught in a downward spiral and then it became very dark. Lipstick was very scared, so she closed her eyes. She kept them closed for what seemed like a very long time, until she felt like she was out of the current that was pushing her along.
When Lipstick opened her eyes she could hardly believe what she saw. She saw so many other fish, some who looked exactly like her and some who looked different. She saw so many bright colors and so much beauty and so many nooks and crannies to explore. She didn’t know what she was looking at, but it was coral. Lipstick swam around and explored her new surroundings. She didn’t know where she had ended up, but it felt much more exciting than where she had been. There was so much to see and she quickly became very tired. This new world was so much bigger than her fishbowl and she felt that she must have swam much further then she usually did. She found a small, cozy cave and settled in for a rest.
The next day, she woke up and was so glad to realize that the extraordinary events of yesterday weren’t just a dream and she was still in this mysterious, wondrous new place! She was very glad to be here, but a little worried. She was getting so hungry! She wondered if food would just appear in front of her like it had where she had been previously. She felt that it probably wouldn’t, since she could no longer see the people who used to feed her and it seemed to be later than her feeding time. She felt a little sad for a while missing the comforts of her old home where she knew the routine. But she realized that she would need to find food and she felt that there surely had to be something she could eat in this vast new place that she found herself.
She was swimming and looking for the flakes of tasty food that she always ate when she saw a bunch of other fish swimming together. She felt very drawn to them and so she swam up to one of them and said, “Hello, my name is Lipstick. I am new here.” The other fish introduced themselves and welcomed her warmly and offered to share their next meal with her. Lipstick felt so grateful and happy, and had wonderful feeling of belonging.
Lipstick spent a wonderful few hours with this group of fish, a school they called themselves. They got to know each other over a meal which didn’t include flakes, but was delicious anyway. By the end of it, she felt that she was a part of their school. Lipstick’s new friends showed her where to find food, and some delightful sights around what Lipstick learned was called the ocean. She realized that in this wondrous new setting, there were endless things to discover and learn and that each day held the possibility of a new experience. After a while, one of the fish named Confufish said, “We had better get back; there is a lot to do today.” They invited the Lipstick to come with them, and she went.
“What are we going to do today?” Lipstick asked. She was so curious about what her new life had in store for her. One of the fish answered “We need to find more bacteria to help us clean the oil spill.” “Oh dear,” said Lipstick, “what is oil?” Another fish answered, “Oil is a sticky substance that has fallen into the water from the land. It’s poisonous to everything in the ocean.” Lipstick wondered out loud, “If it came from the land, why can’t the land clean it up?”
Confufish responded “Because, Lipstick, the land is working on it but it is taking a long time, and we have to look after our environment and each other on our own! We cannot stand by and watch the oil damage everything.” This seemed like a lot of work to Lipstick, who had never had to do much in her life, and she said so. Confufish laughed and said, “Yes, it is a lot of work but it’s important, and actually when we work together with the bacteria, it is not too much. We just have to find the bacteria and tell them where to go. The bacteria consumes the oil so it is no longer polluting our water. This is what the bacteria feeds on and we help them find it, they eat it and it no longer exists. We help each other, and in this way we take care of each other and our habitat. We need our habitat to stay healthy, because it provides our food. It is the system we use here in the ocean. Everyone does their part, and we depend on each other, and together we accomplish things we could never do on our own. We take care of the ocean and the ocean in turn takes care of us.”
Lipstick understood.
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