The Candy Fish
No more than eight years old, a little red fox named Nico decides that his time is better spent outdoors, fishing and setting traps for tiny rodents to bring home to his mother and father. As he prepares his fishing gear, his mother stops him before he can head out the door.
"Remember, Nico, don't worry if you don't bring home any fish. Your father has gone out hunting tonight and won't be back for another few days. We've plenty of game here from his last trip - so don't be disappointed!" his mother says, smiling as she wipes her paws on her apron, swishing her bushy red tail behind her, "Just have fun, dear... and when you see the sun setting, you come straight home!"
"Okay, Ma!" Nico says, speeding out the door, "I'll be careful, too!"
"That's a good boy!" his mother calls back.
Nico finds his regular fishing spot - a large, open pond surrounded by tall cattails and duck grass. Lily Pads can be seen floating for yards, but they aren't clumped together, making it easier to fish. With a favorite tree marking his usual fishing spot, Nico rushes to the area and immediately sets up his tackle box.
Upon opening the box, he could see all his fishing gear. There's his lucky sinker, the lucky bobber, the lucky fishing line, the lucky bait, and even his lucky candies.
"Oh, wait... those don't go in there!" Nico laughs to himself as he takes his candy out of the tackle box, "Well, since I have them... I might as well eat 'em before Ma finds them in my room."
He scoops up the little button candies into his paw, admiring the many colors. The red and green ones remind him of Christmas while the brown and orange ones remind him of Thanksgiving. The yellow ones and blue ones remind him of when he used to color a lot before he found fishing to be his favorite hobby. Nonetheless, as he pops the candies into his mouth and chews, the chocolate and peanuts inside the candy shells of the button candies remind him of his mother's cookies - she bakes them inside the cookies to give them a bit of an extra chocolatey flavor.
Wiping the chocolate off his pawpads, Nico fixes up his line and hook, tying it professionally. He soon dangles the line carefully from his pole and flings it out into the pond, listening as the hook, weight, and bobber make a little plunk in the water.
"Now I wait!" Nico says, sitting on the ground next to his tackle box, leaning against the tree and munching his nutty, chocolatey button candies. "Come on, fishies! Come get the worm!"
In no time at all, Nico feels a tugging on his fishing line. He immediately stands to his feet and begins tugging back and reeling in carefully. Oh man, this one feels huge! Nico pulls and tugs on the line, surprised that he had caught one so early, until he comes to find that it really is too good to be true; the line breaks and whatever caught his bait was now swimming away, a mouth full of artificial baitworm.
"Dang it!" Nico says, reeling in the rest of his line, "Oh well... at least I still have... aw, come on!" Nico looks into his tackle box and sees that that very worm he lost was also his last. "I could have sworn I added more bait to... wait a minute..."
Nico places his tackle box on his bed, reaching over onto his nightstand in a hurry for tomorrow's fishing time. He places his little bag of button candy on his desk, but stops when he hears his mother coming.
_ "Are you preparing for your time out tomorrow?" his mother asks, poking her head into Nico's room._
_ Afraid of being caught with candy in his bedroom, Nico tosses the bag of candy into his tackle box to hide it from his mother. "You bet! I'm going to bring home a big one!"_
_ "I bet you will! Now you get your warm blankets on tonight, Dear, it's going to be a bit windy and rainy. Goodnight, Love. I love you very much."_
_ "I love you too, Mama!" Nico smiles back, his tail swishing as he closes his tackle box, taking it to the floor and sliding it under his bed before crawling under his covers and quilt, laying to sleep for the night._
_ _
_ _
_ _ "Oh, right... I meant to pack the tackle box but I was in such a hurry... I must have completely forgotten," Nico sighs, looking to the candies in his tackle box. "I wonder... do fish like candy?"
Nico does his very best to stab a piece of the hard button candy onto a hook, only for the candy to break apart and crumble to his feet. Frustrated, he tries again, only for the process to repeat itself, falling to chocolatey, candy-coated bits onto the ground. Finally, Nico decides to just tie the candy to the end of his line. Tying it in such a way, the line makes an "X" pattern, holding it in place firmly. Nico gives the candy a little tug, and sees that it's firm enough to cast.
"Here ya go, fishies! Try this!" Nico says, casting the line out to the pond and listening to the ever familiar _plunk_of the weight of the candy hitting the water. "Wait... I forgot the hook! Agh... consider it a test."
Nico waits patiently for a long while, watching his candy bit float on the surface of the pond while many fish around surface to suck in some air before diving back down. Feeling a bit frustrated, Nico gives his line a bit of a tug before reeling slowly in. Then, to his surprise, as he reels in his line, he notices the candy disappear beneath the pond followed by a bit of a tug. I got a bite?! Fish like candy!? Candy is so much cheaper than bait! As he reels in, Nico thinks of all the possibilities. He can save so much money on his allowance buying candy as bait than the actual, more expensive fishing bait. I wonder if it'll make the fish taste sweeter?
As Nico reels in a little faster, the fish on the end of the line puts up a bit of a fight, but is no match for Nico's strength. Soon the fish is drug up to the shore, chewing on the chocolate candy, looking Nico in the eye.
"Aye, you uh... got any more of that round thing?" the fish asks.
"What? You shouldn't be wanting more. I _caught_you. Now I get to take you home and eat you!" Nico says, raising the line and setting the fish on land, "Hurry up and eat that candy, Fish. That's your last meal, you know!"
"Hey now, why so harsh?" the fish asks, "Don't you know who I am?"
"You're a fish... you look like some kinda tuna or something," Nico says to the fish, looking over his shiny, silver scales and big, plump, light blue lips. "Or maybe some kinda bass?"
"Uh... sure, kid. Listen... I'm a magic fish!"
"A magic fish... look, I'm eight. I don't believe in that stuff anymore," Nico scoffs, "You're just trying to get outta being eaten."
"No, it's true!" the fish exclaims, "I'm a magical fish from the island of Rayla, where the sun is shining all the time, even on cold, damp days like this! You fed me a piece of candy, so that means you get to make a wish!"
"Make... a wish?" Nico says, raising a brow and twitching his ears, "And... will the wish come true?"
"Certainly! I am a magical fish after all!" the fish exclaims, flapping its tail about, "But uh... first? Put me back in the water or I'll dry out! I promise, I won't swim away."
"Promise?"
"I swear it. Hurry now, I'm parched!" Nico lowers the fish back into the water and immediately, the fish looks up at Nico, "Okay! So... what's your wish, little guy?"
"My wish? Um... well... I wish my dad would come home today... we have enough food at home and a couple more days with him being home would be nice," Nico explains, "He's out hunting and... I'm worried about him. It's gonna get real cold soon."
"I see, I see. A very nice wish - very selfless," the fish rambles, "Okay! Let's see what I can do here!" The fish closes his eyes and claps his fins together three times. He spins in place slowly, mumbling under his breath, before stopping, facing the little fox again, clapping one last time. "And... done! Your dad will be home tonight!"
"You're serious?" Nico asks, "You're not making this up, right? If you are... you're dinner."
"No, no, not at all!" the fish says, looking a bit nervous, "I can honestly say your dad will be home tonight and you'll all have a nice time."
"I'm trusting you, fish."
"As you should! Come back tomorrow with another candy and I'll grant you another wish!" the fish smiles, nodding, "Every day that you give me a button candy, I will grant you a single wish, but within reason!"
"What reasons?" Nico asks, sitting on the ground, wrapping his tail around his feet.
"Well, just now you wished to see your dad for a little while longer - that's okay! But I cannot make someone fall in love with you..."
"Ew!" Nico sneers, sticking his tongue out.
"Yes, yes I suppose you're young yet... anyway!" the fish chuckles, "I can't grant love, I can't grant riches, and I cannot... can_not_ raise the dead! Sorry kid, no zombies for you."
"Aw..." Nico says, standing up, "Well... this will be the moment of truth, fish. If my wish is granted, I'll come back tomorrow. If it's not... I'm coming back anyway... but it'll be to find and eat you - understand?"
The fish nods frantically, "Oh, of course, of course... after all, there's only so many places to go in a pond, right?" This kid is serious! I hope this works out...
"What do I call you anyway, fish?" Nico asks.
"Fish is fine... but otherwise, I'm Clyde."
"Alright... good to meet you, Clyde. I have to get home, it's getting cold. Find a warm current under there," Nico says, packing up his tackle box.
"And you bundle up nicely, little fox! Don't you worry - by tonight, you will be having dinner with your mother and your father and you'll have a lovely time!" Clyde says, waving a fin in the air as Nico hauls his supplies home. Yeah... I really hope this works out.
Nico's mother lights the lamps in the kitchen, giving that section of the den a pleasant glow, lighting up the dining room table. The table is made neatly with fine plates - the good ones that Nico's mom only uses on special occasions.
"Mom? The good plates? Is Nana coming over?" Nico says, his paws on the table, peeking over and touching his nose to his plate.
"No, sweetheart - I didn't tell you? Daddy's coming home tonight. Turns out it's too cold for hunting, so I'm making a great big meal to welcome him home."
Nico's ears perk up as he gasps a little, "That fish was right! He really granted my wish..."
"What's that, honey?" Nico's mother asks.
"Nothing... when's Dad gonna be..."
"I'm ho-ome!" Nico's father calls, "Sorry I couldn't hunt for much, Dear."
"No, no that's fine!" Nico's mother calls, her tail swishing happily as she greets her mate at the door, hugging him snuggly, "I'm just glad I get to keep ya for another couple days."
That evening, Nico's family sits together to a hot meal, eating two different types of meats, some warm, soft potatoes, and finally, some of Nico's mother's famous mice-pudding. After the family has had their fill, Nico helps his mother wash the dishes while his father sits in the sitting den, reading one of his favorite books. Nico, finished helping his mother, pads to the sitting den and hops into his father's lap.
"Well, hey there, Kiddo!" Nico's father smiles.
"Dad! You'll never believe what happened today!" Nico exclaimed, "I caught this fish today, but I didn't have bait! I had candy instead, so I tied it on the string and..."
"Son, that's silly - fish don't eat candy!" Nico's dad laughs, "They're too stupid to know what to do with it."
"Not this fish, Dad!" Nico smiles, "This fish said if I gave him a candy, he'd grant me a wish!"
"Alright, alright... so what did you wish for, Son?"
"I wished that you'd get to stay with us at home for a while longer! And here you are!"
Nico's father looks to his wife in the doorway to the kitchen - she shakes her head with a smile, raising an eyebrow.
"Oh, that's pretty great!" Nico's father says with a smile, bouncing his son on his leg, "Tell you what, that fish has definitely proven his powers! Why don't you go back tomorrow and wish for me to be able to find my good hunting cap, huh?" Nico's father chuckles.
"Oh, I will!" Nico says, hopping off his father's lap, "I will! And when you find it, you and I have to go hunting together! Promise?!"
Nico's father ruffles the top of his son's head, "You got it, Buddy! One cap? One hunting trip close to home here."
"Off to bed with you, Darling," Nico's mother said, gently patting him between the ears, "It's getting late and cold."
The next morning, Nico awoke to a feeling of immediate excitement. The fish! I can wish for Dad to find his hat today! Then we'll get to go hunting together! Hopping out of bed, Nico rushes to scramble beneath his bed to grab his tackle box. Opening it up, he sees that he has plenty of candies left and that only excites him more. He snatches up his tackle box and runs out of his room, grabbing his fishing pole, and without a bite of breakfast, he runs to his regular fishing spot.
The air is crisp and cold, but not freezing; Nico prepares the candy coated chocolate and dangles it carefully at the end of his pole. Flicking it back over his shoulder and casting the line out into the water, Nico excitedly listens for the familiar plunk of the candy hitting the water. As he expected and hoped, the fish immediately surfaces, the line in his mouth, swimming willingly up to shore.
"You_did_ come!" Nico exclaims.
"I told ya I would, Kiddo!" the fish spouts, waving a fin as he swims closer to shore, "So! Another candy, another wish - how'd your last one go?"
"It worked! It really worked!" Nico exclaimed, again, getting to his knees and talking closer to the fish, "I wished that my dad would come home for a while longer and he did! Now I need your help with another wish - if you do this one for me, I'll give you every candy I've got!"
The fish's eyes widen with interest and hunger, thinking about every delicious candy that would soon be his.
"You've got it!" he says, "What's your wish?"
"Well... my dad lost his hunting cap that Mom made for him. If he can find the hat... he says he'll take me on a hunting trip close to home! So... I wish that Dad will find his hat today!"
The fish nods, closing his eyes and clapping his fins together three times; he turns about and mumbles beneath his breath, clapping one final time before looking up to the young fox, "Your wish is granted! Your dad will find his hat in no time and you'll both have a great hunting trip."
"Thanks, Clyde! Here!" Nico says, digging his paws into his tackle box and dumping the candies into the water. Each button candy makes a plunk, plink, ploop sound as it drops, hailing into the water like a miniature candy storm. The fish immediately dives down for the candy, resurfacing with his fins overflowing in chocolatey candy pieces.
"You won't regret it, Kiddo!" the fish says, popping a candy into his mouth.
"I know I won't!" Nico smiles, his maw wide and pleased. His ear perks as he hears his mother calling for him in the distance, not sounding too happy. "Oh... uh, I gotta go. I forgot to tell Mom where I was going. I better go before she gets mad."
"Take it easy, Kid! Dress up warm for the hunt! I hear there's a little snowstorm coming in!" the fish calls to Nico, watching as his bouncing, bushy tail fades from view as he runs toward home. "Here's hoping this one works out, too... though... what do I have to lose this time?" the fish chuckles as he looks down at his arms full of candy.
Nico returns home to his mother a bit disappointed, standing with her hands on her hips, "Nico - you should know better than to leave without telling me or your father!"
"I know, Mom... I'm sorry," Nico says, "I was just so excited to..."
"Enough of that... you know the rules, Nuco... this is a warning. The next time you break this rule, you'll be kept home from fishing for a while, understand?"
Nico looks up at his disappointed mother, "Yes, Ma..."
"Now you go help your father, he was looking for you this morning," says Nico's mother.
"Okay, Mom," Nico nods, heading out of the kitchen and into the sitting den where Nico can see his father on his knees, digging through the cushions on the sofa. "Dad? Mom said you needed my help."
"There you are!" Nico's father says, his tail in the air, swishing about as he keeps looking in the cushions, "Help me look for my hat, Kiddo. The sooner we find it, the sooner I can get hunting."
"Sure thing! We don't have to worry so much, though, because I know we'll find it. I made the wish!" Nico spouts, joining his father's side in looking beneath the sofa cushions.
"Haha... yeah, that'll help all right," Nico's father says, looking about with his paw, reaching closer to the under-netting of the sofa. Soon, his paw brushes against something woolen, soft, and familiar. "Aha! You know what? I think I found it."
"See?" Nico says, popping up from the cushions, "I knew the wish would come true! Is it your hat? Is it?!"
Nico's father retrieves a blaze-orange cap from between the sofa cushions and puts it on his head, his large, foxy ears poking through the holes on the top.
"This is it! You're a lucky charm, Nico."
"Wasn't me, Dad! It was the fish! I told ya... I made a wish and give the fish a candy! I wished to find your hat and here it is!" Nico places the sofa cushions back where they belong, "I'll get ready to go hunting with you!"
"Welp, a promise is a promise, I suppose. Alright, Son - get ready and bundle up. I'll get your training rifle ready and we'll get hunting."
Clyde pokes his head up from the pond, chewing on a mouth full of button candies. The shells crackle and crunch in his mouth as the chocolate flavor coats his fishy tongue. Man, these are so good! Glad that kid was fishing! Hey, speaking of that kid...
Clyde could see Nico and a larger male fox in the distance. That must be his dad. Well! Looks like his wish came true. Lucky for him, and luckier for me. Clyde swallows his mouthful of sweet, button candies and pops more into his mouth, watching as Nico and his father disappear into the trees with their rifles in hand.
He'd be pretty mad if he found out I'm not really a magical fish... I guess it's best to just let him feel good. With enough confidence, I guess anyone can feel lucky. Come along, little candies... heh! You're mine, now!